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What s the difference between God and a Goddess The former is everywhere and the latter is in one place at a time, right NOLA Food Goddess Lori Gaudin comes mighty close to challenging that definition. Ray and Margo do their best to list all Lorin s culinary exploits from blogs to cookbooks, podcasts, TV shows, social media, and radio programs, but the list of achievements pales like vanilla against the colorful conversation about Lorin s life. From disparate childhood influences to daring early forays into love and food, from the Paris of South, New Orleans, to the real deal Parisian cooking school, from omnivore eating to the tyranny of Celiac disease and her attendant blog about it, My Stupid Stomach, Lorin Gaudin s fearless tell all defines what makes a Goddess. Kim Ranjbar and Lorin have been buddies since their early post Katrina experiences threw them together. Kim tells the story behind her wildly popular column Weekend Cheat Sheet, in which she chronicles her weekly indulgences in her one day a week deviating from her diet. Kim s prolific NOLA food footprint is quickly catching up to Lorin s, with a regular column in Where Y at, her Suck The Heads blog, and her tell it like tastes NOLA Food Porn. On the other side of the table, Chris Kehoe and Mary Ross produce and direct Midnight Menu 1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Chef Richard Papier still remembers when Mexican food in New Orleans meant Taco Bell. And he s not that old. Chef Richard is changing how we experience Mexican dishes with authentic recipes from Mexico steeped in his fine dining training working alongside Emeril, Susan Spicer, Nathaniel Zymet, Donald Link and Guillermo Peters. Chef Richard s new Uptown restaurant on Magazine Street is a few thousand giant steps up from Nacho Mama s, the space it now occupies. Arana Taqueria y Cantina is the real deal Yucatan soaked flavors paired with the only imported Mexican craft beer in town and a range of fine tequilas. If you think the leap from Nacho Mama s to Arana is about the most incomparable comparison you could imagine, how about this one the leap from Cairo, Egypt to Ocean Springs, Mississippi. That s the trajectory Cal Zayed s life took. Cal is Arana s front of house face and a tequila sophisticate who turns drinking tequila into an art form. Cal can take you on a flight with the finest tequilas from Mexico or have you climb a tequila ladder from ground to kissing the sky. Just don t ask him about "angry grapes" raisins or how those dancing raisins from the TV ads back in the day terrorized him as a child and haunt him still. Chef Richard s and Cal s complementary pasts, tastes, humor and passion make for a lively night out, whether it s at Arana or here on Midnight Menu 1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bar B Q ain t what it used to be when dad threw a few ribs and chickens on the grill, pretty much forgot about it while he got loaded on crappy beer and we all had to pray mom s potato salad was edible before we were forced to accompany it with various forms of carbon which we just knew would give us all cancer. Well, we survived. And just as well because we ve lived long enough to learn to bar b q right thanks to the pride of Mid City, Colleen Rush. Colleen wrote the 10 commandments of bar b q, Low and Slow, and now she s back with the new testament, Low and Slow 2. Colleen s 1 is legendary NOLA writer and blogger, Deborah "Big Red" Cotton. Big Red is the world authority on second lines and street parades. Believe it or not, despite the century plus history of parading and Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs in New Orelans, nobody had thought to provide a centralilzed resource for all that info till Big Red came along. As she says to Ray and Margo, if nothing else it ties up traffic for 4 hours on a Saturday, wouldn t you think people would like to know about that Apparently they do, and that s why Big Red is so big. Check out the fabulous new NOLA Brewing Tap Room. It s truly awesome. These crappy photos don t begin to do it justice.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many things in life are not as simple as they appear. That goes for sausage. And hogshead cheese. And hearts, bellies, snouts, stomachs and every part of an animal you could butcher that ends up in a meat product or on a smoker. Chris Roos aka The Rooster is a meat broker. A meat middle man whose company Holton MeatsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If it's fresh, lives in La and you can throw it in the back of a truck it's at PecheSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you re the type of New Orleanian who "goes out" meaning you spend time in bars or music clubs and tend to see the same couple of hundred faces, some of whom you know by name and some of whom you just recognize Joe Armitage is a fellow traveler. Joe has been working in restaurants around New Orleans for, by his own reckoning, 30 years. And he s only 43. For about the same amount of time he s been playing in bands around town. So if you go out there s a fair chance you know Joe. Most recently you would ve known him as the manager of Sammich, the uniquely New Orleans take on a sandwich shop on Maple Street. Hopefully you enjoyed eating at Sammich and talking to Joe prior to reading this because, if you didn t know already, as of this week Sammich is no more. Joe s looking at his next incarnation as a swing of the pendulum back to the music side of his life. It might have been food and it might have been music that brought Joe and his plus one Aron Lambert together lo those 30 years ago when they were both starting out on a shared parallel food and music track. Aron s family owns and operates Preservation Hall and Aron plays in the vaunted NOLA royalty that is the Treme Brass Band.