September 9, 2025 • 48 mins
Banter
The Guys talk about an unusual cooking appliance and how long is too long to keep snails in your pantry.
The Conversation
The Restaurant Guys finally catch up with Robert LeBlanc, hotelier and restaurateur. They talk about camaraderie within the restaurant community and how that enhances the experience for all involved. The love of hospitality often goes back to their roots of family and experienced restaurateurs before them and that’s how they navigate the inevitable challenges of the industry.
The Inside Track
The Guys and Robert find common ground in how they lead their teams—training staff to share their own enthusiasm and create genuine connections with guests.
Mark: As I said to the team yesterday, pick something that you are just absolutely passionate about and talk to the customers about that and tell it from your heart and tell it from who you are and tell it from your perspective of why you like it. Nothing's more powerful than that.
Robert: We have a value built on that. It’s called, “Do cool shit and stay humble.”
Robert LeBlanc on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2025
Bio
Robert LeBlanc has built some of New Orleans’ favorite spots. His hospitality group, LeBlanc+Smith, is behind Sylvain, the French Quarter bistro; Barrel Proof, a whiskey bar; and The Chloe, an Uptown boutique hotel. He’s also opened The Celestine, a French Quarter stunner with the cocktail bar Peychaud’s, plus neighborhood hangouts like Anna’s and The Will & The Way—each with its own personality.
Info
Robert’s group
https://www.leblancandsmith.com/
Robert’s NOLA recs
https://www.chaisdelachaise.com/
https://www.arnaudsrestaurant.com/
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
the-restaurant-guys_2_09- (00:11):
hello everybody and welcome.
You are listening to theRestaurant Guys.
I'm Mark Pascal and he's FrancisShot.
Together, we own stage left andCatherine Lombardi restaurants
in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
We're here to bring you theinside track on food, wine, and
the finer things in life.
Hey Mark.
Hey Francis.
How are you?
I'm doing great and I'm lookingforward to our guest later on
today we have Rob Lelong fromThe Big Easy.
He owns a bunch of greatproperties down there and uh,
(00:33):
it's gonna be a lovelyconversation about New Orleans,
one of my favorite cities.
Yeah, really long term.
New Orleans guy, doing some coolstuff down there.
Excited to talk to him.
But in the meantime, what do yougot for me?
people are using appliances inways they shouldn't be using
their appliances.
Is this gonna be sexual?
Never.
Okay.
I thought, I promise I willnever start a show like that.
(00:56):
This is a family show, mark.
What are you talking about?
Exactly?
That was funny, by the way.
I'm sorry.
That was really funny.
I hope you're laughing in thecar wherever you are.
I think most people have seenpeople using their dishwasher to
Oh, to like cook a lobster?
Yeah.
Or the latest one I saw wassomebody So steak in their
(01:16):
dishwasher.
No.
Okay.
No.
The first thing that I wanna sayis.
Maybe you can, but youshouldn't.
No, it's a hard No.
It's a hard no.
It's a hard no.
It's a hard, no.
Boiling, boiling water is toohard.
Yeah, that's too hard.
You can't, you can't try thesoup feed steak in a, in a pot
(01:37):
of boiling water.
But what they're saying is.
They that you should, you'regonna soo stuff in lower than
boiling temperature water, butkeeping it at a constant
temperature.
But you know what?
You don't need a frickingdishwasher to do that.
You can just dishwash do what Ijust said.
The dishwash and the dishwasherdoesn't give you constant
temperature anyway.
Right.
And all you're gonna have is ashitty water log lobster look,
or a well no overcooked steak.
(01:59):
But the lobster is supposed tobe in a bag.
It's all supposed to be in abag.
No, no, no.
You put the lobster right on therack, brother.
Why that?
That Oh, absolutely.
Are you serious?
I'm totally serious.
Oh my goodness.
It's the stupidest I trend on,on Instagram that I have ever
seen.
I thought that was stupid when Ithought it was in a bag.
It's really stupid.
I'm gonna, I'm just gonna begall everybody who's ever seen
that just don't do it.
(02:19):
Don't do that, that, and scrollpast that person and unfollow.
Alright.
Those are the things that youshould be doing though.
I have seen stuff where peoplesay, you, you, you have like
done stuff in a bag, in adishwasher, but also
unnecessary.
Buy yourself a little CUVmachine.
So, you know what?
My aunt used to do?
What?
So my aunt for years and yearswould find the clam shell or the
(02:44):
snail shell.
That was perfect.
from buying fresh snails, andshe would run them through the
dishwasher so she, she could puther next set of stuffed clams
or, or snails.
We did a lot of snails.
She, she serves snails a lot inour family.
Uh, when I was a kid, like everyfancy schmancy dinner party and
the snail shells were alwaysperfect looking.
(03:05):
Yeah.
But who knows what was livinginside the snail shell that had
gone through the dishwasher.
18 years ago for the first, thatwas a snail 18 years ago.
Don't eat out of its carcass.
I remember the, there wererestaurants who used to, um, and
I, I don't know if they stilldo, but if, I think people
mostly know that if you buyscallops in a big bucket,
(03:26):
they're a lot cheaper than ifyou buy.
Mm-hmm.
