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When photographer Buff Strickland and I approached Commander’s Palace, we were greeted by two vivacious ladies in black pants and pink tops. Lally Brennan and “Ti” Adelaide Martin were the definition of New Orleans charm — impeccably put-together and disarmingly friendly.

“Do you know what Ti means?” asked Lally with a devious smile.

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“That’s short for ‘petite’,” chimed in Ti. “The french word for small.”

As a child she was dubbed “Ti Aledaide”, a common New Orleans way of distinguishing between relatives with the same name. In this case the older Adelaide was the girls’ aunt, Adelaide Brennan, who once famously picked out a can of aqua blue paint for the restaurant exterior in the early 1970s.

The two first cousins are now co-proprietors of Commander’s Palace, and as they led us through the glossy black doors the pride they took in the family business was palpable.

We took in the