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. Then 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. 

After Michael’s inspirational address on the meaning of altruism, teamwork and respect Margo is about to throw in her job as the host of a podcast and join Michael’s church. Ray is more likely to join Nick in his exercise-heavy lifestyle (from yoga to triathalons) on the principle of the more you work out the more you can eat. As for you, by the end of this show you’ll be either at the Little Gem Saloon or googling it.