If you buy dry scallops, orcertainly scallops in the shell
are much more expensivedepending on where you are.
Yes.
restaurants would use scallopshells for scallops that had
been shipped in wet, as wetscallops.
So they would buy diverscallops.
Yeah.
One time, which come in theshell one time.
Open the scallops, save theshells, run them through the
dishwasher, put a cheaperscallop in the scallop shell and
(03:48):
serve you that.
You.
Yeah, I, I, there was arestaurant very famous, like at
the New York Times three starrestaurant in New York that used
to do that with oyster shells.
And my buddy who used to workthere was like, I can't believe,
come on, man.
I can't believe that do better.
I Say it again, do better, Josh.
Mark (04:03):
So my aunt calls me about these snails that she has.
the-restaurant-guys_2_0 (04:07):
Mm-hmm.
Mark (04:07):
So now you can buy snails shelled in a can.
Okay, so she has a can of snailsthat she wants to keep and serve
to people.
I was like, okay.
she was like, they're old.
I was like, well, how old arethey?
You know, they're canned.
They're probably good for ayear, two years, three years,
whatever, Uhhuh, and She goes,they're 25 years old and I hear
(04:33):
my uncle in the background go30.
They're 30 years old.
I'm like, you gotta throw thecanna nails out.
I gave them a Canna nails forChristmas that year, and I went
in their cupboard and threw awaythe canna nails Alright, one
other, Do not do this food, foodthing.
Go ahead.
We had a guy who worked for usin our kitchen, um, and he was
(04:53):
really talented.
He had worked in a Michelinstar, uh, restaurant in Germany.
Oh, I know the guy you'retalking about and I know what
you're gonna say.
And I, and he had some ideas.
This is the nineties, right?
So this is before the internethas connected the world.
And there were some differentideas.
And one of the things he said tous was just like.
One of the waiters came andsaid, um.
(05:14):
This person is, he's collectingall the butters as they come
back from the table, the halfeaten butters off the table.
Well, yeah, and it wasn't likeyou stuck your lip on the
butter, but you used your butterknife to get the butter and put
on bread.
Okay.
We don't know that.
You didn't stick your light tobutter butter though.
I don't know exactly.
We don't know that you didn'tsneeze in the butter once.
That butter, we don't know whatyou did to that butter.
'cause that was your butter.
So it wasn't our butter anymore.
It's your butter.
Now what?
We said, the guy was like, whatare you doing?
(05:35):
He's like.
Well, we are not going to throwthis away, are we?
I'm like, yeah, we're, yes.
Yeah, we're we Most certainlyare.
You don't want that butteranymore.
We most certainly are.
We don't.
We sold that butter.
It's now sweet butter.
Well, once it was out of thechain of custody, I don't know
exactly what happened to thatbutter and he was mad.
Yeah.
He's like, how dare you wastebutter like this?
I'm like, yeah, we're wastingthe butter.
Like I'm like, no.
(05:55):
So gross.
Sorry again.
I don't know what you did withthat butter.
No, no, no, no, no and no, no.
Alright, so we're gonna be backin a few minutes.
We're gonna be talking withRobert Leblanc to ask him if he
reuses any of the butter in hisrestaurants in New Orleans, and
we're guessing not so stick withus.
You're listening to therestaurant guys.
You can always find out moreabout
us@restaurantguyspodcast.com.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31 (06:15):
Hey everybody.
Welcome back.
It's Mark and Francis.
And today our guest is RobertLelong.
His restaurants in New Orleansare amazing.
He's a James Beard, outstandingrestaurateur nominee.
Uh, he's a hotelier, a sandwichshop owner.
He's got boutique hotels likethe Chloe and Celestine and bars
like barrel.
Pay showed will in the way.
Um, his places are anchored inhistoric New Orleans as well as
(06:37):
being completely fresh.
And his story is superinteresting and that's why we
asked him to come join us on theshow today.
Hey Robert, welcome to the show.
squadcaster-2bdf_1_07-31-20 (06:43):
Hey guys.
Thanks for having me.
I'm fired up to be here withy'all.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07- (06:47):
Yeah, it's, it, what you're doing
there is pretty exciting.
You know, you have a, you have atown that is kind of with the
old guard, you know, we hadDickie Brennan on a show
recently.
We had T Martin on a show notthat long ago.
And you got these, these, know,royalty families in New Orleans,
and now you, you're carving outyour little niche of, more
boutiquey style of places and,you're kind of the next
(07:09):
generation in that city.
It's, it's really a cool thingthat you're doing.
Tell us a little bit about what,what's going on there.
squadcaster-2bdf_1_07-31- (07:15):
Thank you, um, so much.
And, and look, I'm glad youbrought up T and Dickie because
I think one of the things thatmakes New Orleans magical is, is
the old guard, the generationthat t Dickie, Melvin Rod from
gwas, they've been incrediblysupportive, um, of us and, and,
and my peers.
And I remember some of our.
(07:37):
Earliest regular guests at ourfirst restaurant, Sylva.
Literally Dickie Brennan wouldsit at the bar when he was
building Tableau next door, and,and t Martin would come in once
a week.
And when you don't know who youare and you don't even believe
in yourself, to have people likethat come in and tell you that
you're doing something reallyoutstanding.
