It’s New Orleans: Out to Lunch

Hosted ByPeter Ricchiuti

OUT TO LUNCH finds the country's most entertaining finance professor Peter Ricchiuti conducting business New Orleans style: over lunch. Each week Peter invites guests from the New Orleans business world to join him, sometimes for fine dining others for pizza. From CEO's to startups, managers, musicians, biomed needle-movers, Silicon Bayou success stories and entrepreneurs of all stripes put aside the elevator pitch and the talking points and actually enjoy themselves. It's business, New Orleans style.
You can also hear the show on WWNO 89.9FM.

Pop Your Top Off – Out to Lunch – It’s New Orleans

You’d have to be a certain age and have a certain kind of musical taste to remember Peter Allen singing, “All our dreams will come true again, when everything old is new again.” Today on Out to Lunch Peter is talking with two business people who are taking old fashioned taste and recycling it for a new market. Their businesses couldn’t be more different. But their reinvention of products based on a more innocent past are strangely similar.  

john petersen

John Petersen is taking Louisiana sugar cane and natural local flavors like Ponchatoula strawberries, satsumas, and ginger, and bottling it as soft drink with the label Swamp Pop.

bella blue

Bella Blue is taking us back to a time long before Bourbon Street was home to Hustler, with her New Orleans School of Burlesque.

john petersen, bella blue

The phenomenal success of Swamp Pop is surprising, even to John. He puts it down partially to his company’s approach to marketing Swamp Pop as a treat rather than as a thirst quencher.

john petersen, bella blue

Bella explains that, along with New York, New Orleans was the home of Burlesque when it was born in the mid 1800’s and with performances and classes flourishing, is again leading the way in its resurgence.

peter ricchiuti

Photos taken over lunch in the wine room at Commander’s Palace by Alison Moon.