October 15, 2025 • 54 mins
A third-generation New Orleans restaurateur of the famed Brennan family, Dickie Brennan is Owner/Managing Partner of Dickie Brennan & Co. whose restaurants include Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse, Bourbon House and Tableau (French Quarter), Pascal's Manale and The Commissary Kitchen + Market (Garden District), Acorn Café (Louisiana Children’s Museum) and Audubon Clubhouse by Dickie Brennan & Co. (Uptown). Brennan is a cofounder of the nonprofit New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute (NOCHI).
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The Connected Table is broadcast live Wednesdays at 2PM ET and Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com).
The Connected Table Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:11):
On our web.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
No liability, explicit or implied shall be extended to W
four CY Radio or it's employees are affiliates. Any questions
or comments should be directed to those show hosts. Thank
you for choosing W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hello, and welcome to the Connected Table Live where your
hosts Melanie Young and David Ransom. You're insatiably curious culinary couple.
We travel the world to bring you the amazing people
we meet in the places we visit, and the food
we drink and the wines we sip, just because we
want you to get out there and explore and expand
(01:01):
your comfort zone and enjoy life to the fullest. Because
you know, for some people, it's Wednesday, but we're in
New Orleans and it's every day is a great day
in New Orleans, right.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Absolutely, Melanie, And we're actually back in New Orleans. We
just got back from Italy. Yeah, and they always say
whenever they see you in New.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Orleans, welcome home, welcome home.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
So we are welcome home.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
And we feel home. And we try every month on
the Connected Table at the Spotlight somebody amazing who's really
shaped the amazing culinary history and hospitality that New Orleans offers.
And we kind of landed a whale on this one
because we've been hoping to have our guests on Dicky Brennan,
but we had to like sit down and have launch
(01:42):
po us and sit down again to know them better,
because that's our policy. We got to know our guests
before we have them on the show. And what's really
amazing is we've had the way great Ella Brennan on
and Tie Adelai Martin and Lally Brennan and Ralph Brennan
because we knew him whatnot, and it's been on, but
we've always wanted Dicky, So finally we have him today
(02:05):
and it's amazing because he's a busy guy, but he's
graciously given us some time today on the Connected Table
Life and I'm a quick intro. So Dicky Brennan is
part of the esteemed Brennan family, which is synonymous with
New Orleans Hospitality. He's a third generation restaurateur who grew
(02:26):
up just blocks from Commander's Palace. He played in the
fountain at Brennan's where his dad was involved with the
Brennan's restaurant on Royal Street. He's had the trained professional
chef who has worked with some pretty incredible people, and
of course he worked into the tutelage of the late
Great Paul Prudome. He is currently owner and managing partner
(02:48):
of Dicky Brennan and Company, whose restaurants include Dickie Brennan Steakhouse,
Bourbon House and Tableau, all in the historic French Quarter
and the backdrop is Tableau where we had lunch with Dickie.
He also has Pascal Manali's. He's taken over the oversight
of that historic restaurant which we'll talk about, and the
(03:09):
Commissary Kitchen and Market in the Garden District of New Orleans,
Acorn Cafe in the Louisiana Children's Museum, and also Auto
the Clubhouse by Dickie Brennan in beautiful Automa Park. So
he gets around round round. Moreover, he's co founder with
his cousin t La Martin, of the New Orleans Culinary
and Hospitality Institute, lovingly known as NOKI, which provides professional
(03:33):
training two students who aspire to work in the culinary business,
whether it's in a restaurant or catering. We just went
to Cooking for a cause and got to talk to
some of the students who've launched catering careers. It's an
amazing place.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
And he's he's very passionate about educating the next generation.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
As well and New Orleans hospitality. So we like to say,
welcome home, Welcome Dickie Brennan to the Connected table.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Live Wow, good afternoon, Welcome glad. Yeah, I can't wait
to hear about it. Where's my dad say?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Italy, Italy, Italy, Italy when.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
You grow up in the Irish Channel. I mean, that's
kind of we talked a little different here in New Orleans, right, Let's.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Talk about that Irish Channel. So a lot of people,
you know, including all the Italians, don't understand that that
New Orleans is a mosaic. They don't even realize how
much Italian culture is here. But there's also a lot
of Irish culture here. And your family is a big
Irish American family. Talk to us about where you know,
there their origins and when they arrived here and a
(04:35):
little bit of it. What's like to grow up with
thirteen cousins?
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Oh wow, you know we I guess the Brennan's my
family came during the Irish Famine. And my understanding is
we went to Boston and we didn't stay there long
and ended up in New Orleans. And with that, what
I do know is my grandfather was in the Irish
(04:59):
Channel where he had six kids, he and my grandmother
Nellie Valentine Brennan and uh so, and he was in
he worked in a shipyard on the West Bank, so
the Oris Channels, you know by the garden dish on
the East Bank, and he was during depression and he
(05:21):
would bring as many men as he could they go
to the West Bank to work, and he wore a
suit to go to the job site, then put on
his work clothes and when he'd come home in his
suit and then you know, but he just kind of
had some pride and was doing that. And the six kids,
(05:42):
you know, the next generation my uncle and the oldest
was real entrepreneur and you know we uh we ended
up running a bar on Berger Street called the Old
absent House back in the forties and my aunt Adelaide
was helping out a lot. She'd work retail on Canal
Street and then joined him at nighttime at the old
(06:03):
absent House. It was a piano far back then. It's
still a very well known water hole. But Bat's Pijon
Sweet Emma with the piano players, and you had, you know,
the wonderful restaurants across the street from us, and so
that was you know, my uncle Owen got us into that.
And then eventually across the street was a it was
(06:25):
the old Uker restaurant late forties fifty maybe nineteen fifty,
and it became available and so the Brennan's from the
Irish channel running the old apsent House, decided to open
a restaurant on Berger Street, and Mayan Adelaide was like,
we're doing something. We're doing nice, well nice in New
(06:45):
Orleans was French restaurant. So I said, the Irish Brennans
open Brennan's French restaurant. And for people that know New Orleans,
right next to Arno's, half a block away from the
gallat wise and around the corner was Antoine's, the oldest
(07:06):
restaurant in America all run by classical trained Frenchmen. So
for us to want to open a French restaurant next
to them, I wish I was around the night when
they were sitting in the bar. We're going to do this.
I bless America. And it's been an incredible journey and
a dream that my family's been able to live. And
(07:27):
so I'm third generation and my kids are in the business.
A lot of my cousins, their kids are coming in
the business. So interesting story it.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Did the count say something like, what's an irishman? How's
an irishman going to run a fine French dining restaurant?
Speaker 4 (07:45):
They were like, because Count Arnaut, I don't know why
he was called count, but he ran Arno's and it
was Caddy corner to the old absent house. And then
he and my uncle were like best of friends, but
they just get at and one day my uncles hell,
I could run a French restaurant better than you. And
not too long after that that was the availability of
(08:07):
this restaurant next to us, and so we said, let's
give it a shot. But you know that those times,
I wish I could have the flashback of those days,
you know, we grew up, me and my cousins, with
my aunts and uncles and a lot of dear friends,
just hearing these wonderful stories about Bourbon Street and you know,
(08:31):
just the way it was. I mean, it was just amazing.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yeah, you know, I came. I think I told you
at lunch. I came when I was a little girl,
eleven and my parents sent me on the grand tour
and I remember having breakfast at Brennan's and having the
egg Sardo and Dad had something with Marsha and de
Van sauce, which is like that. It was all first,
you know, they let me have a milk punch, had
the bananas foster and it's just an inredible experience. It's
(09:00):
that everybody needs to do well.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
That's you know, everywhere you go you have the culture
and what I really value in growing up in New Orleans,
and it's not the New Orleanians. It's we have about
a two hundred and fifty miles drive in radius, you know,
and these are it would be the grandfather saying, get
in the car, we're going to New Orleans. And so
the kids, the grandkids, kids are with the parents and
(09:25):
grandparents and they would come New Orleans so they could
experience these wonderful restaurants. I mean, they were a classic.
You know, it would be like you're in back in
the old world, you know, in Paris, and so you'd
have to dress up as a kid. You go into
these restaurants and you'd have this spine dining experience with
professional waiters and you know, and that's just the smells
(09:47):
and the sounds. Is you know when we did banana foster,
I mean that dining room when a table all of
a sudden it's having a banana foster. Everyone in the
room is seeing this flombay going I'm gonna have of that.
But the smell and you just I know, like you said,
you you know that experience as a kid coming into
(10:07):
the city and just having those experience in the restaurant.
So I mean, you know, to be in the restaurants,
be a chef or restauranteur. But nor Lan's is unique,
and you know, not many places do it the way
we do it and would continue to do it. It's
(10:27):
it's every generation continues to do it. These restaurants are
still provide the same experience for the next generation. I
love that part of our culture.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
I read that you wanted to You knew at age
nine when you were shooting strong into the Fountain rennand
you wanted to be a chef. And you and and
I think your I read your dad, senior, Richard Senior
kind of wanted you to go try and see the
world and do some other stuff. First, how did that
go about? Because I know you would lsu But where
(11:01):
did you train to become a chef?
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Well, you know when our family in sixty nine is
when we bought Commander's Palace, and that was I grew
up in a house two blocks from Commanders. And when
mister Moran, who owned Commanders, had passed away, Dad walks
up to the restaurant to pay his respects and miss
Moran and you know, she's in her eighties and she's like,
(11:24):
you know, I just I don't want to run a restaurant.
My kids aren't interested. And he's like, well, me and
my brothers, sisters, we live in the neighborhood, We go
downtown the French Court of work every day. I mean,
if you want to sell the restaurant, let me know.
And what was interesting is all of our you know,
the bank, our attorney, our accountants are all like, don't
touch that place. I mean it was very run down,
(11:47):
and my Dad's like, you know, his brothers says like, no,
we would love to have a shot at that. So
they bought it. So that was sixty nine. So I'm
nine years old, and so I mean that point, you know,
if your dad was a basketball coach, you grew up
in the gym. Well, when I'd come home at nine
years old on my bus, I'd go to the restaurant.
