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The Dish
Come see Southern Living's Idea House this summer!
Popular magazine chooses Covington for design project
 St. Tammany Parish, aka Louisiana’s Northshore, gains a new tourist attraction for the summer when Southern Living magazine’s Louisiana Idea House opens for tours in June. The popular magazine’s Idea Houses attract as many as 30,000 visitors for the three months they're open for touring. The magazine has chosen Covington’s Terrabella, an exciting Traditional Neighborhood Development, as one of its two Idea House sites for 2010. Idea Houses use local architects and design teams to showcase a region’s unique lifestyle and sensibilities. Visitors tour the always-special homes for design tips, fresh decorating ideas and creative expressions of Southern life.
The house, designed by award-winning Mandeville architect Michael A. Piazza, will be open to the public for tours June 12 through Sept. 12, 2010. Described as a “unique mixture of Creole and Craftsman style,” the two-level main house will contain 3,589 square feet of living area, plus 629 square feet dedicated to upper and lower porches. The detached carriage house features a 548-square-foot studio apartment over the garage. The home’s builder is Miller Building Company of Metairie; designers are Grace Kaynor and Vesta Fort with landscape architecture by Brian Sublette, all of New Orleans.
The Children’s Museum of St. Tammany, a project of the Junior League of Greater Covington, will benefit from a portion of the proceeds of admission sales. The Junior League will oversee ticket sales and tours; tickets will be just $5 and available at the door or available in advance at www.jlgc.net.
Southern Living magazine will feature the Louisiana Idea House in its August 2010 issue. The Birmingham, Ala.-based magazine is the fifth largest monthly consumer magazine in the U.S., reaching almost 16 million readers each month.
For more information about Terrabella, visit www.terrabellavillage.com. For more on Covington and St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana’s Northshore, spend a little time on this website (you’re visiting www.LouisianaNorthshore.com right now). Find out about our many attractions, outstanding restaurants, friendly accommodations and great quality of life. The Northshore is located on the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain, just 45 minutes from downtown New Orleans.
Come visit the Idea House this summer and discover why the Northshore is a great place to vacation – and to live.
| Attention, flea market freaks from far and wide
This year's Abita Whole Town Garage Sale? March 27!
 The quaintly eclectic hamlet of Abita Springs takes shopping to a whole nutha level each spring with its Whole Town Garage Sale, a bargain-hunter’s extravaganza if ever there was one. The 2010 sale will be held 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, March 27 rain or shine. Many town residents stage garage and yard sales (photo by Erin Heltz), offering antiques, furniture, jewelry, ceramics, clothing, books, tools and so much more. More adventures will be had at the Flea Market at C.J. Finn ballpark on Highway 36. Pick up a free Official Garage Sale Map on sale day in front of Town Hall, 22161 Level St.
There’s plenty more to do in Abita, which lies in the heart of St. Tammany Parish, aka Louisiana Northshore. Check out the funky Abita Mystery House, an eye-opening and humorous homage to outsider art and Southern life that’s hands-on and fun for all ages in the best roadside attraction tradition; Abita Brew Pub, the original home of Abita Beer and a great place to enjoy a sampler and a good meal; and the Tammany Trace, Louisiana’s only rails-to-trails conversion hike/bike path. Adjacent to the Trace are the Abita Trailhead Museum and playground.
Can’t make it to Abita for the Garage Sale? The little town hosts a number of other events, including Abita Opry performances at the Town Hall each spring and fall, Abita Crawfish Festival and En Plein Air art exhibit in May, Bicycle Festival in June, and the Abita River Chili Cookoff in late October.
Keep checking the events calendar here at LouisianaNorthshore.com for details on these and upcoming festivities.
| Northshore chefs semifinalists for James Beard Award
Ristorante Del Porto duo in running for Best Chef: South
 Locals recognize the kitchen talent of married chefs Torre Bagalman and David Solazzo but now recognition’s moved well beyond the Northshore. The chef-owners of Covington’s popular Ristorante Del Porto were recently named semifinalists for the 2010 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards. Perhaps the nation’s most prestigious culinary honor, the Beard award recognizes the best and brightest. The Del Porto pair showcases the finest local and seasonal ingredients in a menu melding Tuscan, California and Louisiana sensibilities for its memorable take on Italian. Read more about Del Porto and other great Northshore dining spots in our restaurant listings.
| 'Restaurateur of the Year'
Northshore native John Besh honored
 A native of Slidell, on the east side of St. Tammany Parish, chef John Besh has been a familiar face on the Northshore for years. Besh became familiar to a national audience after appearances on NBC’S "Today Show," The Food Network’s "Iron Chef" and "Next Iron Chef" programs and through work as a cultural and culinary ambassador for the state of Louisiana. For his accomplishments, which include operating four noteworthy restaurants in the New Orleans area – including La Provence here on the Northshore – he has been named Restaurateur of the Year by the Louisiana Restaurant Association.
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