And I, I just, that was reallyimpactful to me.
(07:57):
And if I ever make it, I, Iwanna make sure that I'm doing
the same exact thing for the,for the, for the generation
right behind me that they'vedone for us.
And so.
But look, because those placesare so great, we're also clear.
You can't replicate that.
You just can't compete withGallo's 125 year history or the,
the depth of, uh, character andexperiences that exist in the
(08:18):
brand's restaurants.
And so what we wanted to try todo was create spaces that
reference some of the mosticonic aspects of their
hospitality.
But to do it in a, in adifferent and slightly more
refreshing way, uh, in a waythat's probably a little bit
more oriented towards having acocktail.
We always say we want people tofeel as comfortable just sitting
at a table to have cocktails asthey would sitting at the bar to
(08:40):
have a whole meal
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-3 (08:41):
It's no surprise that those people
welcomed you to the city.
I mean, Francis and I have beenhere for 33 years, and one of
the things we love is when a.
New restaurant with a newconcept and a new perspective
opens up in our city because.
I mean, not to the degree thatNew Orleans is, but New
Brunswick, New Jersey is arestaurant destination city, and
(09:04):
I can't be a restaurantdestination city with my two
restaurants being the only twore restaurants in the city.
So a a lovely new restaurantjust opened around a corner
here.
We're, we're excited.
Azi Azi just opened around thecorner.
We're excited that thatrestaurant's joining the scene.
Yeah.
And, and gonna become animportant part of the restaurant
dynamic here because.
It is different.
(09:24):
Sure.
And it is bringing something newto the city and it does bring,
you know, more people in and,and keep the city interesting.
And, and new.
squadcaster-2bdf_1_07-31- (09:32):
Yeah, I mean, the secret's out now
because there's been so manyhigh quality podcasts.
Your guys is, you know, amongthe best of them.
But, the biggest misnomer isthat everybody in restaurants
and bars are all competing withone another.
We're all friends and, um, Ithink the industry's better when
we're talking honestly, andsharing best practices and also
sharing mistakes and misstepthat we made.
And so some of our most.
(09:53):
Helpful conversations and someof our biggest supporters have
been people that, uh, theoutside would quote.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31- (10:00):
we found that in a lot of places
here as well as our, our friendsin New, in New York have,
there's a, there's just arestaurant community comradery,
but there have been a fewoutliers over the years and
everybody's an angel.
And there are people who viewevery, Entree served in your
dining room is a night thatsomeone's not in their dining
room and they, they haven'tlasted.
I mean, the, the people who comein with that point of view who
(10:24):
to steal staff from you or tryto get people, you know, they
come for your piece of the pie.
Um, it doesn't work.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31 (10:31):
and so it's about make the pie
bigger is really the only waythat a restaurant community can
survive.
What do you think?
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-202 (10:36):
I, I couldn't agree more.
You know, if you think about it,you, you all have a couple
restaurants.
If somebody's in town for fouror five days, they can't go to
your restaurant every single
the-restaurant-guys_3_ (10:45):
Exactly, exactly.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07 (10:46):
someplace else and experience something
else.
And, know, if, if somebody goesand has a great restaurant
experience anywhere, they have agreat restaurant experience
everywhere.
And so You know, if you go inthere with kind of a chippy
competitive attitude and you're,you're sort of thinking about
what somebody else is doing asopposed to trying to be the best
that you are, the guest picks upon that and what it does, it
doesn't just give them a poorexperience in your restaurant.
(11:08):
It gives them a poor experience,but going out to dine
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31-2 (11:10):
I think that restaurants serve a,
a greater purpose and NewOrleans is a, is a very
important city, but it's alsokind of a small city and a tight
knit community that's verystable and been there for a long
time.
And the restaurant people havebeen there for a long time.
And you know, I say more andmore, you know, as the
restaurant business is more andmore challenging and we're
losing a lot of our quickservice restaurants and a lot of
the chain restaurants'cause theywere places to get food.
(11:33):
That's what, that's what a quickservice restaurant is place to
get a kind of a flow restaurantexperience.
It's a place to get food in acorporate chain with an
anonymous person who gets youthe same food that you can get,
and every other one of those,whatever the chain is, and I'm
not saying they don't serve apurpose, but they're not doing
so well now because it'sexpensive to eat out no matter
what, but what I think.
what remains is restaurantswhere people feel that they're
(11:54):
in a community and in a part ofthe, when they come to your,
your house, they may not beirregular, but your regulars
feel at home.
The new people feel like youknow, they're welcome there.
And also I think the people inthe town they like, they like
talking to us about.
Our former Matri D, who is nowthe Maury of the frog and the
peach around the corner, and hesays Hello, and we're gonna go
(12:17):
this place for dessert.
And we'll say, he'll say helloto that person and it makes the
guest feel like.
I am in a community with anetwork of restaurants, and I am
known in this community.
It's, it's, it's, it's anextension of the dining room.
And I think in a little citylike New Brunswick, in a, a real
communal city like New Orleans,it makes a big difference.
You did something really cool inone of your restaurants.
(12:39):
You created a v-shaped bar sothat the, customers could talk
to each other more than theywould at a conventional bar, and
I just thought, you know, that'ssomebody who's, who's.