(12:09):
See what was I mean? I just hung out there,
you know, and I had a big appetite. So I
did a lot of eating there at the restaurant in
the afternoons. But so we we had. And then in
seventy four, the senior generation split up the business. So
instead of my dad and ant Ella and dining uncle
(12:30):
John in Adelaide working at Brennan's, they moved to Commanders
and my dad's oldest brother, Owen, who had passed away
history son, stayed at the original Brennan's and so they
had to start over. I mean they really built Brennan's
(12:51):
for twenty years, breakfast to Brennan's, but they had to
start over at Commanders. And so I mean here that
was in the seventy four. So I'm a teenage and
just watching they had They had a lot of wisdom
at that point. They had done with it, but to
go there and see what they were doing on a
daily basis, and they wanted to get away from the
(13:14):
French chefs. They wanted an American chef. And Paul Prudon
when he was younger, was a bus boy at the
Brennan's on Bourbon Street, and when he left his he
was he started cooking and so they you know, it's
a big small town, soy knew Paul had been cooking,
(13:35):
and so they're like, let's see what Paul's up to.
So Paul comes to Commanders with Dad nan Ellen and
it's going to be this American chef and everything we
wanted to do. My dad would like walk to the
restaurant and he'd said, Paul, why are we doing trout
domond dean, I've never seen an almond tree in my life.
(13:56):
He's like, I'm stepping on pecans. Why don't we do pecan?
And so in the seventies, their whole thing was let's
be a regional American restaurant. I think they always I
know my dad hated being an irishman saying he was
running a French restaurant. And his solution or his dream was,
(14:16):
I want to run an American restaurant. And so because
of all that background history, that was the path Cavaders
was on way back in the seventies, early seventies was
we're going to do regional food. We want the farmers,
we want to do farmer table. We knew the fishermen,
and you know, I got to see all that as
(14:38):
a kid. And when we celebrate Commanders being a hundred
years old, it was like in eighty one or something
like that. We did a menu, we did a dinner,
and all the fine dining restaurant tours around the country
that would go to Chicago for the Holiday Awards, an
annual banquet came to New Orleans out of Chicago, and
(15:01):
we hosted them there and that night, and the majority
of those fine dining restauranteurs were French, Italian, German in
Downtown's very formal restaurants. You know, this is the fifty
sixty seventies, and so here was early eighty and so
when we did that dinner at Commanders, our menu it
(15:22):
wasn't in French German Italian with English sometimes it was
everything was written in English, and we said, this farmer
brought us this. We had some squad from a farmer
in Mississippi, and the sacell crabs came from so and so.
And the wines we paired up were all American wines.
(15:43):
It was Chateau Montalina, it was cake bread. The dessert
line was Callaway had a late harvest called Sweet Nancy.
So everything was in. That night, we told all these
European Americans that ran these classic wrestlers that we're not
a French restaurant. We're in an American restaurant. And two of
(16:07):
the people that came that dinner, the next year they
hosted a conference, the American Symposium or whatever whatever, And
with that, Rob mcdavi, Julia Child, everybody got involved in it,
and that's what kicked off American Regional Cuisines. Was a
bunch of irishmen in the irishtown New Orleans run a
(16:29):
French restaurant. And you know, I'm so proud of my family.
I'm proud to continue the traditions that we have and
it's so strong that even my kids generation want to
want to continue it. So We've lived an incredible story.
(16:51):
But there's no better city in the world to be
in the rest of pisiness in New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
You know, the significance of this cannot be understated, because
what's about. When I came to New York, I was
just coming to New York, and it really was the
American culinary revelation. And for the first time, restaurants were
making American regional food and embracing the local farmers. And
obviously you did it, Commanders and Alice Waters did it
(17:21):
at Shapanese and Larry Fogioni in American place where you worked.
And before that, American cooking was fried chicken, barbecue, roast beef,
pretty meat loaf. Nothing. You know, no one thought America
had a special cuisine because America is a mosaic of
(17:42):
different states. And that revolution really showed that the nation
can stand up to other cuisines in its own special way.
And it put a lot of farmers and fishermen and
suppliers on the map too. They became celebrities.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
As well, right, And you know in America, I mean,
you know, it's so rich the natural resources, farming, whatever,
and so I mean we've evolved into so much commodity farming.
And five years ago the Commission of Agriculture in Louisiana
(18:22):
had changed. We had a twenty five year old commissioner,
and then something happened and so doctor Strain was elected,
and I just moved home and I'm like really trying
to connect with him, and he's like, Dickie, I know
you want to do all this boutique farming, he says,
But the more people on the earth than ever, and
the reason they here is because we can feed them,
(18:44):
he says. I want to do commandit want. I'm not
going to stop doing commodity farming supporting, but I want
to do what you're saying with the boutique. And so
at that point I was young, I was like, I
hear you, So I mean, let's do both. And I'm
still very committed to the small, small farmers especialty boutique
(19:05):
products instead of just you know, big commodity and stuff.
But you know, I agree we need both. And same
with you know, with the seafood. We have this thing
in our backyard called the Mississippi River, and right where
it goes into the Gulf of Mexico at our backyard,
our back door. It's the most fertile fish grounds in
(19:27):
the world. So, you know, as I've grown up in
counterparts on the East and the West Coast and American chefs, restauranteurs,
you know, everybody wants to have wild caught, sustainable seafood.
Right Well, the population is country's on the east and
the West coast, and we've hit the Atlantic in the
(19:48):
Pacific very hard, but we here in New Orleans still
have this nouth minssiuri. It is the most fertile fish
grounds in the world. And if you want wild cott,
sustainable seafood, we have more than anybody, you know. And
so we're trying to get the next generation of fisherman
looking at it more boutique. Instead of they go out
(20:10):
they can catch, they fill up a boat like you
can't believe. They go to the doc there's people standing
there and they grab it and it all goes out
of state, you know, because that's easy. So like my
son who classically trained and went and worked with Dario
in Italy and everything's about specialty. He's a big sports
(20:32):
and fisherman and he's trying to help the next generation
of fishermen, which have all been they know, one thing.
It's commodity to sit there and become specialty fishermen, you know,
and so it never stops. My dad always said, you
got to continue to evolve. But what we're blessed with
(20:52):
with what I'm talking about is we have some incredible
natural resources. So it's just a matter of people making
it great.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
I think we're just discovering him since we only moved
here a year ago. But I came for the fish.
I was so excited to live somewhere. We were living
in Tennessee, where you know, it was like caf cash
all the time.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
It's like, God, where's.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
All my golf seafood? It's amazing. But there's also a
great history of hunting here. So Paul Prudome, you know,
has a caid, had a Cajun background. I think it's
important here to distinguish for our viewers, many who are international,
that there's been Cajun and Creole, and how it works
(21:32):
into the fabric of your restaurants, and what Paul Prudon
taught you since she worked with him, and why that's
so significant for the people who may not understand.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
That right well, there's definitely a difference between creole and
Aja you know, and Creole was amor sophisticated cuisine being
in the city of New Orleans, and they're not many
three hundred year old cities like New Orleans, but we
were at way back, we were the head of north
(22:04):
central South America. Everything came in through the port of
New Orleans Missippi River in the Gulf of Mexico, and
so very sophisticated. You had spices, all these different things
coming in the city, whereas in the country it was
whatever I can trap or catch, I'm throwing in a
pot and I'm a cooking and so that's the Cajun
(22:25):
and you know, more rusting. But over time they've blended.
It's hard to tell the disers between something that's Cajun
a Creole because there's a lot of crossover. And then
the other thing. In New Orleans, I got you had
the Irish immigrants that came here hundreds of years ago,
(22:48):
two times, and they were really Sicilian, so they came
in masses. So we have the Italian influence. Same with Germans.
I mean, the Germans big in south West Louisiana on
New East sausage things like that. The French, you know,
came from Canada, got kicked out of Canada ended up
(23:08):
coming down to Louisiana and that's Circadians that became the Cajuns.
And so you have all these different cultures that have
and then later, you know, in my lifetime, I mean,
Vietnamese have a huge influence in this city, you know,
and have their own little neighborhood and stuff with. I mean,
(23:29):
Bonui is competing with an oyster loaf for boy, you know. So,
I mean this city is such a gumbo of people
and cultures. And what I love about New Orleans is
we're not even a million people, So I say, we're
a big small city, which is wonderful. Instead of being
(23:49):
eight million people, we're maybe a million people if you
go down the river and count every little fishing village.
So it's it's a unique environment because it's a small
amount of people. But I mean we're international now, we're international,
recognize we have professional sports. Also, it's it's kind of
(24:10):
a unique situation, as y'all know, and as y'all enjoy
it like I do.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Well, we sure do, and you know, every time we
go out, it's a new experience for us. And we
just love all the restaurants and really enjoying the culture. Well,
now that we're here, let's talk about your restaurant group,
the Dicky Brennan and group of restaurants. We've eaten it
a number of them ourselves and and we we just
(24:37):
always have a great time when we go. You have
Bourbon House, which is right on Bourbon Street. You also
have Tableau, which is where we had lunch with you
a couple of weeks ago, which is just lovely, one
of the one of the best red fish I'm indeeds,
I think I've ever had. We had there with you,
And and then you also have Dicky Brennan Steakhouse as well,
(24:58):
and a couple others too. Let's let's let's talk about
a couple of them. Let's start with Tableau because we
actually had lunch with you there.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
So you know. Tambleau is on Jackson Square, right right
next to the Cabildo, the governmental building where the Louisiana
purchase was signed up. Next to it is Saint Louis Cathedral,
which is the oldest cathedral in America, and it's just
(25:24):
it's a beautiful compound. And in the complant that we're
in is also the Petite Theater, which is the oldest
community theater in America, So I mean a lot of history.
