Dear Reader,

Greetings from New Orleans! Though I am on my first family vacation in a long while, I – like all of you – am awaiting the unsealing of indictments later today, which reportedly charge the Trump Organization and longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg. I can’t tell from the reporting whether those charges will be consequential or underwhelming; whether they are likely to induce the CFO to flip; or whether they mark the crescendo of the DA’s investigation or just the beginning. So I am staying tuned. I will, of course, have a lot to say about it on the next CAFE Insider, if not before.

Meanwhile, rather than go dark this week, I thought I would share some highlights from the Big Easy, one of the warmest and most hospitable places I’ve ever been. It has been a feast of flavor, culture, music, and history.

First, the food. Our diet has been mostly seafood. As the old joke goes, we see food and we eat it. Here is a non-exhaustive list of local treasures we’ve tried: shrimp and grits, gumbo, turtle soup, crawfish, andouille sausage, fried oysters, bread pudding, bananas foster, dirty rice, muffaletta, and jambalaya. And of course, beignets (here at the iconic Cafe Du Monde):