Lists used to be the stuff of clickbait. Now even venerable outlets like the New York Times regularly publish lists. Including the Times’ list of the 25 best restaurants in New Orleans.

Those of us who live here know there are so many good restaurants and so much good music in New Orleans, we could make every episode of Out to Lunch about food and music and never exhaust the list of great places to eat, and great music to listen to.

We’re not going to do that. But to make some sort of headway we’ve come up with an efficient idea: talk to someone who owns seven restaurants, and to someone who makes ALL of New Orleans music.

You might be saying, “Wait up. How does one person make ALL of New Orleans music?” Scott Borne does, simply by owning New Orleans Record Press. It’s the city’s first and only independently owned and operated vinyl record manufacturing plant. And these days almost everybody puts out an O.G. vinyl record when they’re releasing new music.

Scott Borne, Co-Owner of New Orleans Record Press, notes that record sales remain high even as fewer people have turntables because fans buy records to support artists at live gigs

Rami Bader, along with his brother, owns seven New Orleans restaurants. They’re grouped under the banner of the Oceana Grill Group, and they include The Oceana Grill, Bobby Hebert’s Cajun Canon, Olde NOLA Cookery and Mambo’s Restaurant and Rooftop Bar.

Rami Bader, Co-Owner and Vice President of Operations of the Oceana Group, manages 380 employees in 7 restaurants that he and his brother started from scratch

One thing Scott and Rami have in common – besides both being involved in fundamental planks of the New Orleans economy – is, the market for both of their products is, literally, insatiable. No matter how much we enjoy a meal today, you can guarantee we’re going to be hungry again tomorrow. And no matter how much we enjoy listening to a record, you can guarantee we’re going to want to listen to another one.

Even with all the changes and challenges in music and hospitality, the rewards of their hard work are shared by all of us who take away the memory of a great meal, or a record that lives forever.

Rami Bader, Scott Borne, Peter Ricchiuti, Out Lunch at The Columns Hotel

Out to Lunch was recorded live over lunch at Columns in Uptown New Orleans. Photos by Jill Lafleur.