Taken his vision and said, okay,I want, I want my customers to
feel good with each other andtaking it to the next step.
Tell me, tell me why and how youdid that.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31- (12:58):
Yeah, so, you know, you touched on
something a second ago, Francis.
It's, it's really aboutrelationships.
You know, and relationships arebinary.
They're a one or a zero.
You're either good atrelationships, you're not good
at relationships.
And so the, the restaurants thatI think succeed are the ones who
establish a relationship betweenthe guests in the restaurant.
the guests and the team members,and between guests and other
guests because we're a socialcreature and we want to be
(13:20):
connected.
And a lot of those chainrestaurants don't do that as
well.
They're transactional.
They make the, you know, theymake the spinach dip as well as
it is everywhere in the country,but it's a very transactional
experience and people still needto be fed.
So those places do okay, butpeople really crave
relationships.
We're so disconnected because weinteract digitally.
We don't meet anymore.
You know, we, we zoom.
(13:41):
Call anymore, we text.
Um, so, so I think thatrestaurants become ever
important as that third space.
But you have to, you have tomake sure that you're able to
foster relationships with guestsand you have to allow guests to
foster relationships with yourpatrons.
And, you know, there's no waythat you can be relational with
your guests, be relational withyour team, and then be
adversarial with your neighbor,or the restaurant down the
(14:03):
street.
It just doesn't, it doesn'twork.
And that, you know, so it's likeif you're adversarial with your.
down the street, you're probablyadversarial.
Even if it's subtly orsubconsciously with your team,
you're probably a littleadversarial with your guests.
Right?
And so that.
relationship piece is animportant part of it.
And it, Yeah.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07- (14:22):
Yeah.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07- (14:22):
percent.
And so, you know, so we designedeverything with our physical
space and our program toencourage people to bump into
each other more frequently withhappenstance.
And one of the things we prideourselves on is.
Um, the solo diner, you know,the, the, the person who comes
in by themselves at the bar,they're gonna at least have one
friend, and that will be us, youknow, the bartender taking care
of'em.
And if they are at the bar forfive or 10 minutes, you can bet
(14:45):
the bartender's gonna introducethem to the couple next to them,
or the person sitting across theway who they should, should
know.
And, And you can establish, youknow, great memories that way.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31 (14:55):
And I know I, I'm, I'm belaboring
the point a little bit, but whenwe extend that and we have that
sense of community like you havewith Dickie and t and other
restaurateurs in New Orleans,and we have with the other
restaurateurs and, andrestaurant staffs in New
Brunswick, if you're visiting atown for a week or you just
moved into a town, how great isit?
How much do you feel like you'repart of a community?
If you go to the other bar andsay, oh, well, you know, I was
(15:16):
talking to the bartender I wastalking to, I was talking to
Julie at Sage left, and she saidI could come try this place.
Oh, that's great.
We love Julie Taylor.
And then that you send themsomeplace else and so you go
into another place where you'venever been before.
And so by being part of thatnetwork of hospitality joints,
you're creating that communityand then you know, a couple of
bartenders names and you a coupknow a couple of servers names
(15:37):
and you're new in town, but atleast you know, four or five
people.
I don't know.
I, that's why restaurants are soimportant.
I mean, when we were in NewOrleans, you know, the dive
bartender was sending us to thiscool, trendy place and that
person was sending us to thisfancy schmancy place, and that
person was sending us to theback, to the dive bar.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-2 (15:55):
Yep.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31 (15:55):
You know, it was, it was this great
symbiosis that I, I very muchenjoyed.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31 (15:59):
That's
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31 (15:59):
Mm.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-20 (15:59):
You know, we, we, we co-opted that
Maya Angelou quote, people willforget what you said.
They'll forget what you did, butthey'll never forget how you
made them feel.
And when we talk about it allthe time, it's like people will
forget what they ate here.
They'll forget what they drankhere, but they'll never forget
how you made them feel.
And so if you can make them feellike they're a welcome part of
the community, if you can makethem feel connections to other
human beings and to our team,that's, that's the juice.
the-restaurant-guys_3_ (16:22):
Alright, so let's talk about your places.
Um, you have a, you have a, acollection of different sorts of
places and, and I think what Ifirst wanna talk about is, uh,
the places where people canstay.
Your, your, where you have roomsbecause most of our audience
does not live in New Orleans.
And talk, talk about.
The Chloe and Peau and howthey're different and what, what
(16:42):
you're going for inaccommodations.
'cause we've stayed at Airbnbsin New Orleans.
We've stayed at, uh, the MonteLeon, we stayed at the Roosevelt
Hotel and they're all greatexperiences.
But you, you are a boutiquehotelier kind of thing.
What's that all about?
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-202 (16:56):
So we try to, um, we operate
smaller hotels, so Chloe's 14rooms ine 14 rooms, and we have
a strong food and beverageprogram that help make the
economics of a 14 room hotel.
Okay.
But by nature of their beingsmaller, we can more deeply
embed our hotels in culturallyand historically significant
residential neighborhoods.
And we really want our guests toget a sense of what it's like to
(17:19):
live in New Orleans, not just tovisit New Orleans.
And New Orleans is is magical.
The French Quarter is magicalhotel.