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you want to know what really goes on at Stein s Deli, Bouligny, Bellocq, Cellar Door, and you want the answer from a chef to the age old question "Do chefs spit in people s food " this show might have everything you re looking for. Then again, everything in this conversation could be a total lie. It s hard to tell. When mixologist, maitre D and film maker Mike Yusko one of our favorite all time guests asked Midnight Menu 1 if he could shoot a scene for his upcoming movie on our show we readily agreed. What follows is Mike shows up with his sidekick, acclaimed chef Wayne Corbett, and buddy Guy Lyman from Guy Lyman Gallery, a neighbor to Bouligny Tavern. The show starts with Mike explaining he s shooting a movie about guys shooting a movie and this scene on Midnight Menu 1 is the characters in the movie appearing on Midnight Menu 1. Except Mike and Wayne and Guy who calls himself Gary in the movie are actually on Midnight Menu 1 in real life as well as in the movie about guys making a movie.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Domenica link1 Chef Alon Shaya explains how an Israeli living in New Orleans fell in love with Italy and Italian food and why cooking it is a way of life. His surprise 1 is the real deal. link1 http www.domenicarestaurant.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meredith Timberlake brings along 40 pounds of Haydel s Bakery King Cake to share with Margo and Ray on Midnight Menu 1. In an "only in New Orleans" way of life, Meredith works off her day job king cake by being a cross fit trainer and a power weight lifter. Meredith s 1, Cornell Landry, started out owning restaurants and cooking. When he discovered he could write children s books Cornell left the restaurant business but didn t entirely leave food out of his stories. Cornell is the author of the Bead Dog books, inspired by the Haydel s Bakery bead dog, and also of local kids favorite, Goodnight NOLA. Meredith tells a wide range of tales on this show including growing up around the world from Alabama to Guatanamo, and Cornell tells some wild stories about chauffering actress Faye Dunaway which he groups under the title "Driving Miss Crazy."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the amazing crazy world of Tony Tocco, circling the Earth at 5x the speed of life. Ray accurately describes Tony as having an influence on more hip New Orleans places than almost anybody in town. Tony was on the floor the night Bayona opened, spent a decade at Gautreau s, was the co founder of Snake and Jake s Xmas Club Lounge, The Circle Bar, and his current super success, Atchafalya. Tony s plus one, David "Feel No" Payne, has an equally storied NOLA dining pedigree spanning Bayona, NOLA, Galataoire s, among a laundry list of other notable eateries. Tony and Feel No are equally matched sides of the same coin, their most stark difference being Feel No still has a flip phone and Tony is the creator of a groundbreaking app, Specialus. Specialus allows chefs and restaurateurs to get around the filter of dining review apps, like Yelp, and talk directly to customers. Chefs or servers make a short video showcasing the restaurant s nightly special and showing a hand held phone sweep around the restaurant so diners get to see the food and the space for themselves, without having to wade through a hundred amateur reviewers opinions. Margo is out of town on the beach in Bali. Her tan will fade but she ll never get over missing this classic edition of Midnight Menu 1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you re looking at the title of this show, Two Girls One Shuck and think the name of this oyster shucking duo is a play on the f word, you re in a better place than knowing the truth. Don t, for the love of God, Google "Two Girls One Cup." Your life will never be the same. Becky Wasden and Stefani Sel met one unlikely evening in a straight bar in Salt Lake City after every lesbian in the state of Idaho had spilled out of a Melissa Etheridge concert. They ve been together ever since and when another magical night found them shucking oysters in a New Orleans back yard because they were hungry and everyone else was too drunk to shuck, well, shucks, yes, and more shucks, and now they re professional shuckers. If Becky and Stefani ever have kids they ll be mothershuckers, and that s probably about all the lady oyster shucker references we can fit in this space but you ll never spend a more entertaining hour than hanging out with these two shuck sharing gals at The Nola Brewing Tap Room.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Phil Minissale visited New Orleans for the first time when he was 17. An impressionable age, Phil got the bug and as the years unfolded found himself visiting the city as often as he could get here. As a traveling songwriter, Phil made his way through New Orleans on extensive tours, either playing the Blue Nile or Neutral Ground Coffeehouse each year. In 2012, with nothing but a fierce impulsive desire, Phil stuffed his 97 Civic Hatchback may she RIP with all his clothes, guitars, and potato chips. He found a place right off Napoleon and St. Charles, and not long after met an amazing community of artists, eventually befriending James Michalopoulos, owner of Celebration Distillation. Reminiscent of Old Time Traveling Medicine Shows, Phil sells New Orleans "elixirs," better known as Old New Orleans Rum and Gingeroo. Phil still plays out, sharing his acoustic folk and blues music. In a first for Midnight Menu 1 Phil plays live for Ray and Margo and the delighted assortment of folks at The NOLA Brewing Tap Room.