Our hospitality community plays a huge role in the success of our local tourism industry. Double-digit billions are spent annually, making each visitor’s experience vitally important.
Often, it’s the waiter, the bartender or the hostess greeting guests at a restaurant’s front door that are responsible for creating an indelible memory. But being nice, all the time, no matter the circumstance — a necessity in the hospitality world — could drain anyone of their good cheer.
Looking to address the needs of this industry, lifelong hospitality worker Olivia McCoy is the founder of WeHelp NOLA, a local nonprofit dedicated to providing financially accessible mental health resources. The program is simple and affordable for any restaurant, no matter the size. For a monthly membership averaging approximately $10 per employee, a restaurant’s staff receives access to all WeHelp NOLA’s therapy and mental health resources. Now in its fifth year, the organization now boasts more than 50 local members that have benefited from more than 5,500 therapy sessions.
When a restaurant partners with WeHelp NOLA, each staff member receives a welcome email explaining a simple registration process via the organization’s website where potential therapists can be reviewed. Teletherapy or in-person appointments are booked on the same site.
“It’s completely confidential between you and your therapist,” McCoy said. “Nothing is ever shared with an employer.”
All In For a Great Cause
Meanwhile, local food photographer Kat Kimball had been floating an idea for a naked chef calendar for years. During last summer’s typical slump, Kimball sat down with Ashley O’Neil of Ganza, a local creative agency, and together with O’Neil’s partner, Charlotte Tobin, to discuss a 2025 calendar. The result is “Jiggly Bits: The New Orleans Naked Chefs Calendar,” featuring local chefs without their most necessary kitchen gear. The calendar is available for $40 exclusively through Dirty Coast, online and in stores, and 100% of the proceeds would benefit WeHelp NOLA’s important work.
Everyone involved worked pro bono to benefit the nonprofit, but first, Kimball had to get the chefs to agree to the project. While photographing the Afro Freedom Fest in June, she began by asking Prince Lobo of Addis Nola to be involved. Once Lobo agreed, Charlie Pierre of Fritai jumped in. Kimball then gingerly approached James Beard Award winner Nina Compton. When Compton heard it was all for charity, she also quickly agreed to participate. Eventually, Kimball collected 21 chefs willing to bare it all for a good cause.
“What a pro Nina Compton was,” Kimball said. “She was all business! We arrived early one morning, and she slipped right out of her clothes, popped up on the bar and positioned “Papa Bunny,” the Compere Lapin mascot carefully on her lap.” The resulting glamour shot immortalized Compton as Miss January.
By her own account, Compton had not fully thought through all the possible ramifications.
“My mother was out lunching with friends when an article popped up on her phone, ‘New Orleans Chefs Pose Nude for a Calendar.’ Excusing herself from the table she quickly called me to say, ‘I heard about the calendar, and I just want to know, you looked very classy. You did it right,’ Compton related with a sigh of relief.
When Kimball asked Dan Stein of Stein’s Deli to be involved, she assured him, “I just want to photograph you doing what you do every day — scowling on the phone, angry, only naked with bagels raining down on you!”
Mr. July, Mason Hereford, looks especially demure sporting only a knee-length apron while standing naked at a BBQ grill in front of Turkey and The Wolf. Posing behind his demo counter at Gris Gris, a naked Eric Cook is flanked by flaming columns of fire for an unforgettable voodoo effect.
Get a fresh look on the New Year and give a hand to our New Orleans hospitality community at the same time with this calendar for a good cause.
Poppy Tooker has spent her life devoted to the cultural essence that food brings to Louisiana, a topic she explores weekly on her NPR-affiliated radio show, Louisiana Eats! From farmers markets to the homes and restaurants where our culinary traditions are revered and renewed, Poppy lends the voice of an insider to interested readers everywhere.
Catch Poppy Tooker on her radio show, “Louisiana Eats!” Saturdays at 3 p.m. and Mondays at 8 p.m. on WWNO 89.9 FM.
