King Cakes/ Credit: Flickr user Chez_loulou

Yesterday was Twelfth Night, the kick off of Mardi Gras season in New Orleans. The city has made huge strides over the past few years to come back following Hurricane Katrina, and some say the storm gave New Orleans an advantage when the economic crisis hit, as stimulus funds were already at work there.

WWNO in New Orleans tells the story of a handful of new restaurants that are defying the financial odds.

“Ambitious new chefs and restaurateurs seemed eager to join the fray and local rising stars asserted their prominence with new ventures. Despite the condition of financial markets, 2009 saw the debut of one new restaurant after another in New Orleans while a few landmark restaurants made significant changes to their operations.”

2010 will be the first census of the new century, and New Orleans is getting good news on that end, too – the New Orleans Times-Picayune learned this week that the Census Bureau increased its population estimate for the city by 25,000, which will increase funds to improve infrastructure and services.

But there are things that New Orleans can’t replaced with stimulus funds. Mine is the story of the pets who were left behind, some who reunited with their owners months later. It premieres on Independent Lens in February, just in time for Mardi Gras.