Mat Island is a great hotel, andthat's a great experience, it's
an experience of New Orleansthat most people only get when
they're traveling to NewOrleans, not when they live in
New Orleans.
And those of us who live therehave really rich lives.
We're fun.
We bump into people we loveevery day.
(17:39):
By nature of the close proximityto one another.
But I don't think a lot ofhotels were able to translate
that experience that makes NewOrleans such a magical place to
live.
And so we really try toreplicate that.
And even with Celestine, whichis in the French Quarter, which
is a heavily trafficked touristdestination, it's more in the
residential part of the FrenchQuarter, the the slightly more
quiet side of the FrenchQuarter.
And there's tons of people wholive and work on a daily basis
(18:02):
in that end of the FrenchQuarter.
And.
We want our guests to get asense of what it might be to
have a nice apartment in theFrench Quarter of New Orleans,
or a nice apartment uptown in,in the case of Chloe.
And so we also want people toexperience the cultural
experiences that reflect 21stcentury New Orleans.
You know, new Orleans is amagical place because we're
steeped in all this history andheritage, so the architecture's
(18:23):
amazing.
you know, new orleans's role in,in classic cocktail culture is,
is pretty eponymous at thispoint, and so we want people to
be able to experience that, butthat's table stakes.
But there's also musicianswriting really cool songs in the
21st century, and there's greatphotographers and writers down
here.
Um, certainly great chefs andbartenders creating these really
good cocktails that are inspiredby things that are going on in
(18:45):
21st century New Orleans, andthey still reference the
heritage.
It's still rooted in thathospitality tradition.
It's still rooted in this senseof timelessness that New Orleans
really tends to do really well,but it's the same time.
It gives you a sense of what NewOrleans is in today and where
it's going, as opposed to thissense of being a museum that
just preserved what New Orleanswas.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31- (19:06):
So that's a very interesting thing
about New Orleans because it isa, a city that relies heavily on
tourism and people comingthrough.
Yet it is a city with a stablehistory and population that's
been there for a long time.
what's the relationship like?
Between when you put a hotel ina residential neighborhood, how,
how does that work?
How do the people who live inthat neighborhood feel about
(19:28):
your hotel?
How do you be a good neighborwith them and how do you make it
a positive interaction for boththe people who live there?
Yeah, there's, there's lots ofpeople who do not want a 14 room
hotel in their.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31- (19:39):
Yeah, so That's.
a great question and we'rereally intentional about that.
So we want our, our hotels to belobbies for the neighborhoods.
So come in, have coffee in themorning, take your meetings,
come jump in the pool if youwanna jump in the pool.
We really treat our neighborsand all new Orlean.
Um.
The same way that we treat hotelguests.
And that actually is whatinforms the experience of
(19:59):
getting a sense of what it'slike to be a local, from the
hotel guest perspective is thefact that you have hanging out
there and you know, so the waythat we do that is we're really
open and inviting to them.
We have local pricing on ourcocktails and, and, and menu
items.
So it's not.
It's the same as the hotelguests would pay.
But you know, hotels arenotorious for upcharging, for
(20:19):
drinks.
You know, hotel foods moreexpensive.
Hotel drinks are more expensive.
Our food and drinks are right inline with a slightly higher end
restaurant.
Not the most expensiverestaurant, but it's, it's
pricing that locals are used topaying in their local
restaurants.
And that's a really importantpart'cause it allows them to
come frequently instead of justbeing sporadically or
occasionally.
the hotel guests.
What happens for the hotelguests when they're having
(20:40):
breakfast downstairs in themorning?
They're having coffee next to alocal who can, and the
conversation typically alwaysshades more to what's going on
on a day-to-day basis in NewOrleans, or when they're at the
pool, at a pool chair, they'resitting next to a local who's
working on a laptop.
And it's that conversation andthat color that you get by these
interactions with locals,whether it's at the bar at happy
(21:01):
hour or it's at the dining roomtable next to them, or having
coffee in the morning.
That's where you really get therelational.
Aspects with locals and theconversations between locals and
people visiting New Orleans,staying at the hotel.
That's the touch point.
That's the stickiness
the-restaurant-guys_3_0 (21:15):
That's.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-2 (21:16):
that gets people.
the-restaurant-guys_3_0 (21:17):
Robert, when we come back from our
break, I, I really want to talkto you about you and your
organization doubling down atkind of what was a low point for
New Orleans doubling down onyour investments in New Orleans.
And, and I, I thought that was areally cool thing and I wanna
know how you came through that.
So stick with us, stick with us.
We'll be back in just a momentwith, uh, we barely belong from
(21:37):
New Orleans.
Uh, you're listening to therestaurant guys.
Of course.
We'll be back in just a moment.
Hey, everybody.
Welcome back.
Mark.
You had a question?
Yeah.
So Robert, new Orleans goesthrough that same, low point
with COVID, like every other bigrestaurant town in America, and,
Then New Orleans gets hit withIda.
(21:58):
Okay.
And you have to deal withanother flood, and you have to
deal with, with more peopleleaving the city and more
properties being, beingabandoned and your police fo
force being lowered and all the,all the rest of the stuff that
happened in New Orleans duringthat.
What, what I'll say was, was a,was a pretty low point for New
Orleans.
