It's Acadiana: Out to Lunch

There have always been people who believe the end of the world is just around the corner. Like people who say that honking at a red light makes it turn green, eventually they re going to be right. When the end of the world gets here, if you happen to be home in Acadiana, make sure you know where to find Peter s two lunch guests on this edition of Out to Lunch. Jess Fike will make sure you have fre...

As we have seen once again, as a result of the catastrophic rain and floods in recent weeks, one of the hallmarks of life in Acadiana, including business life, is an awareness of the importance of giving back. Both during times of urgent need, and in times of less urgency, one effective way of returning wealth to the community is by way of the Community Foundation of Acadiana. Since its founding i...

You ve probably seen the cartoon where a dog is sitting at a computer. He s looking down at his doggy friend, explaining to him, "On the internet, nobody knows you re a dog." Similarly, on the internet you can be a big dog in online business, a computing superstar, and nobody knows you re in Acadiana. Like, for example, Doug Menefee. Doug is a nationally recognized leader and innovator in technolo...

If you didn t live in Acadiana you d probably believe that the one constant around the world is time. In Acadiana we know that s not true. We don t divide up the year by traditional seasons. Unlike most places, it s too unpredictable. Some years we ll have a Spring that might last a week before the onslaught of Summer. Other years late Summer can provide Spring like Fall weather all the way to Tha...

The way this show works is, we invite a couple of people who are in business in Acadiana to have lunch. Usually, they re people who we think will get along, or might enjoy meeting each other, because they have similar business interests. On this edition of Out to Lunch we re changing things up. Peter s guests at the lunch table have nothing in common. Well, almost nothing. One of them is one of La...

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Somewhere along the line in the path of human progress we figured out fermentation. Eating fermented food might not have been all that useful in maintaining health and nutrition, but it sure felt good. And later, once we invented currency, people bought fermented goods in bottles and cans with romantic names that hinted at sophistication, like Budweiser, and Schlitz. Over the last decade, beer sop...

We live in a nation where we pride ourselves on individual achievement. When things go wrong, we look for reasons and explanations. When things go right, we put it down to our own hard work. And a little bit of luck. The truth is, of course, that achieving success or sometimes just managing to get through a day takes more than individual hard work and happenstance. Sometimes we plain and simple ne...

Cherry Fisher May, publisher of ABiz, sits in for Peter on this show to talk about healthcare. And dogs. If it seems like the conversation about healthcare in the United States is never ending, between the ever changing policies of your personal health insurance, and the government level debate over the Affordable Care Act, one thing is for sure about Acadiana healthcare nothing is going to change...

I m sure that like most folks around here living in Acadiana has advantages that you wouldn t trade for anything. But, despite the great food, music, and generally unbeatable lifestyle, I m sure you also assume there s only so much you can achieve here. Especially in business. Things like technology innovations. They come from Silicon Valley. Right Nationally known alcohol distilleries are in plac...

One of the pieces of advice you often hear when you re deciding on a career is, "Do something you love." Inherent in this advice is the underlying assumption that "work" and things you love like enjoying yourself are two distinctly different undertakings. When we re kids that distinction is way more blurred. Everything can be fun. Even school. Starting with Pre school. Jonathan Pearce is having 4...

If you ve been out to dinner, drinks, or hung out with friends over the last couple of years, there s a good chance you ve been in more than one conversation about the state of the energy business in Acadiana. Here at Out to Lunch we ve talked about it a lot too. And we ve finally come up with a great idea. What if we talked to people about the energy business who actually know what they re talkin...

Cherry Fisher May, publisher of Acadiana s business magazine ABiz, sits in for Peter Ricchiuti on this edition of Out to Lunch. Cherry admits she doesn t have any NPR, Out to Lunch or ABiz research to back this up, but statistically she estimates per square inch there s more great food in Acadiana than anywhere in the nation. Because you live here and maybe were even raised here, you know all abou...