It's a beautiful just a beautiful building. And we got
involved years ago because the Petite was going out, was
having a hard time making a theater and cash flow,
(25:48):
and so we got involved. We renovated all the building,
all the compound that was not the theater, which really
they were using for storage and offices and none of
it producing revenue. So we did that. It's been a
great relationship for years and way back initially this property,
(26:10):
the last Spanish governor of the Louisiana Territory lived here
and he was the guy that came up with the
concept of Louisiana Purchase, which so I walk into this historic,
beautiful building every day going what would the world look
like if he didn't do the Louisiana purchase, because what
would be thirteen colonies and if England had whoever had
(26:34):
taken over the Louisiana Territory once went from Florida all
the way up Missippi River to Canada, if that would
have not become you know, Louisana purchased. This guy named
Thomas Jefferson said we want to buy that territory and
go West. So I just knowing the history and lived
in New Orleans. If you love architecture, history or whatever,
(26:56):
it's so powerful what happened in this compound. And so
now you know, we're the next chapter. We've put in
this Trouble restaurant. And like I said, the Spanish were
really occupied New Orleans initially, so instead of French influence,
you know, here we we're doing more and more of
(27:18):
the Spanish influence in Tableau, but still very pre old,
but with a Spanish kind of influence. And so I'm
real proud of it. It's it's a beautiful restaurant. We've
got some tredible balcony that overlooks Jackson Square. We've got
(27:39):
a beautiful courtyard with the fountains. I mean, in right
next to us is the patent Anders. I mean, we
always have something exciting going on. It's a wonderful, wonderful it's.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
One of the best locations. I mean in terms of
the center of history and bustling French Quarter. It's it's
pretty amazing. And I know on January sixth, we marched
to the jone of our parade and everybody gathered at
Tambleau over the after party and it was just so
fessive and wonderful. It's just it's in the heart. But
(28:14):
you have two other restaurants also in the quarter, and
before we go into them, I want everybody listening and watching,
is that the French Quarter is one important historic neighborhood
of New Orleans, but it's not the only neighborhood of
New Orleans. And you're stable of restaurants indicates the vast
variety of neighborhoods there is. But I think that's important
(28:34):
because so many people just go to the French Quarter
and never leave. So I think that's important. Let's talk
about your other two restaurants, which are which are quite
different and have their own each of them has their
own personality.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Oh yeah, uh, you know the stake when I was
a kid, and like I've shared with y'all, and then
my dad he was never comfortable as saying he was
wrong on the French restaurant. And so with that, the
one thing that America did that was superior for many
years was our cattle. And so he wanted to open
(29:10):
a steakhouse because it would fall into that the path
of him saying I'm an American, I'm doing something American
and we had he had it all. There was a
plan to do it. It's gonna be called the Inner
Circle because you were going to put instead of a
kitchen back in a room, it was be where you'd
(29:30):
see everybody cook, the chef's cooking and around this kitchen
in the circle. And but it was in the seventies
when our family ended up splitting up, so it went
on the background. But over the years when i'd travel
with him, you know, with business, and all we did
was eating steakhouses everywhere, and it was his love, it
(29:53):
was passion. And then you know, years passed, he had
retired and I had an opportunity with a property to
put in a steakhouse, and it was really a mutual
dream of ours. And you know, at the time he
had retired, so he wasn't going to commander us anymore.
(30:14):
And he'd come downtown because my sister and I and
we had Palace Cafe, which is my flagship, and so
he would come down at lunchtime and he always was
perfectly dressed, Uh, just handsome guy. And we'd come down
and have a little lunch and greet everybody, say hello,
(30:36):
and drink some wine and then go home. And so
I opened the steakhouse and I'm like, Dad, come with me.
Everybody's wanting to wants to see you up. And He's like,
I don't want to go there, and I'm like, you
got to be kidding it. He said, Dickie, if I
start showing up the steakhouse, they're going to think it's mine.
I had, I didn't have anything to do with it.
I'm not going to do that to you. And I said, uh, well,
(30:59):
now that I know I hear you, all right, come on,
let's go. And so I started dragging his ass over there.
But that was just he was a super guy to me.
But my steakhouse was living his drink and and a
bunch of years later, you know, when I opened Bourbon House,
it was all about doing American and doing Bourbon whiskey
(31:22):
instead of Scotch and the Gins all the European whiskey spirits.
So what I did do at the Steakhouse after he
had passed away, I had this wonderful person that helped me.
I put in an ours whiskey collection there. So if
you do like ours whiskey, I don't know if anybody
has a nicer collection in the South and then we
(31:44):
have a Dicky Barns Steakhouse. So so it's a way
that I when I'm in there or whatever, I can
enjoy a little Irish whiskey with a customer or a
friend and it tols my dad. So that's that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
So at Dickie Brendan's Steakhouse you got the great Irish
whiskey collection, and at Bourbon House, like the name says,
you have one of the country's both expense extensive collections
of small batch bourbon. That's interesting. You have your name
on all of the restaurants. Why is that important to
you to distinguish and say Dicky Brennan's. I know that
(32:19):
was a long, hard battle to fight. Why is that
important to you?
Speaker 4 (32:23):
Shoot, I hate that. I mean I wanted to be
Brennan's Steakhouse. So, like I said, in the seventies, when
the senior generation split the business up, unfortunately, you know,
it kind of got into the courts and stuff like that. Yes,
after years, they ended up coming up with a trademark
agreement that you could only do this or you know
(32:43):
that to protect the original Brennan's, my Dad, my an Ella.
They couldn't do Brennan's commander's spouse, you'd have to put
your first name with it. It had the Dick Brandon
Steakhouse or Ellen Brennan's whatever. So with my generation, and
you know, like me in particular, I had worked in
(33:04):
all the family restaurants and kept moving around. Everybody's like
I don't know where you are whatever, whatever. And so
my cousin ralph S and all of us when we
did our new restaurants and this trademark was out there
that we want a party of, we just said we're
going to live up to the spirit of this trademark
and wanted people to know who was doing what. And
(33:28):
so that's kind of when it became that you know
under Palace Cafe or say Dicky Brannan, and you know
tableaus under it, says Dicky Brannan. So you know, we
use it as an identifier and also because of the
past history, right, But personally I'd like it to be
just Brennan's Palace Cafe or whatever. But yeah, it is
(33:51):
what it is.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
But it identifies you, which is good, you know, because
it gets us a lot of Brandon's out there, because
Ralph has his Ralph and they have their own state.
It's a lot of restaurants. I mean there must be
like what, how many renned how many restaurants in the
city are under Brennan.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
I'd have to stop and try to add it up.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
I don't know, probably I'm a thirty yet.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
Under twenty, I mean fifteen.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Well, you also have some you have a catering operation,
so you have you know that operation, which you know
includes the Autumn Clubhouse, which is in uh Automan Park uptown,
beautiful place, everybody, greatest Sioux, greatest Sue. That's a wonderful spot.
And then you're opening the Josephie, which is a new
(34:37):
not new, it's an old landmark, a former church.
Speaker 4 (34:41):
Yeah yeah, yeah, over for twenty years. So yeah, so yes,
we just and it's a new event space and we're
doing weddings and you know, just some really nice things
uptown and so that's just brand news. So yeah, is
going good, thank goodness. But you know, there again, my nephew,
(35:05):
Jordie Brower, my sister's son, my daughter, Sarah Brennan Trexel,
and Lindsey, my niece. They're in the business. I mean,
you know, we get asked to do a lot of
stuff and there are a lot of opportunities, and at
this point they're in the room and it's like, if
y'all want to do it, let's do it. But y'all
(35:28):
doing the lifting. So it's a transition I do with
my dad. I mean, he educated me, had incredible experiences
at a young age to where that is. When I
did get home after learning a bunch of things and experiences,
he said, you run it, you make the decisions, which
(35:51):
was a gift he gave me. And I'm doing the
same thing with the next generation. It's a turn. So
I'm proud of that they're interested in. And you know
this catering stuff uptown, it's augment Nature Institute. My gut,
what an incredible institute in this city. When I was
(36:11):
a kid, they did like Life magazine did the worst
zoos in America and on the cover was aug An Institute.
A two and h. This young guy who's become one
of my best friends, was young twenty something years old
working for Moonland through our mayor. And the Mayor's sitting
(36:31):
there going, what I don't want to have to deal
with this, and Ron looks at him and says, I
don't know anything about a zoo, but I'll go get involved,
and he said, run with it. Ron took the worst
zoo in America, and over the years it's been in
the top three. Then we did an aquarium up up
river by the French Order. It's when everybody was shutting
(36:55):
down during covid Ron said, no, we're going to do
a fifty million dollar renovation of the original aquarium. It's
now state of the art, incredible, it's back in the
top three in the world. They have an Endangered Nature
Center on the West Bank. I mean, it's incredible institute.
And he's trying to retire and he's like, well, always
(37:18):
thought if we control the food service with the institute
at the zoo and at the quarium, and there's a
golf course with the clubhouse, that it would be good.
And he's like, we've never done good in the food service.
So he's like, I'm retiring, I'm do an RFP. You know.
I hope someone like a local you know, group would
(37:39):
want to be interested. And so we were successful. We
have a ten year deal to where we do all
the food service at the aquarium. There's a wonderful it's
called the Autumn Tea Room. It goes back, very historical.
This event space is in the zoo, so we do
the caveom there and like I said, the aquarium and
(38:01):
then the clubhouse is this beautiful golf course that goes
up to Saint Charles Avenue where Tulane University Royal University,
and it's just a beautiful part of the city. And
so you know, and there again that was with the kids.
So I mean, they're all involved in that and proud
(38:24):
and grateful we get to do it. I mean, what
a great partner to have them.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
Well, I take it. You know, a lot of it
was a big thing in New York when Danny Meyer
and Sarah Beth Levine they all got contracts to run
and upgrade the dining facilities in museums and they became
destinations into itself. And that's example here. It's not a museum,
but the zoo is. I mean, it is the best suit.
Everybody go to that zoo. It is such a beautiful park.
(38:49):
But you also do that at Acorn Cafe, which is
the Louisiana Children's Museum in City Park. We have not
been there yet.
Speaker 4 (38:55):
We want to go for.
Speaker 2 (38:56):
Lunch, but you know, just take it a museum that
people don't think about eating, but they got to eat,
So give them great food.
Speaker 4 (39:04):
Right, Well, I can't wait for y'all to go and
tell them what you think, because it looks great. I actually,
I mean our group was like, you know, here, we're
going to build this brand new, fifty million dollar children's
museum because one of the first children's museums in America
was in the in the warehouse district and it had
a great run there for years, and they're like, we
(39:26):
need to go to the next level. So so there again,
so we're fortunate to be able to partner and be
involved in being built out and running Acorn Cafe and
doing the catering at the museum, and it's you know,
been unfortunately we've had I think called COVID, you know.
(39:46):
But what I'm proud of is that this restaurant has
done phenomenal even when the museum was closed, because it's
a beautiful it's on the lagoon, it's it's at our
other park, City Park, it's a beautiful location and so
and there again, what I'm proud of is the younger
generation did the menu and so it has grains that
(40:08):
I don't even know existed. It's healthy, but it has
great flavor because got a little Moworleans in it. But
we have an incredible clientele that goes out and eat
that never goes into the museum. Well you can.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
It's a healthy he has got a healthy aspect to
I mean, it is unusual for New Orleans to have cranebowles.
So that's why we want to go eat there.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
You know, let me know what you think. But it
tickles me how well received it is.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
It deserves it, and we can't city park everybody. Most
are favorite. It's like our backyard. Most beautiful park every now.