And see you just investing moreand more and more in the city of
(22:22):
New Orleans during that pointwhen we're all sitting here, you
know, looking for cover from,those bad things that happened
to us and, and just trying toget to the other side.
And you keep reinvesting.
So, so tell us about what gaveyou the confidence to, be a guy
who's like, well, no, let's,let's push forward right now.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31- (22:41):
Yeah.
You know, one of the things Ithink makes restaurateurs who we
are is there's a naturalresilience that comes with just
being in this business.
There's so many ups and so manydowns, and there's always gonna
be tough times no matter howgood
the-restaurant-guys_3_07- (22:52):
Some, some people would call that
resilience stupidity.
Robert, just, I'm just
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-3 (22:55):
that's, putting
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31 (22:57):
big headedness.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-202 (22:58):
on it.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-3 (22:58):
Any, any, any way you wanna place
that.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-20 (23:00):
But I, I think, you know, look, it's
tough.
Uh, you know, the DNA of NewOrlean is pretty, is is pretty
tough now, you know, recoveringfrom Katrina and then the BP oil
spill was a little bit toughermaybe than it appeared from the
outside because tourism got shutdown.
Most of the hotel rooms wereallocated to recovery work.
Couldn't get access to GreatGulf Seafood, which is what
(23:22):
everybody likes to eat when theycome to New Orleans.
So that was also a tough time.
And then COVID was a tough time.
And so I just think resilienceis built into the DNA of our
company and, and most neworlean.
And I think you always try tofind, I study stoic philosophy,
so you always, it's based on thepremise that you can't control
what happens.
So you can only control how yourespond.
And, you know, you keep havingthese instances and it's like we
(23:46):
just, you just gotta keep goingone foot in front of the other.
And as long as you don't stop.
Um, and as long as you keeplearning and growing and keep
acknowledging your own mistakesand just pay attention with ida,
we never paid attention.
And with COVID, we never paidattention to all the external
things that COVID did to us.
We really dissected the mistakesthat we were making prior to
COVID that.
put us in a situation where wedidn't have enough cash to be
(24:07):
able to save all the places or,you know, there's always
something we could have done andcontrolled.
And so we made it a point.
That that wasn't going to be theexcuse for the reason why this
company closed down.
That wasn't going to be theexcuse why the New Orleans lost
its soul, and we just wanted tokeep going.
And then, you know, it workedafter Katrina.
It worked after the BP oilspill.
And so we just had confidencethat if you just keep going, you
(24:28):
keep learning and growing andyou take responsibility for the
things that you can control andbe the best you can be over
time, that stuff typically bearsout.
And I think that's a maximumthat's true in life, not just in
our industry, but it's certainlytrue in our industry.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07- (24:40):
Well, I will never forget and so my
house flooded during Ida, so Ihad, you know, during COVID and
I will never forget walkingoutside.
we demolished my house the dayafter Ida.
As soon as we can get back intothe house, we demolished the
downstairs and I walked outsideand it was one of the most
beautiful days.
(25:00):
That I had ever seen.
The weather was perfect, the skywas blue, the birds were
chirping.
It was just this spectacularday, and the choice was just
like you said, I could focus onthe rubble that was sitting out
in front of, what had been thedownstairs of my house.
Or I could focus on, Hey, it's anew day, you know, I'm gonna
(25:21):
rebuild my house.
It's gonna be just the way Iwant it when I rebuild my house.
Which is, you know, I guessmetaphorically what you did,
right?
You rebuilt your house rightafter Ida.
And, that became my focus of,uh, okay, well how am I
rebuilding?
How am I gonna make this, thishome better than it was?
Before this, tragedy happened tome.
(25:42):
I did the little air quotes.
'cause it, it was some water.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31 (25:44):
that's
the-restaurant-guys_3_07- (25:45):
water came in my house.
You know, it did, it did not, itdid not hurt my soul.
And so, so we built back better.
And that's, it sounds like thatthat's the philosophy of, of
building your company during badtimes.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31- (25:57):
Look, I'm sorry that happened to you,
but I think what you just, thestory you just told personified,
while we all love New Orleans,it's, it's the ultimate love
song.
It's like, no matter how muchhappens to you as a result of
being a new orlean that hurtsyou, you love it so much.
The, the highs, the moments,the, the day that you describe,
you know, it's worth the costthat.
(26:20):
We sometimes pay to be NewOrleanians.
it it, it is that magical of acity and, and people do care for
each other.
And my, I don't wanna bepresumptuous, but I would
imagine your neighbors wereoffering to help you with
whatever needed help or, youknow, people in the community.
It,
the-restaurant-guys_3_0 (26:34):
People, you, you, unbelievable support
from friends and family andneighbors and just ridiculous.
Ridiculous.
If I think about it, I'll cry.
So it was, it was spectacular.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-20 (26:46):
You know, we don't want these
tragedies to happen, but, um,you know, one of the magical
things about New Orleans and astory that's very rarely told
about New Orleans is, is everytime one of these things
happens, You really get to seethe strength of the community
that is the city of New Orleans.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31-2 (26:59):
I think that was really on
display.
And ever since Katrina, thenation looks at New Orleans is
like what happened to them now.
