It's New Orleans: Out To Lunch

If you re like most Americans, and an even greater percentage of New Orleanians, you ve got concerns about your weight. One of the contributors to issues with our weight, and health, is sugar. But sugar free products don t taste all that great. And substituting sugar with synthetic chemicals is not a popular solution. Believe it or not, there is a product that is a real sugar substitute. It s all natural. And it has zero calories. It s called Swerve. It s gaining popularity across the country. And it comes from right here in New Orleans. The President and CEO of Swerve Sweetener, Andress Blackwell, joins Peter Ricchiuti for lunch on this episode of Out to Lunch. If you have a great idea like Swerve, Scott Couvillion is the guy to talk to about getting your idea out into the world. Scott is a Principal at Trumpet Advertising, a New Orleans ad agency that is responsible for campaigns you know well, from fried chicken to heart health. And Swerve Photos over lunch at Commander s Palace by Jill Lafleur.

For nearly 200 of our 300 year history, New Orleans has laid claim to being the birthplace of the cocktail. Whether or not that is strictly true, the cocktail is still a New Orleans icon. A company called New Orleans Beverage Group is helping to keep that tradition alive, and to update it, with their products, El Guapo Bitters, and cocktail syrups. The CEO of the New Orleans Beverage Group, Christa Cotton, joins Peter Ricchiuti on this edition of Out to Lunch. Back in the days before air conditioning, at the end of a hot day in New Orleans, all you could do was sit still and sip a drink. Today we spend as little time as we can outdoors in the heat. And we re handing that behavior on to our kids. Clare Loughran is looking to change that. Clare is the founder and director of NOLA Nature School, an educational institution that stresses the importance of being outdoors, with a nature based curriculum. Photos over lunch at Commander s Palace by Alison Moon.

The women s movement has been striving to define the place of women in the workplace, and in society in general, since the 1960 s. Although there have been some major turning points over the past half century, the era we re in now may turn out to be one of the most significant and long lasting. In New Orleans, two very different media based businesses are contributing to this change. Heide Winston and her partner have launched Geaux Girl magazine a teen magazine with a sex ed component. It s a unique publication partly written by girls themselves, and partly by experts in subjects relevant to teenage girls. Ashely Angelico and her partner run the very successful New Orleans Moms Blog. Moms Blog is a national network of locally owned blogs. They re updated daily with information for moms on subjects that range from how to cope in general, to where you can go with your kids today. Peter Ricchiuti hosts this enlightening conversation about New Orleans and Lousiana women and girls over lunch at Commander s Palace

If you re single and you have a dog, you ll know that you can never get serious about dating someone who doesn t like your dog. Or worse, doesn t like dogs in general. That self selection of single dog people is the premise behind a dating app called Dig. Yes, it s a dating app for dog lovers looking to find human love. Dig was founded right here, in New Orleans. Dig co founder and CEO, Leigh Isaacson, joins Peter Ricchiuti on this edition of Out to Lunch. Tania Hahn is the owner of Hahn Enterprises. If you go to the gym, or a sports stadium, or take your kids to a playground, everything you see from workout machines at the gym, bleachers at the stadium, and monkey bars at the playground had to come from somewhere. In New Orleans that somewhere is often Hahn Enterprises. Tania and Leigh make the case for putting down your phone, getting oustide, and moving And if you re wondering if they lead by example Tania plays rugby and Leigh flies her own plane Photos over lunch at Commander s Palace by Jill Lafleur.

We hear a lot about New Orleans being 300 years old. Right around our 100th birthday there was a giant worldwide shakeup. It came to be known as The Industrial Revolution. As it went along, more and more of us started living in cities that got bigger and bigger. Our connection to the land got more and more distant. Today, there s a movement to try and rebalance. To connect our urban lives with our rural roots. Here in New Orleans Nico Krebill s company, Schmelly s Dirt Farm, takes food and organic waste which it uses to make and sell compost. Grant Estrade s company, Laughing Buddha Nursery, sells organic house plants. On his organic farm, Grant grows vegetables and raises pigs, and chickens, all of which he ll deliver to you in a subscription box. It would take an Armageddon like catastrophe to turn us all back into farmers, but there is definitely some middle ground between urban and rural that gives us the best of both worlds. Peter Ricchiuti explores the nexus of oor local urban and rural worlds on this e

A few years ago, our biggest housing problem in New Orleans was abandoned houses and blight. Today our biggest problems are gentrification and soaring rents. In an over all economic sense, they re better problems to have. But if housing is your personal problem, or your business is affected, the betterment of the overall economy is not so attractive. Peter Ricchiuti s guests on this edition of Out to Lunch today are both in the middle of this fast moving stream. Simone Bruni Crouere started out as the Joan of Arc of post Katrina New Orleans. You knew her from her pink dumpsters and her company name, Demo Diva. Jonathan Leit moved to New Orleans from New York to spearhead a community property development company called Alembic Community Development. Alembic made significant contributions to developing properties that helped preserve communities. So, now that we re the victims of our own recovery success, what happens next Simone Bruni Crouere and Jonathan Leit have some answers. Photos at Commander s Palace by

