There’s a question that gets tossed around in the local music business. “What is New Orleans music?” Is it only music that has a distinct New Orleans vibe, like Professor Longhair or Dumpstaphunk? Or is a singer/songwriter like Andrew Duhon or a Latin band like The Iguanas making New Orleans music because they’re New Orleanians?
The real-world conclusion seems to be – something about New Orleans inevitably seeps into all music that’s made here. And it’s the same with business. My two lunch guests on today’s Out to Lunch both started businesses unrelated to New Orleans. But there’s still something inescapably New Orleanian about them.
Ashwin Vilkhu, Executive Chef & Owner of The Kingsway, an upscale Southeast Asian restaurant on Magazine Street in New Orleans, almost directly across the street from Saffron, the Indian cuisine restaurant he operates with his legendary restaurateur father, Arvinda, and his mother, Chef Pardeep.
Ashwin Vilkhu is the chef and owner of The Kingsway, his debut solo restaurant that opened Uptown on Magazine Street in 2025. The Kingsway is a fine-dining restaurant featuring contemporary Asian cuisine, influenced by Ashwin’s family history, their Indian restaurant, and The Kingsway’s focus on fresh, local ingredients.
Shay Claiborne, creator of Milestone Mate, the child development app that tracks a child’s progress from 0-5. It’s used by child development and health professionals, including pediatricians, and by parents
Shay Claiborne is Founder and CEO of a company and product called Milestone Mate, an app for both parents and professionals that tracks the developmental progress of children aged zero to five. It allows parents to see if their child’s developmental progress is within expected parameters, and offers guidance when it’s not.
For professionals, the app provides referral tracking and documentation, secure communication with families, and a dashboard for monitoring child progress across their practice caseload.
Shay is a child development professional and a mother, which is kind of the same thing but not quite.
Server Patricia Carbrera, Peter Ricchiuti, Ashwin Vilkhu, Shay Claiborne, Out to Lunch at Columns in Uptown new Orleans
Out to Lunch was recorded live over lunch at Columns in Uptown New Orleans. Photos by Jill Lafleur.