Yeah.
And then, then yeah, it's, it isthe bounce back city, uh, ever
since then, and I, I, I wasnever concerned that New Orleans
couldn't rebuild and retain itssoul except after Katrina.
I think it's pretty magicalthat, or it's a testament to New
(27:21):
Orleans that it, it did rebuildand become like, once again, the
city.
Well, well, I, I also wanna say,three, four years ago, Francis
and I went down to Tales of theCocktail and we were like, oh,
new Orleans is not in a greatplace right now.
And, you know, your police forcewould, was diminished your, it
just, it didn't feel like theold New Orleans that, that we
had been to so many timesbefore.
(27:42):
And then we went down last yearand I started to feel again,
like, okay, it's getting better.
And then this year I went downand I was like.
Whew.
Okay.
We're, we're back to NewOrleans.
We're back to be in that, thatcity that I love and it, it was,
it was really good to see thisyear.
I felt really good in NewOrleans this year.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-2025 (27:59):
I appreciate you saying that, and
I think that our industry has alot of responsibility to sort of
be the positive force for goodand, make sure that everybody
sees the glass half full asopposed to half empty.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07- (28:11):
Well, let's talk about the glass for a
minute now.
Um, you have great bars, youhave great hotels.
We're gonna link all of those onour, uh, show notes.
But, um.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-202 (28:19):
I.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31- (28:20):
If you were gonna send someone to
New Orleans or someone weregonna come down to New Orleans
and spend and spend one or twonights in New Orleans, where
would you send them to eat?
Where's your like top one or twothings.
You have to never been to NewOrleans before.
Let's go three nights.
So you can mention your ownplace?
Yeah.
All right.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-202 (28:36):
So look, I love our places, but I
don't ever think it'sinteresting when a restaurateur
mentions their own places.
I think by nature of y'all beinggracious enough to have me,
that's enough coverage for ourown places.
So I'll name three places, um,that I think are quintessential
New Orleans experiences thatpeople should have.
So I think people should go toPatois, which is a neighborhood
(28:59):
restaurant in uptown NewOrleans.
it, it doesn't, probably doesn'tget the attention it does great,
but it probably doesn't get thenational attention that it
deserves based on the quality ofthe experiences there.
But I think that is the bestrestaurant we have in New
Orleans, in my opinion.
I think that you should probablygo to the wine bar at Della
Chase, which is on St.
(29:20):
Charles Avenue, so you get asense of what it's like to be on
the street car line.
And, um, the food's fantastic.
It, it presents a little bitmore like a bar or a Parisian
cafe, but the food is every bitas good as great restaurant
food.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07- (29:34):
Never been there.
Okay.
That's
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-2 (29:37):
it's fantastic.
Um,
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31-2 (29:39):
a ago.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-20 (29:40):
uh, I apologize.
Well, they're always kind ofpopping up and look, I think,
um, everyone needs to go to agrand lunch at GWAS or our nose.
Uh.
It, you know, and, and those areinterchangeable.
They're totally differentrestaurants.
But if GWA is too crowded andyou can't get in, but you can
get into our nose, or sometimesour nose may be a little too
crowded, you get the samefeeling.
(30:01):
The food's really good, butyou're not going for the food,
you're going for the experience.
And nobody takes a diner fromsitting down to truly making you
feel as though you're in therestaurateur's living room.
than either one of thoserestaurants.
And I think that is a greatreminder for anyone of what a
(30:24):
sense of belonging feels like.
And, you know, you guys haveboth been so, you know, it's
awesome.
You start at 1130 and you know,you're, you're slow playing it
by one 30, you're sitting at thetable next to you, you know,
wishing happy birthday to, uh,an 80-year-old grandmother,
right?
the-restaurant-guys_3 (30:38):
Honestly.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31 (30:39):
buying champagne for the table.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31 (30:40):
But you're also doing that and about
45 minutes in, you're like, isit 2025?
Is it 2015?
Is it 1987?
Is this 1965?
I don't know.
It's, it's timeless, but notlike in a museum sort of sense.
But you've, you're, you're thereforever.
I have to say, I just throw inmy own recommendation.
The, the French 75 bar at ournose.
(31:03):
Yep.
There is.
There is one chair there thathas been, I think it's the best
seat in New Orleans when youwalk in to the bar from the
street into the bar.
If you just do a hard Right,there's a little like snug right
back there.
There's also, there's also oneon the left, right?
Both sides of the door.
Yeah.
But the one on the right is yousit there and you used to be
able to smoke cigars in there.
(31:23):
I love that.
And you're sitting a littleprotected.
You're right at the French 75bar and that you feel like.
It could be a hundred years ago.
That is exactly what that lookedlike and feels like.
And there's super nice and soFrancis.
Yeah.
I'm not sure I told you this,but do you remember when you
were like, ah, I'm gonna take alittle two hour break, and
Jennifer and Julie and I duckedout for a little while?
(31:43):
Yeah, we sat in that chair.
I know Jennifer sent 75.
Jennifer sent me a picture.
You you gonna go take a nap?
Here's what you miss.
You miss your chair.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-2 (31:52):
love it.
I appreciate the honesty,
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31- (31:54):
So how.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31 (31:54):
point, Francis.