The new "gig economy" is a combination of self employment and contract work. It s a model pioneered by Uber and Lyft. The same model is finding its way into other occupations. You may not have considered ambulance drivers and the ER fitting into this concept. But that s exactly what a New Orleans company, Ready Responders, is pioneering. It s kind of Uber for the EMT business. Justin Dangel, CEO and co founder of Ready Responders, joinis Peter Ricchiuti on this edition of Out to Lunch. Chris McMahonChris is President and CEO of Longbranch Recovery. Reportedly in Louisiana there are more prescriptions for opioids than there are residents of the state. However, if you have a problem with drug addiction there are very few places to turn to for help. Longbranch runs an outpatient clinic and a new residential facility for people struggling with addiction. Peter, Justin and Chris dissect alternative healthcare over lunch at Commander s Palace. Photos by Kallistia Bilinsky.

Even if you ve lived in New Orleans your whole life and you know everything about the place, there s a good chance there s one thing you don t know. And that is, what it s like to be a tourist. Some tourists just want to know what it s like to be you. For those people, looking for a unique local s perspective to their New Orleans experience, there s a specialized travel agency called Joieful. The founder and CEO of Joieful, Aaron Dirks, joins Peter Ricchiuti on this edition of Out to Lunch. Gordon Stevens knows more about tourists than almost anybody in the crescent city. Gordon is President, CEO and co owner of the New Orleans Steamboat Company. Yes, they own The Natchez. They also own the tour company Gray Line New Orleans, the 3 locations of Caf Beignet in the French Quarter, and Visit New Orleans. Photos at Commander s Palace by Alison Moon.

If human knowledge and medical technology keep progressing, it stands to reason that eventually we re going to figure out how to cure even the most difficult diseases, like cancer. Yes, it s optimistic, but it s also logical. What is, perhaps, less expected is that this knowledge would come from Louisiana. Paige Miller is President of Oleander Medical Technologies. It s a company that s pioneering a technique that, if things work out, will cure certain types of cancer. In a matter of minutes. With no side effects. Molly Hegarty is founder of a company called RDNote. It s software that makes it easy for doctors to care about your diet and get dietary information into your medical records to make nutrition related diagnoses. It might sound a bit over dramatic to say this 30 minute conversation might change your life, but it just might. Photos at Commander s palace by Alison Moon.

You may have heard the expression, "The camera doesn t lie." Meaning, if you re looking at a photo of something, well, that s how it is. That may have been how it was before Photoshop and filters on Instagram. Photographs these days have a place in our lives they never had before. Among the millions of photos taken and posted every day for free, there are still photographers who make a living taking and selling photos. Darryl Glade s company, IMOTO Photo, takes photos specifically for real estate listings. And whether you buy or rent a house you can decorate it with photographs of iconic images of New Orleans and Louisiana by photographer Joshua Lee. You probably have a decent camera on your phone. And some free image editing software. So, you might reasonably ask yourself, why would I pay someone to take a photo of my house, or people at a second line The reason you shouldn t attempt this at home is in this Out to Lunch conversation. Ohotos in the courtyard at Commander s Palace by Alison Moon.

When we talk about the creative community in New Orleans we re usually referring to musicians. But there are other creative communities in New Orelans, including models, actors, and a range of professions on the other side of the cameras. People in these local communities have typically had to find work for themselves. That is until Elizabeth Perrin started up a creative agency called FiftyTwo45. Elizabeth Perrin joins Peter Ricchiuti for this edition of Out to Lunch. Elizabeth s history includes growing up in New Orleans and modeling in New York and Paris. Switching to the other side of the camera, Elizabeth became a fashion photographer, and spent 22 years working in the film business in Hollywood. All of these experiences combine to create the venture Elizabeth launched in in New Orleans in 2015 a full service talent and creative media agency called FiftyTwo45. Linda Shkreli is also a member of the New Orleans creative community. Dr Shkreli turned her back on a coveted position as a teacher of performance

Joseph Makkos answered an ad on Craig s List and ended up buying 30,000 perfectly preserved copies of The Times Picayune, dating back to 1885. Through his company NOLA DNA, Joseph is setting about packaging and selling the contents of that collection. Vincent Sciama is also a student of the history of New Orleans, especially our relationship with France. Vincent is France s representative here. Officially he s called the Consul General de France en Louisiane. As an ambassador on a tour of duty in New Orleans, Vincent has to suffer through French Quarter Festival, Jazz Fest, Mardi Gras, and all sorts of other grueling diplomatic duties. On this edition of Out to Lunch Peter Ricchiuti discovers whether that s as much fun as it sounds. And, in these days of declining newspaper readership, Peter finds out if you can make more money out of newspapers printed in 1885 than 2018. Photos at Commander s Palace by Alison Moon.