We save Pascal Manali, which we were going to go
do last night, but it wasn't. It's a Tuesday. Tuesday
is an unusual day here to be the best day
if it's a hard dining day. This is a historic
restaurant that from nineteen thirteen. And you came if you
(41:01):
took it over in twenty twenty three, right you joined
your family no.
Speaker 4 (41:08):
Two years ago on St. Patrick's Day? Yeah, coming up
on three years. Yeah, yeah, because I know, as you know,
we're we were working on us doing the deal and
didn't know what day it was gonna be the next day,
I get a call and they're like, it's done. Go
(41:29):
to the tourney's office in the morning. So I went.
I had on my dad's green jacket. I mean, I'm
Dickie Brannan and Saint Patrick's day, so I'm breaking up
in the morning. I'm dressed, ready to do the Saint
Patty's deal and sign it. And I'm like, well that
was quick, that was easy. And everybody at the rest,
(41:49):
you know, the team there, I knew it well, and
they knew it was happening. So I walk in and
everybody's trying to get ready for lunch, and they're all
looking at us, say, look, relax, said Dicky Brandan. The
dead said next year, I'll be Giuseppe Brennan. You know,
if the Brennan's could run French Russians, I'm sure I
can help y'all run an Italian restaurant. So but I mean,
(42:14):
it's everybody grew up uptown New Orleans going to pass
Galvin Alleys. And I tell you, the last time I
took my dad out, he was, you know, health issues.
Last time I took him to a restaurant, we went
to lunch at Passalvin Alley's, with some of his good
buddies and a couple of my you know, real close
friends that love my dad, and someone took a picture,
(42:35):
so I've got a picture of my dad sitting with
us at Passalvi Manalis. It was his last meal in
a restaurant. And then years later, you know, we had
the opportunity to be the next chapter of Thenalis. That
was very emotional. So, especially on Saint Patrick's Day, my
(42:56):
family's been very, very blessed in one of the most
incredible cities in the world, and you know, it's been
great to us and we're very grateful.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
Well we're grateful because the food is amazing. My cousin Briana,
I think I told you at lunch, used to take
me to get the barbecue trimp and I remember David's
first time there. They put the bib on him and
he had the barbecue shrimp. And at Gambit the Gambits
a weekly. Did they have a cover story this month
on your the Oyster Shucker. There's in there for like forever,
because what's need about New Orleans is besides there's multi generational,
(43:32):
family owned restaurants and other businesses that are over one
hundred years old. You've got employees who stay, they're committed
to their work.
Speaker 4 (43:41):
Oh it's a restaurant, so that's uptown too. Thomas's the
most beautiful man in the world. And when you walk
in the front door, Pascal Monale, it's the host stand
is not at the door. When you walk in, you're
literally you're looking at our oyster bar and our regular bar,
and then have to walk across the room to get
(44:01):
to the host stand. And so Thomas greets everybody. He's
a beautiful man, and most people want to eat oises
when they're in New Orleans, and he just he's the
godfather and everybody knows it. In town we have great,
great oyster bars all throughout the city. But to get
(44:22):
to work with tea uptown tea, you know, like you said,
I mean, look, we I spend more time in the
restaurant with my restaurant family than I do at home
with my family. And what I do like about the
restaurant culture, and I think in New Orleans we take
it to another level is it's committed people that not
(44:43):
only have worked with you their entire lives, but their
grandfather did it, then their dad did it, now they're
doing it. You know that's pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (44:54):
Yeah, you know, we've actually experienced that ourselves at a
couple of restaurants in town where we've where we've had
lunch or dinner, and it's been a second generation of
a family member working the floor. And one time we
were at Antwin's and it was the waiter and his
daughter were working the floor together.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
They were literally side by side. It was so charming.
And the only way you find this is in Europe
you find this. So let's talk about legacy because you know,
you've got the family. Always worry like what's going to happen,
but you you've got a family it's and seems ready
to carry the legacy forward, which is a good thing
that was going to happen with a family.
Speaker 4 (45:31):
Right, No, absolutely, I mean, I mean everything that draws
me right now is it's your future. What do you
all want? You know? And you know, like I shared
with my dad, it's like, I'm not going to be
that eighty year old person that everybody waits to show
up to make a decision, and you're going to be
there as the next generation and everybody's gonna say you
(45:52):
just hear a babysit. So from an early stage. I
took the responsibility and that's my it's we're doing all
these things that I've just shared with you, not because
I want to do. It's because they want to continue
the legacy which goes of mine. My daughter, you know,
really grew up doing She loved baking, and so she
(46:15):
was always working with my dessert chefs, you know, a
little kidding through high school. And then when she was
in college, she worked Choosing Charleston. So she was working
there with some bakeries and stuff, and at some point
when she graduated, she went and worked at the White
House with the pastry chef there. Then she's like, I
(46:37):
need to learn bread. So she went out to CIA
in Napo Valley at Graystone and did the bread program there.
And while she was there, they had some alumnus that
had tartein Bakery in San Francisco, and so she was like,
I've got to go work. I've got to go work there.
And so they had just done a second location where
(46:59):
they moved the bread. So when she went and applied,
they said, well we can. We have a space at
the old bakery which was doing croissants and one of
things that she already and She's like, I just need
to get my foot in the door. And so she
might have been there period of time and they all
of a sudden internally said we've got a spot on
the bread team. And so she and a couple of
(47:19):
people went and did their extern you know, pustaches, and
at the end of hers they looked they said, if
you want the position, it's yours. And so she got
on the bread team and she was there for a
handful of years, and I never forget she calls me.
She was like the assistant head baker. I mean, she
(47:39):
got into management. And she calls me to say, Dad,
Andrew and I want to start a family, she and
her husband, And I'm like, what's about time? And so,
you know, and at this point, I'm like, I'm going
to be going back and forth to California a lot
because they're not coming home. And she said, Dad, well,
before we got married, we said if we ever raised
a family, raise in the New Orleans. And I think
(48:02):
the big part of that is my niece and nephews
they're all here. And she's like, I'm not going to
have the one kid from Cali. You know, we want
to raise the kids in New Orleans with our family.
So I mean she walked away from an incredible career
to come home. And she came home and we were
opening our commissary and she got very involved with the
Commissary overseeing it. And then recently we had the opportunity
(48:26):
to buy this Armis and bakery bell Guard. So now
she's real happy because we have put this bread bakery
in our commissary, so she gets to hang out with
a bunch of bread nerds, which she is. But I'm
just I love that, you know there my nephew Jeordie.
(48:48):
I mean, they've all had these edges and they're trying
to figure out how to evolve the company, and I
love what they're doing. So it's been crazy.
Speaker 2 (49:00):
Well, I think it's such a wonderful story. We have
one last question we wanted. We want a point before
we wrap, because could go on forever. Noki. This is
important because it also involves legacy. It's a it's it
was a concept that had to go through a lot
because of the city was changing.
Speaker 4 (49:15):
New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
Culinary Hospitality Institute, what is its mission? It's a nonprofit?
What is its mission? As you are a co founder
with your cousin T.
Speaker 4 (49:25):
Well, you know, and if you ask T and I,
we both have a lot of similar but we also
have other dreams or whatever. With one. I one, I
think it should be education of the future. And I
was really involved with Delgado's culinary program, which is eighty
years old. That it was a community college, a two
(49:49):
year program. You get an associates degree, and the graduation
rate was four percent and costs in the state five
hundred thousand dollars to implement it. And so I was
on that involved with that committee there, advisory committee. So
I knew that that wasn't working. And then when we
found this facility, it was like these men and women
(50:12):
in order to be in that program would be in
qualified restaurants where you were learning, I mean it was
cooking where you weren't just heating and service. And so
they didn't want to spend half, you know, a year
in the classroom taking English and maths. They could say
they had a college degree. They wanted to get skill.
So that drove me to say, let's come up with
(50:33):
a different program. And so we went to culinary ensued.
American said we don't want the two year associates degree.
We want to do I want to enable men and
women to have skills to go get in a restaurant.
See if this is what they want to do. So
it went from the two year program to a twenty
week program and you get more skill in twenty weeks
than you did in two years. And then where Noki's
(50:56):
future is is to do certificate courses, so you get
the bottom want, you get the basics to get in
the industry. Then if you really like butchering, you just
go and you work with a butcher, really intense. That's
all you're doing, and you get a certificate to be
a master butcher. Or it could be, you know, instead
(51:17):
of doing the bacon, you might want to become a
chocolate tear. You know, learn everything about charge. So I mean,
you know, the next level of Nochi is to do
these certificate courses to where you know, you specialize like
a doctor. I'm will be a certain surgeon. So same
thing with the culinary world. And we're doing a lot
of hospitality education in the institute. So it's exciting. But
(51:40):
I hope what what I'm describing is what I think
education's antiquated, and so we're trying to take a path
where you can afford to get an education, and it's
fast and it's you get the skill at the top level.
So that's what I'm proud of with Nocchi. You know
that we're not just the typical you know, it's it's
(52:02):
a it's an innovative new concept.
Speaker 2 (52:05):
I think it's the way of the future too, for
all the reasons you said. People, you know, students want
hands on. They wo't have been a classroom for two years.
They want to get the basics and get out in
the world. It's like a certificate. It's extoging, same thing
you do with their It's great. You know what's great
is you're carrying on the family legacy that you're and
you're also paying it forward, which is really what you
(52:27):
and your family are about too, because New Orleans is
New Orleans because of the commitment of families like yours
and you to keep it going even during the even
the rough times.
Speaker 4 (52:38):
Right, no, thank you. I mean, look a Kintrainer, what
I mean. That just makes communities come together. It's it's
unfortunate for the loss of Jeb something like that, but
it always makes us strong as a community. And like
I said, all is a big small city it's very
unique and and just we want to leave it better
(53:01):
than we found that that's kind of blessed and what
can we do to make it better?
Speaker 2 (53:07):
Well, we're glad you are because we could have lived
anywhere in the world and we chose here because we
love the city and we love the people and we
feel as home as ever. Dicky Brennan, thank you for
taking time. I know your schedule is super, super busy.
We could go on forever, but I think we got
to do a wrap first of all. I hope everybody
(53:27):
watching and listening is ready to come to New Orleans
and go visit these restaurants we talked about. There are
so many more. It is a mosaic of a city
with amazing multicultural heritage and offerings for everyone. We appreciate
you and we are grateful for your time and you know,
(53:49):
can't wait to see what you're doing next.
Speaker 4 (53:51):
Thank you for including me and look forward to us
having a glass of one or something real shoot written
and in their future.
Speaker 2 (54:01):
Right absolutely maybe a Fen seventy five.