One of the traditional instruments in Cajun music is the triangle. Although it couldn t be much more basic, its simple presence forms the foundation of many songs. There s another kind of fundamental triangle that distinguishes and connects three sides of Acadiana rural life, city life, and Cajun culture. This edition of Out to Lunch today s show looks at businesses dedicated to maintaining each o...

If you grew up in an average home or you re growing up in an average home today "business" can seem like something very foreign. Something that people who wear suits do. Something that requires going to business school. And that means spending your life in a boring office, going to meetings, and being that obnoxious person at the airport obsessively pounding away at a laptop. If that s what you th...

Acadiana is known for many things. From the outside, it s mostly zydeco and alligators. But when you live here, one of the things you appreciate most is the pace of life itself. Folks take time to stop, talk, and listen to each other. So, it s ironic that this relaxed attitude has produced one of Louisiana s most successful and innovative businessmen whose businesses are all about speed and conven...

There s an old saying in business that s half joke and half warning and can be applied to any location. In this case let s say Acadiana. "Do you know how to make a small fortune in Lafayette Start with a big one." Of course it s much easier to lose money than to make it, but the fear of failure doesn t scare off the usually young person with real entrepreneurial fire in their belly. The trick is c...

Living in a place rich in traditions like Acadiana doesn t mean everything stays the same. Quite the opposite. Here, tradition is something that creative and business people continually nourish and grow. Some literally, like Brian Gotreaux. Brian and his family developed Gotreaux Family Farms, growing traditional food from veggies to tilapia in a way that s both traditional and modern. A few gener...

Many of us have dreams of quitting the nine to five and doing what we really want. For many different reasons, that mostly remains a dream. Although it s often said in sarcasm, Peter s guests on Out to Lunch Mark Boudreaux, Janie Varisco, and Skylar Manuel are in fact living the dream. Their stories are very different, but they re all equally inspirational. Mark Boudreaux spent nearly 40 years in...

In Acadiana we re quick to acknowledge the incredible talents of our Cajun and Zydeco musicians. Which is pretty natural. After all, if they re not going to come from Acadiana, where are they going to come from In other styles of music and the arts where we don t have the field all to ourselves, the interesting thing is we have an equally talented array of artists. Some of them are natives. Others...

Acadiana is known for entertainment. If you don t play in a band yourself, someone in your family almost certainly does. There s music everywhere from small house parties to giant festivals. But there s more to life than music. For example, comedy. There s a genre of Cajun comedy, typified by our friend Boudreaux. Boudreaux usually appears to be a na ve country boy at the beginning of the joke, bu...

The conventional wisdom about starting a new business is, target a specific market. Dustin Melancon and his wife Jennifer decided to throw that idea out the window. Instead they set out to manufacture a product that can be enjoyed by Sophisticates and Punks. What product could satisfy that wide of a target market Cupcakes. Sophi P Cakes a self described "cup cakery" has been in business in Lafayet...

In the United States people congregate for entertainment in buildings, like multiplex movie theaters, or dedicated chunks of real estate like Broadway in New York, and Disney World in Florida. Here in Acadiana, we have a parallel universe of popular entertainment. None of it involves massive permanent construction. It requires only an open field or a blocked off street. Here we congregate for fest...

The saying "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" assumes a democracy of things. Meaning every object, from a speck of sand to a skyscraper, has the potential for beauty, if we decide it s beautiful. Even if you believe that to be true, you have to admit that some objects are just more obviously beautiful than others. On this edition of Out to Lunch, Independent and ABiz publisher Cherry Fisher Ma...

Jourdan Thibodeaux says there s no truth to the saying that the two things you don t want to see being made are suasages and legislation. Well, he s sure about susages anyway. Justin is part of family business Comeaux s, one of the sausage and boudin grand masters of Acadiana. Kyle Waters likes the meditative ritual of making sausages. Kyle s the chef at Social on Johnston Street, a Lafayette dini...