Q. and A. With Wendell Pierce, Super Bowl Edition I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Wendell Pierce in his trailer after a long day of shooting scenes for the HBO series "Treme" on location in the Third Ward of New Orleans. We talked about the state of the city, his rooting interest in the Super Bowl, his plans to open grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods, the state of the Saints and how he would spend one perfect day in New Orleans, among other things. With Super Bowl week in full swing, New Orleans seems to be on fire right now. As someone from here who cares deeply about the city, what are your feelings about it all? It's great, man. It's a milestone. It's a milestone of the recovery. Seven years ago we weren't sure if it would even be a city. At all. So at this point to be able to host one of the biggest sporting events, one of the biggest events, period, is a real milestone. It lets people know that we're back on our feet, that the recovery is going well, but we've got to make sure it doesn't become a tale of two cities, that just only downtown is working, because a lot of neighborhoods still need time to recover. It's especially exciting for me right now because I lived in both of the cities (with teams in the Super Bowl). I worked at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, lived there for three years, and lived in Baltimore for 12 years. But when I was living in San Francisco, you know, they were our rivals in the division. And I went to the game last year (shakes head in disgust). So, by default, my second home for the last several years was Baltimore. So, needless to say, you'll be pulling for the Ravens on Sunday? Yes, I'm pulling for the Ravens. I'm pulling for the Ravens. But, I have to say, I love Kaepernick. He's scary to watch. He reminds me of Usain Bolt. I went to Beijing for the Olympics and was literally right across the track from Usain Bolt. And when he gets to full stride, for every two steps the other guy's taking, he's just taking one. With that height and that length. And that's how Kaepernick is. When he comes around the corner, he's got that length, and when he stretches it out - whoa! That's who he reminds me of: Bolt. I know from following you on Twitter that you've been a big advocate of turning New Orleans into a more bike-friendly city. Best practices. You were in Europe as I recall, and you were blown away by how bike-friendly places there were. I was shooting a film in Europe and, man, everybody was grabbing those bikes in Paris. I was living in Paris. And I was like, "That's it." At the streetcar unveiling that was something Mayor Mitch Landrieu talked about: New Orleans leading the way in stuff like that. Do you see the city perhaps leading the way, being a visionary of sorts, in comparison to other American cities? We have an opportunity here. With all that happened to the city, the silver lining is that we're starting new. We have a clean slate almost. We can hold on to the things that were valuable to us, but let's bring in the things we've always known that we've needed. It affords an opportunity to do the best practices. I mean, bringing streetcar lines back will be beneficial. I look forward to that line extending all the way to St. Claude. I would love to see the Elysian Fields line back. While I was living in San Francisco, I saw, after the earthquake, how they brought back all their streetcars, and how valuable they were. It just shows you that New Orleans is an ideal place to do those best practices. I think it brings value to the city. How are things going in your part of the city, in Pontchartrain Park? Things are going slow, but they're moving. Major League Baseball has come in and done an urban youth academy. Which is amazing. It'll be a training center for baseball. The golf course is back up. We have about 23 housing starts right now. Folks are moving in. So, slowly but surely, we're getting back on our feet. One of the other things I'm proud of is going into food deserts and opening grocery stores. That's what I'm doing with Sterling Farms. Sterling Farms opens next month. We have a couple of convenience stores already up, called Sterling Express. Yes, I recall reading something in which you advocated grocery stores providing transportation for low-income customers? That's at Sterling Farms. If you purchase a certain amount of groceries, we'll give you a ride back home. Because we know how difficult it is for some people to get to and from a grocery store. Every Sterling Farms store will have what is called the Sterling Shuttle. First come first serve. You buy a certain amount of groceries, you get a free ride home. And where's the first one going to be opening up? At Lapalco and Ames in Marrero. We're starting to train employees now. It feels great to know that we'll be giving like 50 people jobs. Not to mention bringing a grocery store to a community that was dying for it. There's a lot of commercial development that still needs to happen in the Ninth Ward and New Orleans East. You're a Saints fan. He slumps his shoulders and shakes his head in disgust. I'm sorry, I have to ask, is there any lingering bitterness about the past season, or have you put it all in the rearview mirror? I've put it in the rearview mirror. First of all, I was never one to blame the commissioner. Because the players play the game, you know what I'm saying? But it was also the worst time not to have a head coach to coordinate a new defensive coordinator coming on. You could see the development over the course of the year, but by the time they put it together it was a little too late. I will always remember the four-down stands at Tampa Bay and Atlanta. And Malcolm Jenkins, that hustle play. You remember stuff like that. But I am not one of those people throwing a finger up at Goodell this week. What's great about the Saints is that we're in contention every year now. When I was growing up, those games in Tulane Stadium, I mean, you just knew they were losing. I look at these next few years and I know that we're in contention. What would this week have been like for you if Atlanta had won the N.F.C. championship game and Falcons fans were invading New Orleans? Look, those games with them are great. All of New Orleans goes to Atlanta, all of Atlanta comes here. So I love the rivalry. It's a fun rivalry. So I think it would've been fun. But you know what, I had no fear at all. It didn't scare me because I knew they were going to choke. I really did, up till the end, I knew they were going to choke. One last question: You're in New Orleans for one night: where are you eating and what are you ordering? Long pause Aw man. That's tough. It's a whole day? Sure, let's make it a whole day. You have one day in New Orleans. What do you do? O.K., that's a little better. Well, you have to start off with some beignets. I tell people who visit New Orleans all the time that, yes, Café Du Monde is a bit touristy, but it's really good. Oh yeah, it's great. So you do Café Du Monde and you get some beignets. Then lunch. Bon Ton Café, are they open for lunch? Oh, I'm not sure. Aw man, it may not be open for lunch. O.K., here's what we're going to do then: we're going to have the filé gumbo at Lil' Dizzy's Café. Then I'll go to the 1850 House and get a little culture. Take a ride on the streetcar. Now it's time for an early supper. O.K., so I'd go to Bon Ton Café for an early dinner. And then, aw man, wait, which night is it? Because if it's Wednesday night I'mma catch the Treme Brass Band at the Candlelight Lounge in Treme. If it's Tuesday night, I'm going to see the Rebirth Brass Band at Maple Leaf. And check this out, you can catch Kermit Ruffins's early set at Bullet's in the Seventh Ward. He likes to finish early now. So I'd have a 9 o'clock reservation at... Long contemplative pause Actually, what I'm going to do is, I'm going to have beignets for breakfast and then a bowl of gumbo for lunch at Dizzy's. Then I'm going to go to the 1850 House so I can see what the French Quarter was like years ago. Great museum to go to. After the museum, it was just a bowl of gumbo, so we can have an early dinner. Bon Ton Café. Do Bon Ton Café around six. Go see Kermit do his early set, and then have a late dinner. You feel me? Oh, I'm feeling you. Since I did Bon Ton Café, I think I'd go five-star next, so I'm either going to August or R'evolution. But Bayona is in there, too. Man. So I guess August or R'evolution, then catch the late-night show by Rebirth. If it's Tuesday night. Then I'd have a little late-night drink at Snake and Jake's. Oh yeah. And the way you do it is you catch a 6 a.m. flight and just stay out all night. So you're at Snake and Jake's and then you go to get a late-night hot-sausage sandwich at Gene's at the corner of St. Claude and Elysian Fields. And if your flight is a little later, one of the best things to do, man, is watch the sunrise in City Park at Morning Call, which is now open 24 hours. So you'd start the day with beignets and end the day with beignets. In other words, a day bookended by beignets. Sounds perfect. And then you get on a flight and you sleep all the way. This interview was condensed and edited.