Speaker 4 (54:07):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (54:08):
Anyway, you've been listening to The Connected Table Live with
Melanie Young and David Ransom. We are insatiably curious and
love to travel, eat, drink and explore and inspire you
to do the same. So come on down to New
Orleans and always stay insatiably curious.
The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are
solely those of the hosts and their guests and not
those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We
make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,
or products mentioned on air or.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
On our web.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
No liability, explicit or implied shall be extended to W
four CY Radio or it's employees are affiliates. Any questions
or comments should be directed to those show hosts. Thank
you for choosing W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hello, and welcome to the Connected Table Live where your
hosts Melanie Young and David Ransom. You're insatiably curious culinary couple.
We travel the world to bring you the amazing people
we meet in the places we visit, and the food
we drink and the wines we sip, just because we
want you to get out there and explore and expand
(01:01):
your comfort zone and enjoy life to the fullest. Because
you know, for some people, it's Wednesday, but we're in
New Orleans and it's every day is a great day
in New Orleans, right.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Absolutely, Melanie, And we're actually back in New Orleans. We
just got back from Italy. Yeah, and they always say
whenever they see you in New.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Orleans, welcome home, welcome home.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
So we are welcome home.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
And we feel home. And we try every month on
the Connected Table at the Spotlight somebody amazing who's really
shaped the amazing culinary history and hospitality that New Orleans offers.
And we kind of landed a whale on this one
because we've been hoping to have our guests on Dicky Brennan,
but we had to like sit down and have launch
(01:42):
po us and sit down again to know them better,
because that's our policy. We got to know our guests
before we have them on the show. And what's really
amazing is we've had the way great Ella Brennan on
and Tie Adelai Martin and Lally Brennan and Ralph Brennan
because we knew him whatnot, and it's been on, but
we've always wanted Dicky, So finally we have him today
(02:05):
and it's amazing because he's a busy guy, but he's
graciously given us some time today on the Connected Table
Life and I'm a quick intro. So Dicky Brennan is
part of the esteemed Brennan family, which is synonymous with
New Orleans Hospitality. He's a third generation restaurateur who grew
(02:26):
up just blocks from Commander's Palace. He played in the
fountain at Brennan's where his dad was involved with the
Brennan's restaurant on Royal Street. He's had the trained professional
chef who has worked with some pretty incredible people, and
of course he worked into the tutelage of the late
Great Paul Prudome. He is currently owner and managing partner
(02:48):
of Dicky Brennan and Company, whose restaurants include Dickie Brennan Steakhouse,
Bourbon House and Tableau, all in the historic French Quarter
and the backdrop is Tableau where we had lunch with Dickie.
He also has Pascal Manali's. He's taken over the oversight
of that historic restaurant which we'll talk about, and the
(03:09):
Commissary Kitchen and Market in the Garden District of New Orleans,
Acorn Cafe in the Louisiana Children's Museum, and also Auto
the Clubhouse by Dickie Brennan in beautiful Automa Park. So
he gets around round round. Moreover, he's co founder with
his cousin t La Martin, of the New Orleans Culinary
and Hospitality Institute, lovingly known as NOKI, which provides professional
(03:33):
training two students who aspire to work in the culinary business,
whether it's in a restaurant or catering. We just went
to Cooking for a cause and got to talk to
some of the students who've launched catering careers. It's an
amazing place.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
And he's he's very passionate about educating the next generation.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
As well and New Orleans hospitality. So we like to say,
welcome home, Welcome Dickie Brennan to the Connected table.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Live Wow, good afternoon, Welcome glad. Yeah, I can't wait
to hear about it. Where's my dad say?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Italy, Italy, Italy, Italy when.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
You grow up in the Irish Channel. I mean, that's
kind of we talked a little different here in New Orleans, right, Let's.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Talk about that Irish Channel. So a lot of people,
you know, including all the Italians, don't understand that that
New Orleans is a mosaic. They don't even realize how
much Italian culture is here. But there's also a lot
of Irish culture here. And your family is a big
Irish American family. Talk to us about where you know,
there their origins and when they arrived here and a
(04:35):
little bit of it. What's like to grow up with
thirteen cousins?
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Oh wow, you know we I guess the Brennan's my
family came during the Irish Famine. And my understanding is
we went to Boston and we didn't stay there long
and ended up in New Orleans. And with that, what
I do know is my grandfather was in the Irish
(04:59):
Channel where he had six kids, he and my grandmother
Nellie Valentine Brennan and uh so, and he was in
he worked in a shipyard on the West Bank, so
the Oris Channels, you know by the garden dish on
the East Bank, and he was during depression and he
(05:21):
would bring as many men as he could they go
to the West Bank to work, and he wore a
suit to go to the job site, then put on
his work clothes and when he'd come home in his
suit and then you know, but he just kind of
had some pride and was doing that. And the six kids,
(05:42):
you know, the next generation my uncle and the oldest
was real entrepreneur and you know we uh we ended
up running a bar on Berger Street called the Old
absent House back in the forties and my aunt Adelaide
was helping out a lot. She'd work retail on Canal
Street and then joined him at nighttime at the old
(06:03):
absent House. It was a piano far back then. It's
still a very well known water hole. But Bat's Pijon
Sweet Emma with the piano players, and you had, you know,
the wonderful restaurants across the street from us, and so
that was you know, my uncle Owen got us into that.
And then eventually across the street was a it was
(06:25):
the old Uker restaurant late forties fifty maybe nineteen fifty,
and it became available and so the Brennan's from the
Irish channel running the old apsent House, decided to open
a restaurant on Berger Street, and Mayan Adelaide was like,
we're doing something. We're doing nice, well nice in New
(06:45):
Orleans was French restaurant. So I said, the Irish Brennans
open Brennan's French restaurant. And for people that know New Orleans,
right next to Arno's, half a block away from the
gallat wise and around the corner was Antoine's, the oldest
(07:06):
restaurant in America all run by classical trained Frenchmen. So
for us to want to open a French restaurant next
to them, I wish I was around the night when
they were sitting in the bar. We're going to do this.
I bless America. And it's been an incredible journey and
a dream that my family's been able to live. And
(07:27):
so I'm third generation and my kids are in the business.
A lot of my cousins, their kids are coming in
the business. So interesting story it.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Did the count say something like, what's an irishman? How's
an irishman going to run a fine French dining restaurant?
Speaker 4 (07:45):
They were like, because Count Arnaut, I don't know why
he was called count, but he ran Arno's and it
was Caddy corner to the old absent house. And then
he and my uncle were like best of friends, but
they just get at and one day my uncles hell,
I could run a French restaurant better than you. And
not too long after that that was the availability of
(08:07):
this restaurant next to us, and so we said, let's
give it a shot. But you know that those times,
I wish I could have the flashback of those days,
you know, we grew up, me and my cousins, with
my aunts and uncles and a lot of dear friends,
just hearing these wonderful stories about Bourbon Street and you know,
(08:31):
just the way it was. I mean, it was just amazing.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yeah, you know, I came. I think I told you
at lunch. I came when I was a little girl,
eleven and my parents sent me on the grand tour
and I remember having breakfast at Brennan's and having the
egg Sardo and Dad had something with Marsha and de
Van sauce, which is like that. It was all first,
you know, they let me have a milk punch, had
the bananas foster and it's just an inredible experience. It's
(09:00):
that everybody needs to do well.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
That's you know, everywhere you go you have the culture
and what I really value in growing up in New Orleans,
and it's not the New Orleanians. It's we have about
a two hundred and fifty miles drive in radius, you know,
and these are it would be the grandfather saying, get
in the car, we're going to New Orleans. And so
the kids, the grandkids, kids are with the parents and
(09:25):
grandparents and they would come New Orleans so they could
experience these wonderful restaurants. I mean, they were a classic.
You know, it would be like you're in back in
the old world, you know, in Paris, and so you'd
have to dress up as a kid. You go into
these restaurants and you'd have this spine dining experience with
professional waiters and you know, and that's just the smells
(09:47):
and the sounds. Is you know when we did banana foster,
I mean that dining room when a table all of
a sudden it's having a banana foster. Everyone in the
room is seeing this flombay going I'm gonna have of that.
But the smell and you just I know, like you said,
you you know that experience as a kid coming into
(10:07):
the city and just having those experience in the restaurant.
So I mean, you know, to be in the restaurants,
be a chef or restauranteur. But nor Lan's is unique,
and you know, not many places do it the way
we do it and would continue to do it. It's
(10:27):
it's every generation continues to do it. These restaurants are
still provide the same experience for the next generation. I
love that part of our culture.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
I read that you wanted to You knew at age
nine when you were shooting strong into the Fountain rennand
you wanted to be a chef. And you and and
I think your I read your dad, senior, Richard Senior
kind of wanted you to go try and see the
world and do some other stuff. First, how did that
go about? Because I know you would lsu But where
(11:01):
did you train to become a chef?
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Well, you know when our family in sixty nine is
when we bought Commander's Palace, and that was I grew
up in a house two blocks from Commanders. And when
mister Moran, who owned Commanders, had passed away, Dad walks
up to the restaurant to pay his respects and miss
Moran and you know, she's in her eighties and she's like,
(11:24):
you know, I just I don't want to run a restaurant.
My kids aren't interested. And he's like, well, me and
my brothers, sisters, we live in the neighborhood, We go
downtown the French Court of work every day. I mean,
if you want to sell the restaurant, let me know.
And what was interesting is all of our you know,
the bank, our attorney, our accountants are all like, don't
touch that place. I mean it was very run down,
(11:47):
and my Dad's like, you know, his brothers says like, no,
we would love to have a shot at that. So
they bought it. So that was sixty nine. So I'm
nine years old, and so I mean that point, you know,
if your dad was a basketball coach, you grew up
in the gym. Well, when I'd come home at nine
years old on my bus, I'd go to the restaurant.
(12:09):
See what was I mean? I just hung out there,
you know, and I had a big appetite. So I
did a lot of eating there at the restaurant in
the afternoons. But so we we had. And then in
seventy four, the senior generation split up the business. So
instead of my dad and ant Ella and dining uncle
(12:30):
John in Adelaide working at Brennan's, they moved to Commanders
and my dad's oldest brother, Owen, who had passed away
history son, stayed at the original Brennan's and so they
had to start over. I mean they really built Brennan's
(12:51):
for twenty years, breakfast to Brennan's, but they had to
start over at Commanders. And so I mean here that
was in the seventy four. So I'm a teenage and
just watching they had They had a lot of wisdom
at that point. They had done with it, but to
go there and see what they were doing on a
daily basis, and they wanted to get away from the
(13:14):
French chefs. They wanted an American chef. And Paul Prudon
when he was younger, was a bus boy at the
Brennan's on Bourbon Street, and when he left his he
was he started cooking and so they you know, it's
a big small town, soy knew Paul had been cooking,
(13:35):
and so they're like, let's see what Paul's up to.