If there s one thing everybody around the world knows about New Orleans, it s that we were the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The other thing they probably know is, we re the birthplace of jazz. The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra was, for a time, one of the most successful and well funded jazz institutions in the city. Today, a new CEO, Sarah Bell, is guiding the orchestra out of the financial crisis it found itself in when its founder, Irvin Mayfield, ran afoul of the law. And one of the most influential voices of the city s recovery from Hurricane Katrina, Garland Robinette, has left radio to continue a career as a visual artist, co owning with his wife, Nancy Rhett, Robinette Studios. Artist and media luminary Garland Robinette, and NOJO CEO Sarah Bell join Peter Ricchiuti on this edition of Out to Lunch. We find out what it s like for Garland to go from being one of the city s most influential voices, to sitting down behind an easel, alone, painting. And find out from Sarah what it s like trying to run an orch

When you think of a business that s based on franchising, you probably think of places like Subway and McDonalds. But there are many more. There are over 750,000 franchise outlets in the U.S. Some of them might surprise you. Like Barre 3. They re workout studios that combine ballet barre with yoga and Pilates. There are 3 Barre 3 studios here in New Orleans, all owned by Kendall Carriere. Jeff Anderson is owner of the local franchise for Budget Blinds. Jeff didn t set out to be your local blind supplier. His path to window treatments meandered through business landscapes that include the wide open spaces of Montana and the stock exchange. Like blinds, and people, franchising comes in a wide range of shapes and sizes. On this edition of Out to Lunch, Peter Ricchiuti talks to Kendall and Jeff about why they chose franchising and how it s working for them. Photos at Commander s Palace by Alison Moon.

If you live in or have spent any time in New Orleans recently, this has probably happened to you. You re driving around town, or you walk out of a bar or restaurant, and you re suddenly confronted by a huge bunch of people on bikes. The bikes are all decorated and lit up like neon signs and these people seem to be having the best time ever. This is not a bunch of random friends. It s a group of people organized by a company called Bike Rite. Bike Rite provides the bikes, the music, the route, and the party. It s a whole lot of fun and a growing and successful business. Co founder of Bike Rite, Nick Reed, is Peter Ricchiuti s lunch guest. So is Dennis Pearse. Dennis is General Manager of The Roosevelt Hotel. The Roosevelt is one of the oldest and most luxurious hotels in the city. It s also the home of the legendary locals watering hole, the Sazerac Bar, and the city s most celebrated cabaret venue, the Blue Room. Tourists and locals meet, at Commander s Palace on this edition of Out to Lunch. Photos by Alison

You ve probably heard the expression, "follow the money." It usually refers to a method of tracking criminal activity. In entrepreneurial circles, following the money can lead to a lot more money. Or it can lead to absolutely nothing. Knowing which entrepreneurial idea to bet on is more art than science. Peggy Babin is CEO of a firm called Valmiki 504. It s the New Orleans branch of a Manhattan investment company and they re investing in local New Orleans startups. Allison Albert is the founder of a very unique New Orleans startup, called Pet Krewe. Pet Krewe is part of the seventy billion dollar pet industry in the United States. And they have a slice of that market to themselves. They re one of the only companies in the country who make costumes for cats and dogs. The great thing about this show and about life itself actually is you never know what s going to happen. One minute you re deciding between soup and salad, and the next you re talking to a Manhattan investor and a person who makes costumes for pet

If you ve been out to lunch yourself lately, you ve seen people sitting around a table, all looking at their phones. It s no longer an unusual sight. The boundary between the real world and the digital world is getting more blurred all the time. If you have a business, that blurred line is vital to navigate. Getting people to find you online and then selling them your product in the real world has become a specialized skill. One of the pioneers of developing that skill is digital marketer Will Scott, founder of a company based in New Orleans, called Search Influence. Eileen Chao is founder of a company called Interview Ready Now. Job searching these days requires two skills one, creating an online presence and, two, being able to live up to your own hype in a real world interview. Interview Ready Now guides job seekers through those steps. These days though, we don t just have to keep up with just changes in the digital and real worlds, we also have to keep up with the changing connection between the two worl

One of the knocks against New Orleans as a place to start up a business is that we can t be all that great or we would have produced a Google or Facebook or some sort of spectacular big bucks success by now. But, despite what you might think, not everybody wants to be a billionaire. Some people have a great idea for a small creative business. They don t need millions of dollars of venture capital they just need a bit of help to make it happen. That s where Kristy Oustalet and her creative business incubator, Venture Pop, come in. Aaron Walker is the founder of Camelback Ventures where they focus on investing in businesses founded by women and people of color. Camelback Ventures and Venture Pop are pioneering alternative approaches to business that are turning out to be as successful as they are unconventional. Photos at Commander s Palace by Alison Moon.