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nick Bazan started out washing dishes at Shoney s in New Orleans East. Two years later he was the longest serving and hardest working sucka in the history of Shoney s, still making a little over minimum wage as a line cook, working "It s illegal by the way" 12 hour shifts without a break. The he wised up, got the heck outa there and started on a career working the gamut of famous New Orleans restaurants till he ended up as an owner of Rio Mar and now the historic Little Gem Saloon. If the walls of the Little Gem Saloon could talk they d have quite a story to tell. The Little Gem is inextricably entwined with the birth of jazz and the rise of Louis Armstrong from childhood to star. Nick tells the fascinating story on this edition of Midnight Menu 1 plus the story of the fateful day he, Nick not Louis Armstrong, met Michael Shelton. Michael is Nick s 1 on this show and the chef at Little Gem, but he might also be the mayor of New Orleans, the mayor s speech writer, a motivational speaker or a preacher.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you're the type of person who love's sushi with a passion, then you're probably like Cheryl Lemoine. If you're the type of person who creates an entire festival around sushi, and then comes onto Midnight Menu 1 to talk about it, then you most likely are Cheryl Lemoine. Cheryl sits down with Ray and Margo this week to discuss the second annual New Orleans Sushi Fest and Competition. But Cheryl isn't just the brains behind Sushi Fest; she also works for Renaissance publishing and enjoys rabbit brains when traveling in Spain. If sushi isn't your thing, have no worries there will still be plenty of other types of food at Sushi Fest, prepared by some of the New Orleans' finest restaurateurs, such as Scot Craig, owner of Katie's Restaurant and Bar. Scot is also Cheryl's plus one so he joins in to talk about first purchasing Katie's, employing his mother, and why skipping law school was the best decision he's ever made.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ironically it s the worlds crappiest coffee that started the international "second wave" of coffee drinking that continues to crank up the world on caffeine. Having gotten us all hooked, the green St Joan of coffee watches implacably from her ubiquitous seal as those with more discerning taste enter the era known as The 3rd Wave of Coffee, pursuing an ever growing flight to quality.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Calling Luke Deadnettlez a barista is a little like calling Richard Branson a businessman, or Mick Jagger a vocalist. While it s essentially true, the job description doesn t begin to do justice to the scope of their influence. Luke holds court daily at Zotz coffee shop on Oak Street. He doesn t own the place that distinction belongs to a couple Luke describes as "Old school New Orleans Goths" but Luke s been there for a decade and his brand of intensity, humor, politics, and ambiguous relationship with normalcy permeates the place to such a degree that Zotz has a brand as a New Orleans coffee shop every bit as defined as Starbucks brand. If Starbucks was a cave peopled by every type of Crescent City coffee drinker from a marginally functional crack addict to a Presbyterian pastor with a pompadour. Luke Deadnettlez two thirds of his real name given to him at birth in Prattville Alabama is a gay man in a loving relationship with a woman, the father of two children, a communist, permaculturist, universalist, ex acid swallowing ex Tulane architecture student who, if he doesn t and he probably does, should give thanks every day for the existence of New Orleans where he is able to live the life he wants and not just survive but thrive, shine and be a star in a caffeinated galaxy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you catch and smoke a raccoon, an event that involves neither a farm or table, is that strictly "farm to table" That is just one of the many vexing questions posed by the annual Eat Local Challenge in which you re challenged to eat only locally sourced foods for 30 days. Eric Bucich is a board member of the Eat Local Challenge. He s a raccoon smoker. And he eats bugs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Of all the TV shows, radio shows and podcasts about food of all the years of restaurant reviews in newspapers probably nothing has revolutionized dining out more than the smart phone app, Yelp. Yelp puts the power of approval or disapproval of a restaurant in the hands of regular people. But it also means in New Orleans that tourists have discovered every great little neighborhood restaurant that we used to consider local. That s just one of the daily issues that local Yelp Community Manager Morgan Ford has to deal with. Morgan is one of only 120 Yelp Community Managers worldwide. The local community she manages is one of delighted business owners when things go right online, mightily disgruntled restaurant owners when diners post pissed off reviews, and a wide assortment of local businesses and non profits who partner with Yelp in all kinds of interesting ways. If you re wondering how you get a cool job like Morgan s, meet Johnny Culpepper. Johnny was Morgan s colleague at Old New Orleans Rum, now he s Director of Sales at DPD Distillery, makers of Rougaroux Rum and other local sugarcane field specialties. Johnny s story of how he got to do what he s doing takes an even more only in New Orleans twist than Morgan s, involving Chris Owens and Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras Day. This Midnight Menu 1 is a lively look at the intersection of app not appetizer dining, booze, Mardi Gras, 610 Stomping, and an examination of the bizarre claim that the best food in New Orleans comes in a plastic box at Langenstein s supermarket.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ray and Margo sit down at an especially lively night at the Nola Tap Room to welcome our first official returning guest, Gia Di Leo of Green to Go. Gia has to shout to be heard over the noise, but she s so excited that she d probably be shouting anyway, because Gia is just days away from opening Green to Go s first brick and mortar storeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.