So Paul comes to Commanders with Dad nan Ellen and
it's going to be this American chef and everything we
wanted to do. My dad would like walk to the
restaurant and he'd said, Paul, why are we doing trout
domond dean, I've never seen an almond tree in my life.
(13:56):
He's like, I'm stepping on pecans. Why don't we do pecan?
And so in the seventies, their whole thing was let's
be a regional American restaurant. I think they always I
know my dad hated being an irishman saying he was
running a French restaurant. And his solution or his dream was,
(14:16):
I want to run an American restaurant. And so because
of all that background history, that was the path Cavaders
was on way back in the seventies, early seventies was
we're going to do regional food. We want the farmers,
we want to do farmer table. We knew the fishermen,
and you know, I got to see all that as
(14:38):
a kid. And when we celebrate Commanders being a hundred
years old, it was like in eighty one or something
like that. We did a menu, we did a dinner,
and all the fine dining restaurant tours around the country
that would go to Chicago for the Holiday Awards, an
annual banquet came to New Orleans out of Chicago, and
(15:01):
we hosted them there and that night, and the majority
of those fine dining restauranteurs were French, Italian, German in
Downtown's very formal restaurants. You know, this is the fifty
sixty seventies, and so here was early eighty and so
when we did that dinner at Commanders, our menu it
(15:22):
wasn't in French German Italian with English sometimes it was
everything was written in English, and we said, this farmer
brought us this. We had some squad from a farmer
in Mississippi, and the sacell crabs came from so and so.
And the wines we paired up were all American wines.
(15:43):
It was Chateau Montalina, it was cake bread. The dessert
line was Callaway had a late harvest called Sweet Nancy.
So everything was in. That night, we told all these
European Americans that ran these classic wrestlers that we're not
a French restaurant. We're in an American restaurant. And two of
(16:07):
the people that came that dinner, the next year they
hosted a conference, the American Symposium or whatever whatever, And
with that, Rob mcdavi, Julia Child, everybody got involved in it,
and that's what kicked off American Regional Cuisines. Was a
bunch of irishmen in the irishtown New Orleans run a
(16:29):
French restaurant. And you know, I'm so proud of my family.
I'm proud to continue the traditions that we have and
it's so strong that even my kids generation want to
want to continue it. So We've lived an incredible story.
(16:51):
But there's no better city in the world to be
in the rest of pisiness in New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
You know, the significance of this cannot be understated, because
what's about. When I came to New York, I was
just coming to New York, and it really was the
American culinary revelation. And for the first time, restaurants were
making American regional food and embracing the local farmers. And
obviously you did it, Commanders and Alice Waters did it
(17:21):
at Shapanese and Larry Fogioni in American place where you worked.
And before that, American cooking was fried chicken, barbecue, roast beef,
pretty meat loaf. Nothing. You know, no one thought America
had a special cuisine because America is a mosaic of
(17:42):
different states. And that revolution really showed that the nation
can stand up to other cuisines in its own special way.
And it put a lot of farmers and fishermen and
suppliers on the map too. They became celebrities.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
As well, right, And you know in America, I mean,
you know, it's so rich the natural resources, farming, whatever,
and so I mean we've evolved into so much commodity farming.
And five years ago the Commission of Agriculture in Louisiana
(18:22):
had changed. We had a twenty five year old commissioner,
and then something happened and so doctor Strain was elected,
and I just moved home and I'm like really trying
to connect with him, and he's like, Dickie, I know
you want to do all this boutique farming, he says,
But the more people on the earth than ever, and
the reason they here is because we can feed them,
(18:44):
he says. I want to do commandit want. I'm not
going to stop doing commodity farming supporting, but I want
to do what you're saying with the boutique. And so
at that point I was young, I was like, I
hear you, So I mean, let's do both. And I'm
still very committed to the small, small farmers especialty boutique
(19:05):
products instead of just you know, big commodity and stuff.
But you know, I agree we need both. And same
with you know, with the seafood. We have this thing
in our backyard called the Mississippi River, and right where
it goes into the Gulf of Mexico at our backyard,
our back door. It's the most fertile fish grounds in
(19:27):
the world. So, you know, as I've grown up in
counterparts on the East and the West Coast and American chefs, restauranteurs,
you know, everybody wants to have wild caught, sustainable seafood.
Right Well, the population is country's on the east and
the West coast, and we've hit the Atlantic in the
(19:48):
Pacific very hard, but we here in New Orleans still
have this nouth minssiuri. It is the most fertile fish
grounds in the world. And if you want wild cott,
sustainable seafood, we have more than anybody, you know. And
so we're trying to get the next generation of fisherman
looking at it more boutique. Instead of they go out
(20:10):
they can catch, they fill up a boat like you
can't believe. They go to the doc there's people standing
there and they grab it and it all goes out
of state, you know, because that's easy. So like my
son who classically trained and went and worked with Dario
in Italy and everything's about specialty. He's a big sports
(20:32):
and fisherman and he's trying to help the next generation
of fishermen, which have all been they know, one thing.
It's commodity to sit there and become specialty fishermen, you know,
and so it never stops. My dad always said, you
got to continue to evolve. But what we're blessed with
(20:52):
with what I'm talking about is we have some incredible
natural resources. So it's just a matter of people making
it great.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
I think we're just discovering him since we only moved
here a year ago. But I came for the fish.
I was so excited to live somewhere. We were living
in Tennessee, where you know, it was like caf cash
all the time.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
It's like, God, where's.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
All my golf seafood? It's amazing. But there's also a
great history of hunting here. So Paul Prudome, you know,
has a caid, had a Cajun background. I think it's
important here to distinguish for our viewers, many who are international,
that there's been Cajun and Creole, and how it works
(21:32):
into the fabric of your restaurants, and what Paul Prudon
taught you since she worked with him, and why that's
so significant for the people who may not understand.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
That right well, there's definitely a difference between creole and
Aja you know, and Creole was amor sophisticated cuisine being
in the city of New Orleans, and they're not many
three hundred year old cities like New Orleans, but we
were at way back, we were the head of north
(22:04):
central South America. Everything came in through the port of
New Orleans Missippi River in the Gulf of Mexico, and
so very sophisticated. You had spices, all these different things
coming in the city, whereas in the country it was
whatever I can trap or catch, I'm throwing in a
pot and I'm a cooking and so that's the Cajun
(22:25):
and you know, more rusting. But over time they've blended.
It's hard to tell the disers between something that's Cajun
a Creole because there's a lot of crossover. And then
the other thing. In New Orleans, I got you had
the Irish immigrants that came here hundreds of years ago,
(22:48):
two times, and they were really Sicilian, so they came
in masses. So we have the Italian influence. Same with Germans.
I mean, the Germans big in south West Louisiana on
New East sausage things like that. The French, you know,
came from Canada, got kicked out of Canada ended up
(23:08):
coming down to Louisiana and that's Circadians that became the Cajuns.
And so you have all these different cultures that have
and then later, you know, in my lifetime, I mean,
Vietnamese have a huge influence in this city, you know,
and have their own little neighborhood and stuff with. I mean,
(23:29):
Bonui is competing with an oyster loaf for boy, you know. So,
I mean this city is such a gumbo of people
and cultures. And what I love about New Orleans is
we're not even a million people, So I say, we're
a big small city, which is wonderful. Instead of being
(23:49):
eight million people, we're maybe a million people if you
go down the river and count every little fishing village.
So it's it's a unique environment because it's a small
amount of people. But I mean we're international now, we're international,
recognize we have professional sports. Also, it's it's kind of
(24:10):
a unique situation, as y'all know, and as y'all enjoy
it like I do.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Well, we sure do, and you know, every time we
go out, it's a new experience for us. And we
just love all the restaurants and really enjoying the culture. Well,
now that we're here, let's talk about your restaurant group,
the Dicky Brennan and group of restaurants. We've eaten it
a number of them ourselves and and we we just
(24:37):
always have a great time when we go. You have
Bourbon House, which is right on Bourbon Street. You also
have Tableau, which is where we had lunch with you
a couple of weeks ago, which is just lovely, one
of the one of the best red fish I'm indeeds,
I think I've ever had. We had there with you,
And and then you also have Dicky Brennan Steakhouse as well,
(24:58):
and a couple others too. Let's let's let's talk about
a couple of them. Let's start with Tableau because we
actually had lunch with you there.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
So you know. Tambleau is on Jackson Square, right right
next to the Cabildo, the governmental building where the Louisiana
purchase was signed up. Next to it is Saint Louis Cathedral,
which is the oldest cathedral in America, and it's just
(25:24):
it's a beautiful compound. And in the complant that we're
in is also the Petite Theater, which is the oldest
community theater in America, So I mean a lot of history.
