You’ve probably heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. At the foundation of the pyramid is our need for shelter and food.

Even if you’re a real New Orleanian and you think about food a lot, there’s a pretty good chance you don’t spend too much time pondering the 40 trillion bacteria living in your gut. Dr. Dale Pfost does.

Dale’s company, Microbiome Therapeutics, has launched a product called BiomeBliss. It’s a step up from probiotics. BiomeBliss is prebiotics.

On the basic need for shelter, Jonathan Tate and his company, OJT, are an architecture and design company who are taking a novel approach to where you live. They’re buying up irregular size lots that nobody wants in desirable New Orleans neighborhoods, and building irregular shaped homes with irregular low price tags.

Peter Ricchiuti goes Out to Lunch at Commander’s Palace with Dale, Jonathan, and a whole new look at our most fundamental human needs.

If you’re a regular follower of Out to Lunch and familair with New Orleans, this is another in the series of conversations – of which there seem to be an increasing number – colored with a certain incredulity that such original thinking and world-leading scientific break-throughs are happening here. 

Photos over lunch by Jill Lafleur.