Coffee Truck Petite Rouge Gets a Permanent Uptown Cafe

— Vibrant red coffee truck Petite Rouge has gone brick-and-mortar, according to Gambit’s Helen Freund. The three-year-old coffee business has moved into the former First Cup Cafe location on Calhoun Street, having opened just a week ago. It’ll serve espresso, cold brew, chai, and iced teas, with doughnuts from Blue Dot. In the very near future, the food options will expand to add sandwiches and salads. It’s not Petite Rouge’s only expansion — they apparently also have a smaller blue truck out on the road now, too.

Haydel’s Bake Shop/Facebook

— In other expansions, longtime maker of sweet treats Haydel’s Bakery has expanded, with a new Uptown retail store named Haydel’s Bake Shop on Magazine Street. According to NOLA.com, it opened at the start of November with pastries from the Jefferson Highway original, and coffee.

— And one more nugget of sweet news: dough-frying favorite City Donuts has a new location, open since late October, it’s at 3125 Saint Claude Avenue, on the edge of Bywater.

— Season 16 of Bravo culinary competition Top Chef is coming up, and there’s a New Orleans native on there in the form of chef Nini Nguyen. She’s now based in Brooklyn, but has experience at Sucré and Coquette, as well as famed New York restaurant Eleven Madison Park.

Tujague’s/Facebook

— Tujague’s is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its Grasshopper cocktail — the creamy classic of crème de cacao and crème de menthe that was invented by 1918 Tujague’s owner Philibert Guichet. That means they’re selling ‘em for half price for all of November.

— Looking to increase your dairy and/or milk fat intake? Cheese festival Fête des Fromages takes places this Saturday (November 17) at the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the U.S. Mint from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., tickets available online.

• Petite Rouge coffee truck owners opens Uptown cafe [Gambit]
• Haydel’s Bake Shop brings bakery’s sweets to Magazine Street [NOLA.com]
• Nini Nguyen [Bravo]
• Watch a Fresh Clip From the New Kentucky-Themed Season of ‘Top Chef’ [E]