It's a beautiful just a beautiful building. And we got
involved years ago because the Petite was going out, was
having a hard time making a theater and cash flow,
(25:48):
and so we got involved. We renovated all the building,
all the compound that was not the theater, which really
they were using for storage and offices and none of
it producing revenue. So we did that. It's been a
great relationship for years and way back initially this property,
(26:10):
the last Spanish governor of the Louisiana Territory lived here
and he was the guy that came up with the
concept of Louisiana Purchase, which so I walk into this historic,
beautiful building every day going what would the world look
like if he didn't do the Louisiana purchase, because what
would be thirteen colonies and if England had whoever had
(26:34):
taken over the Louisiana Territory once went from Florida all
the way up Missippi River to Canada, if that would
have not become you know, Louisana purchased. This guy named
Thomas Jefferson said we want to buy that territory and
go West. So I just knowing the history and lived
in New Orleans. If you love architecture, history or whatever,
(26:56):
it's so powerful what happened in this compound. And so
now you know, we're the next chapter. We've put in
this Trouble restaurant. And like I said, the Spanish were
really occupied New Orleans initially, so instead of French influence,
you know, here we we're doing more and more of
(27:18):
the Spanish influence in Tableau, but still very pre old,
but with a Spanish kind of influence. And so I'm
real proud of it. It's it's a beautiful restaurant. We've
got some tredible balcony that overlooks Jackson Square. We've got
(27:39):
a beautiful courtyard with the fountains. I mean, in right
next to us is the patent Anders. I mean, we
always have something exciting going on. It's a wonderful, wonderful it's.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
One of the best locations. I mean in terms of
the center of history and bustling French Quarter. It's it's
pretty amazing. And I know on January sixth, we marched
to the jone of our parade and everybody gathered at
Tambleau over the after party and it was just so
fessive and wonderful. It's just it's in the heart. But
(28:14):
you have two other restaurants also in the quarter, and
before we go into them, I want everybody listening and watching,
is that the French Quarter is one important historic neighborhood
of New Orleans, but it's not the only neighborhood of
New Orleans. And you're stable of restaurants indicates the vast
variety of neighborhoods there is. But I think that's important
(28:34):
because so many people just go to the French Quarter
and never leave. So I think that's important. Let's talk
about your other two restaurants, which are which are quite
different and have their own each of them has their
own personality.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Oh yeah, uh, you know the stake when I was
a kid, and like I've shared with y'all, and then
my dad he was never comfortable as saying he was
wrong on the French restaurant. And so with that, the
one thing that America did that was superior for many
years was our cattle. And so he wanted to open
(29:10):
a steakhouse because it would fall into that the path
of him saying I'm an American, I'm doing something American
and we had he had it all. There was a
plan to do it. It's gonna be called the Inner
Circle because you were going to put instead of a
kitchen back in a room, it was be where you'd
(29:30):
see everybody cook, the chef's cooking and around this kitchen
in the circle. And but it was in the seventies
when our family ended up splitting up, so it went
on the background. But over the years when i'd travel
with him, you know, with business, and all we did
was eating steakhouses everywhere, and it was his love, it
(29:53):
was passion. And then you know, years passed, he had
retired and I had an opportunity with a property to
put in a steakhouse, and it was really a mutual
dream of ours. And you know, at the time he
had retired, so he wasn't going to commander us anymore.
(30:14):
And he'd come downtown because my sister and I and
we had Palace Cafe, which is my flagship, and so
he would come down at lunchtime and he always was
perfectly dressed, Uh, just handsome guy. And we'd come down
and have a little lunch and greet everybody, say hello,
(30:36):
and drink some wine and then go home. And so
I opened the steakhouse and I'm like, Dad, come with me.
Everybody's wanting to wants to see you up. And He's like,
I don't want to go there, and I'm like, you
got to be kidding it. He said, Dickie, if I
start showing up the steakhouse, they're going to think it's mine.
I had, I didn't have anything to do with it.
I'm not going to do that to you. And I said, uh, well,
(30:59):
now that I know I hear you, all right, come on,
let's go. And so I started dragging his ass over there.
But that was just he was a super guy to me.
But my steakhouse was living his drink and and a
bunch of years later, you know, when I opened Bourbon House,
it was all about doing American and doing Bourbon whiskey
(31:22):
instead of Scotch and the Gins all the European whiskey spirits.
So what I did do at the Steakhouse after he
had passed away, I had this wonderful person that helped me.
I put in an ours whiskey collection there. So if
you do like ours whiskey, I don't know if anybody
has a nicer collection in the South and then we
(31:44):
have a Dicky Barns Steakhouse. So so it's a way
that I when I'm in there or whatever, I can
enjoy a little Irish whiskey with a customer or a
friend and it tols my dad. So that's that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
So at Dickie Brendan's Steakhouse you got the great Irish
whiskey collection, and at Bourbon House, like the name says,
you have one of the country's both expense extensive collections
of small batch bourbon. That's interesting. You have your name
on all of the restaurants. Why is that important to
you to distinguish and say Dicky Brennan's. I know that
(32:19):
was a long, hard battle to fight. Why is that
important to you?
Speaker 4 (32:23):
Shoot, I hate that. I mean I wanted to be
Brennan's Steakhouse. So, like I said, in the seventies, when
the senior generation split the business up, unfortunately, you know,
it kind of got into the courts and stuff like that. Yes,
after years, they ended up coming up with a trademark
agreement that you could only do this or you know
(32:43):
that to protect the original Brennan's, my Dad, my an Ella.
They couldn't do Brennan's commander's spouse, you'd have to put
your first name with it. It had the Dick Brandon
Steakhouse or Ellen Brennan's whatever. So with my generation, and
you know, like me in particular, I had worked in
(33:04):
all the family restaurants and kept moving around. Everybody's like
I don't know where you are whatever, whatever. And so
my cousin ralph S and all of us when we
did our new restaurants and this trademark was out there
that we want a party of, we just said we're
going to live up to the spirit of this trademark
and wanted people to know who was doing what. And
(33:28):
so that's kind of when it became that you know
under Palace Cafe or say Dicky Brannan, and you know
tableaus under it, says Dicky Brannan. So you know, we
use it as an identifier and also because of the
past history, right, But personally I'd like it to be
just Brennan's Palace Cafe or whatever. But yeah, it is
(33:51):
what it is.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
But it identifies you, which is good, you know, because
it gets us a lot of Brandon's out there, because
Ralph has his Ralph and they have their own state.
It's a lot of restaurants. I mean there must be
like what, how many renned how many restaurants in the
city are under Brennan.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
I'd have to stop and try to add it up.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
I don't know, probably I'm a thirty yet.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
Under twenty, I mean fifteen.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Well, you also have some you have a catering operation,
so you have you know that operation, which you know
includes the Autumn Clubhouse, which is in uh Automan Park uptown,
beautiful place, everybody, greatest Sioux, greatest Sue. That's a wonderful spot.
And then you're opening the Josephie, which is a new
(34:37):
not new, it's an old landmark, a former church.
Speaker 4 (34:41):
Yeah yeah, yeah, over for twenty years. So yeah, so yes,
we just and it's a new event space and we're
doing weddings and you know, just some really nice things
uptown and so that's just brand news. So yeah, is
going good, thank goodness. But you know, there again, my nephew,
(35:05):
Jordie Brower, my sister's son, my daughter, Sarah Brennan Trexel,
and Lindsey, my niece. They're in the business. I mean,
you know, we get asked to do a lot of
stuff and there are a lot of opportunities, and at
this point they're in the room and it's like, if
y'all want to do it, let's do it. But y'all
(35:28):
doing the lifting. So it's a transition I do with
my dad. I mean, he educated me, had incredible experiences
at a young age to where that is. When I
did get home after learning a bunch of things and experiences,
he said, you run it, you make the decisions, which
(35:51):
was a gift he gave me. And I'm doing the
same thing with the next generation. It's a turn. So
I'm proud of that they're interested in. And you know
this catering stuff uptown, it's augment Nature Institute. My gut,
what an incredible institute in this city. When I was
(36:11):
a kid, they did like Life magazine did the worst
zoos in America and on the cover was aug An Institute.
A two and h. This young guy who's become one
of my best friends, was young twenty something years old
working for Moonland through our mayor. And the Mayor's sitting
(36:31):
there going, what I don't want to have to deal
with this, and Ron looks at him and says, I
don't know anything about a zoo, but I'll go get involved,
and he said, run with it. Ron took the worst
zoo in America, and over the years it's been in
the top three. Then we did an aquarium up up
river by the French Order. It's when everybody was shutting
(36:55):
down during covid Ron said, no, we're going to do
a fifty million dollar renovation of the original aquarium. It's
now state of the art, incredible, it's back in the
top three in the world. They have an Endangered Nature
Center on the West Bank. I mean, it's incredible institute.
And he's trying to retire and he's like, well, always
(37:18):
thought if we control the food service with the institute
at the zoo and at the quarium, and there's a
golf course with the clubhouse, that it would be good.
And he's like, we've never done good in the food service.
So he's like, I'm retiring, I'm do an RFP. You know.
I hope someone like a local you know, group would
(37:39):
want to be interested. And so we were successful. We
have a ten year deal to where we do all
the food service at the aquarium. There's a wonderful it's
called the Autumn Tea Room. It goes back, very historical.
This event space is in the zoo, so we do
the caveom there and like I said, the aquarium and
(38:01):
then the clubhouse is this beautiful golf course that goes
up to Saint Charles Avenue where Tulane University Royal University,
and it's just a beautiful part of the city. And
so you know, and there again that was with the kids.
So I mean, they're all involved in that and proud
(38:24):
and grateful we get to do it. I mean, what
a great partner to have them.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
Well, I take it. You know, a lot of it
was a big thing in New York when Danny Meyer
and Sarah Beth Levine they all got contracts to run
and upgrade the dining facilities in museums and they became
destinations into itself. And that's example here. It's not a museum,
but the zoo is. I mean, it is the best suit.
Everybody go to that zoo. It is such a beautiful park.
(38:49):
But you also do that at Acorn Cafe, which is
the Louisiana Children's Museum in City Park. We have not
been there yet.
Speaker 4 (38:55):
We want to go for.
Speaker 2 (38:56):
Lunch, but you know, just take it a museum that
people don't think about eating, but they got to eat,
So give them great food.
Speaker 4 (39:04):
Right, Well, I can't wait for y'all to go and
tell them what you think, because it looks great. I actually,
I mean our group was like, you know, here, we're
going to build this brand new, fifty million dollar children's
museum because one of the first children's museums in America
was in the in the warehouse district and it had
a great run there for years, and they're like, we
(39:26):
need to go to the next level. So so there again,
so we're fortunate to be able to partner and be
involved in being built out and running Acorn Cafe and
doing the catering at the museum, and it's you know,
been unfortunately we've had I think called COVID, you know.
(39:46):
But what I'm proud of is that this restaurant has
done phenomenal even when the museum was closed, because it's
a beautiful it's on the lagoon, it's it's at our
other park, City Park, it's a beautiful location and so
and there again, what I'm proud of is the younger
generation did the menu and so it has grains that
(40:08):
I don't even know existed. It's healthy, but it has
great flavor because got a little Moworleans in it. But
we have an incredible clientele that goes out and eat
that never goes into the museum. Well you can.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
It's a healthy he has got a healthy aspect to
I mean, it is unusual for New Orleans to have cranebowles.
So that's why we want to go eat there.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
You know, let me know what you think. But it
tickles me how well received it is.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
It deserves it, and we can't city park everybody. Most
are favorite. It's like our backyard. Most beautiful park every now.
We save Pascal Manali, which we were going to go
do last night, but it wasn't. It's a Tuesday. Tuesday
is an unusual day here to be the best day
if it's a hard dining day. This is a historic
restaurant that from nineteen thirteen. And you came if you
(41:01):
took it over in twenty twenty three, right you joined
your family no.
Speaker 4 (41:08):
Two years ago on St. Patrick's Day? Yeah, coming up
on three years. Yeah, yeah, because I know, as you know,
we're we were working on us doing the deal and
didn't know what day it was gonna be the next day,
I get a call and they're like, it's done. Go
(41:29):
to the tourney's office in the morning. So I went.
I had on my dad's green jacket. I mean, I'm
Dickie Brannan and Saint Patrick's day, so I'm breaking up
in the morning. I'm dressed, ready to do the Saint
Patty's deal and sign it. And I'm like, well that
was quick, that was easy. And everybody at the rest,
(41:49):
you know, the team there, I knew it well, and
they knew it was happening. So I walk in and
everybody's trying to get ready for lunch, and they're all
looking at us, say, look, relax, said Dicky Brandan. The
dead said next year, I'll be Giuseppe Brennan. You know,
if the Brennan's could run French Russians, I'm sure I
can help y'all run an Italian restaurant. So but I mean,
(42:14):
it's everybody grew up uptown New Orleans going to pass
Galvin Alleys. And I tell you, the last time I
took my dad out, he was, you know, health issues.
Last time I took him to a restaurant, we went
to lunch at Passalvin Alley's, with some of his good
buddies and a couple of my you know, real close
friends that love my dad, and someone took a picture,
(42:35):
so I've got a picture of my dad sitting with
us at Passalvi Manalis. It was his last meal in
a restaurant. And then years later, you know, we had
the opportunity to be the next chapter of Thenalis. That
was very emotional. So, especially on Saint Patrick's Day, my
(42:56):
family's been very, very blessed in one of the most
incredible cities in the world, and you know, it's been
great to us and we're very grateful.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
Well we're grateful because the food is amazing. My cousin Briana,
I think I told you at lunch, used to take
me to get the barbecue trimp and I remember David's
first time there. They put the bib on him and
he had the barbecue shrimp. And at Gambit the Gambits
a weekly. Did they have a cover story this month
on your the Oyster Shucker. There's in there for like forever,
because what's need about New Orleans is besides there's multi generational,
(43:32):
family owned restaurants and other businesses that are over one
hundred years old. You've got employees who stay, they're committed
to their work.
Speaker 4 (43:41):
Oh it's a restaurant, so that's uptown too. Thomas's the
most beautiful man in the world. And when you walk
in the front door, Pascal Monale, it's the host stand
is not at the door. When you walk in, you're
literally you're looking at our oyster bar and our regular bar,
and then have to walk across the room to get
(44:01):
to the host stand. And so Thomas greets everybody. He's
a beautiful man, and most people want to eat oises
when they're in New Orleans, and he just he's the
godfather and everybody knows it. In town we have great,
great oyster bars all throughout the city. But to get
(44:22):
to work with tea uptown tea, you know, like you said,
I mean, look, we I spend more time in the
restaurant with my restaurant family than I do at home
with my family. And what I do like about the
restaurant culture, and I think in New Orleans we take
it to another level is it's committed people that not
(44:43):
only have worked with you their entire lives, but their
grandfather did it, then their dad did it, now they're
doing it. You know that's pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (44:54):
Yeah, you know, we've actually experienced that ourselves at a
couple of restaurants in town where we've where we've had
lunch or dinner, and it's been a second generation of
a family member working the floor. And one time we
were at Antwin's and it was the waiter and his
daughter were working the floor together.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
They were literally side by side. It was so charming.
And the only way you find this is in Europe
you find this. So let's talk about legacy because you know,
you've got the family. Always worry like what's going to happen,
but you you've got a family it's and seems ready
to carry the legacy forward, which is a good thing
that was going to happen with a family.
Speaker 4 (45:31):
Right, No, absolutely, I mean, I mean everything that draws
me right now is it's your future. What do you
all want? You know? And you know, like I shared
with my dad, it's like, I'm not going to be
that eighty year old person that everybody waits to show
up to make a decision, and you're going to be
there as the next generation and everybody's gonna say you
(45:52):
just hear a babysit. So from an early stage. I
took the responsibility and that's my it's we're doing all
these things that I've just shared with you, not because
I want to do. It's because they want to continue
the legacy which goes of mine. My daughter, you know,
really grew up doing She loved baking, and so she
(46:15):
was always working with my dessert chefs, you know, a
little kidding through high school. And then when she was
in college, she worked Choosing Charleston. So she was working
there with some bakeries and stuff, and at some point
when she graduated, she went and worked at the White
House with the pastry chef there. Then she's like, I
(46:37):
need to learn bread. So she went out to CIA
in Napo Valley at Graystone and did the bread program there.
And while she was there, they had some alumnus that
had tartein Bakery in San Francisco, and so she was like,
I've got to go work. I've got to go work there.
And so they had just done a second location where
(46:59):
they moved the bread. So when she went and applied,
they said, well we can. We have a space at
the old bakery which was doing croissants and one of
things that she already and She's like, I just need
to get my foot in the door. And so she
might have been there period of time and they all
of a sudden internally said we've got a spot on
the bread team. And so she and a couple of
(47:19):
people went and did their extern you know, pustaches, and
at the end of hers they looked they said, if
you want the position, it's yours. And so she got
on the bread team and she was there for a
handful of years, and I never forget she calls me.
She was like the assistant head baker. I mean, she
(47:39):
got into management. And she calls me to say, Dad,
Andrew and I want to start a family, she and
her husband, And I'm like, what's about time? And so,
you know, and at this point, I'm like, I'm going
to be going back and forth to California a lot
because they're not coming home. And she said, Dad, well,
before we got married, we said if we ever raised
a family, raise in the New Orleans. And I think
(48:02):
the big part of that is my niece and nephews
they're all here. And she's like, I'm not going to
have the one kid from Cali. You know, we want
to raise the kids in New Orleans with our family.
So I mean she walked away from an incredible career
to come home. And she came home and we were
opening our commissary and she got very involved with the
Commissary overseeing it. And then recently we had the opportunity
(48:26):
to buy this Armis and bakery bell Guard. So now
she's real happy because we have put this bread bakery
in our commissary, so she gets to hang out with
a bunch of bread nerds, which she is. But I'm
just I love that, you know there my nephew Jeordie.
(48:48):
I mean, they've all had these edges and they're trying
to figure out how to evolve the company, and I
love what they're doing. So it's been crazy.
Speaker 2 (49:00):
Well, I think it's such a wonderful story. We have
one last question we wanted. We want a point before
we wrap, because could go on forever. Noki. This is
important because it also involves legacy. It's a it's it
was a concept that had to go through a lot
because of the city was changing.
Speaker 4 (49:15):
New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
Culinary Hospitality Institute, what is its mission? It's a nonprofit?
What is its mission? As you are a co founder
with your cousin T.
Speaker 4 (49:25):
Well, you know, and if you ask T and I,
we both have a lot of similar but we also
have other dreams or whatever. With one. I one, I
think it should be education of the future. And I
was really involved with Delgado's culinary program, which is eighty
years old. That it was a community college, a two
(49:49):
year program. You get an associates degree, and the graduation
rate was four percent and costs in the state five
hundred thousand dollars to implement it. And so I was
on that involved with that committee there, advisory committee. So
I knew that that wasn't working. And then when we
found this facility, it was like these men and women
(50:12):
in order to be in that program would be in
qualified restaurants where you were learning, I mean it was
cooking where you weren't just heating and service. And so
they didn't want to spend half, you know, a year
in the classroom taking English and maths. They could say
they had a college degree. They wanted to get skill.
So that drove me to say, let's come up with
(50:33):
a different program. And so we went to culinary ensued.
American said we don't want the two year associates degree.
We want to do I want to enable men and
women to have skills to go get in a restaurant.
See if this is what they want to do. So
it went from the two year program to a twenty
week program and you get more skill in twenty weeks
than you did in two years. And then where Noki's
(50:56):
future is is to do certificate courses, so you get
the bottom want, you get the basics to get in
the industry. Then if you really like butchering, you just
go and you work with a butcher, really intense. That's
all you're doing, and you get a certificate to be
a master butcher. Or it could be, you know, instead
(51:17):
of doing the bacon, you might want to become a
chocolate tear. You know, learn everything about charge. So I mean,
you know, the next level of Nochi is to do
these certificate courses to where you know, you specialize like
a doctor. I'm will be a certain surgeon. So same
thing with the culinary world. And we're doing a lot
of hospitality education in the institute. So it's exciting. But
(51:40):
I hope what what I'm describing is what I think
education's antiquated, and so we're trying to take a path
where you can afford to get an education, and it's
fast and it's you get the skill at the top level.
So that's what I'm proud of with Nocchi. You know
that we're not just the typical you know, it's it's
(52:02):
a it's an innovative new concept.
Speaker 2 (52:05):
I think it's the way of the future too, for
all the reasons you said. People, you know, students want
hands on. They wo't have been a classroom for two years.
They want to get the basics and get out in
the world. It's like a certificate. It's extoging, same thing
you do with their It's great. You know what's great
is you're carrying on the family legacy that you're and
you're also paying it forward, which is really what you
(52:27):
and your family are about too, because New Orleans is
New Orleans because of the commitment of families like yours
and you to keep it going even during the even
the rough times.
Speaker 4 (52:38):
Right, no, thank you. I mean, look a Kintrainer, what
I mean. That just makes communities come together. It's it's
unfortunate for the loss of Jeb something like that, but
it always makes us strong as a community. And like
I said, all is a big small city it's very
unique and and just we want to leave it better
(53:01):
than we found that that's kind of blessed and what
can we do to make it better?
Speaker 2 (53:07):
Well, we're glad you are because we could have lived
anywhere in the world and we chose here because we
love the city and we love the people and we
feel as home as ever. Dicky Brennan, thank you for
taking time. I know your schedule is super, super busy.
We could go on forever, but I think we got
to do a wrap first of all. I hope everybody
(53:27):
watching and listening is ready to come to New Orleans
and go visit these restaurants we talked about. There are
so many more. It is a mosaic of a city
with amazing multicultural heritage and offerings for everyone. We appreciate
you and we are grateful for your time and you know,
(53:49):
can't wait to see what you're doing next.
Speaker 4 (53:51):
Thank you for including me and look forward to us
having a glass of one or something real shoot written
and in their future.
Speaker 2 (54:01):
Right absolutely maybe a Fen seventy five.
Speaker 4 (54:07):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (54:08):
Anyway, you've been listening to The Connected Table Live with
Melanie Young and David Ransom. We are insatiably curious and
love to travel, eat, drink and explore and inspire you
to do the same. So come on down to New
Orleans and always stay insatiably curious.
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