It's that it's that example oftimelessness.
It's, it's, it's why thoserestaurants have been around for
over a hundred years andcontinue to, to thrive and
flourish because they get themost important things right,
which is that sense of belongingand that sense of community and
camaraderie that we all crave.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31- (32:09):
So how long has your family been in
New Orleans?
What's your history with thecity?
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-202 (32:14):
So it's interesting.
My family has been in NewOrleans.
My great-great-grandfather wasthe first royal architect of the
city of New Orleans.
So That's the French side of myfamily.
And then I have an Irish side ofmy family has been there since,
uh, 1866.
My grandfather was an orphan orgreat-great-grandfather, was an
orphan from county Ca Ireland.
And he came to New Orleans to bea sail maker on the docks of the
(32:36):
Mississippi River.
Um, and he settled in the Irishchannel right where he worked
and he eventually became a SteveDore and, and owned a, a company
that did really well.
But he insisted on staying inthat neighborhood.
And, uh, to this day, I thinkboth sides of the family
influenced.
Who I am and what we do.
The name of the company isLeBron Smith.
After my maternal and paternalgrandfathers, uh, the
the-restaurant-guys_3_07 (32:57):
That's great.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-2 (32:58):
the, the French side, and it's a long
line of architects and builders.
And so my grandfather was acontractor, so his home wasn't
super expensive, but it wasbeautifully appointed.
My, we were always listening togreat classical music.
My grandmother was a great cookand she'd meals out.
It wasn't stuffy, but it wasnice.
It was fantastic food.
My grandfather would make sachsfor the family.
Um, and it was nice and itwasn't stiff, but I, but I think
(33:21):
everything that you experiencedviscerally in our restaurants
and bars came from that LeBlancside of the experience.
And then we'd go over to theSmith side for holidays.
We'd spend half the time at theLeBla house, half the time at
the Smith House.
Then you go to the Smith houseand it was exactly the opposite.
I, I'm not saying they were badcooks, but I don't remember what
we ate and drank or if we ateand drank.
But
the-restaurant-guys_3_07 (33:38):
Right.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-2 (33:39):
what you remember is it the, the
soundtrack of, of the wholeexperience was laughter.
And it wasn't just aunts anduncles and first cousins, it was
third cousins and it wasneighbors and it was neighbors,
cousins, and basically anybody.
That was tangential to them thatdidn't have a place to go for
the holidays.
We come to the Smith house andthat's the first time I remember
(33:59):
experiencing the idea of familyis not just a blood bond.
Um, and how important it is tomake everybody feel welcome and,
and how much that means and howmagical that can be.
And I remember we would getthere, we lived in home
Louisiana an hour away.
We would get there and it feltlike we were there for 30
minutes And, it would be fourhours later and we had to go
home and.
Um, so I think that what we wantpeople to feel emotionally in
(34:22):
our space is a sense ofbelonging and interconnectedness
that's not just, you know, withthe people that you came in
knowing, but also people nearyou.
that the soundtrack beinglaughter, I picked up on that
from the Smith side of thefamily.
And it's, it's interesting howthose experiences are steeped in
the heritage of the bothfamilies because my
great-great-grandfather was anorphan.
He didn't have family, so hedidn't define family as would be
(34:43):
traditionally defined.
and that's why he stayed in thesame neighborhood.
Um, that he landed in when hegot to New Orleans and his
neighbors were his family and,and that very much is still a
part of the DNA of the
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-3 (34:55):
And, and the city of New Orleans was
his family.
Yeah.
And, and, but you talk about theDNA I know so many restaurant
people that talk aboutrecreating that type of thing,
but it's not part of their DNA.
Mm-hmm.
And so it comes across as.
I don't wanna say fake, but, butthat's kind of the word.
(35:15):
Forced, forced, forced, forced,forced is the word.
I'm, I'm thinking about, uh, itcomes across as forced and you,
that's not something you canforce.
That kind of conviviality, thatkind of hospitality is, is.
I'll use Olive Garden as a, asan example, right?
You walk into Olive Garden andthere is a contrived message
(35:36):
that they want to, it's aformula.
It's a formula, right?
And I'm not saying that ourrestaurant doesn't, doesn't
abide by certain procedures,standards, and procedures, but
it's all gotta feel, right?
And if one of the policies andprocedures doesn't feel right.
Then out the window it goes.
Mm-hmm.
(35:56):
you can't recreate that.
It's gotta be part of the DNA.
So I, I love that.
That's part of yours.
(37:40):
Yeah, you know.
It's, I love talking to fellowrestaurateurs and one of the
things I always love about thisshow is there are so many common
threads between places that Ienjoy and places that I like,
and, you know, the way I wannarun my own place.
Yesterday at Family Meal, we, Iwas talking to the, the waiters
(38:02):
and, and busers and, uh, frontof house team about expressing
themselves to the customers.
One of the things I said wasnever say something that you
don't believe.
There are enough interesting,delicious things.
If there's something you don'tlike here, you don't have to
talk about it.
You don't have to recommend it.
(38:23):
Pick something that, that youare just absolutely passionate
about and talk to the customersabout that and tell it from your
heart and tell it from who youare and tell it from your
perspective of why you like it.
Nothing's more powerful thanthat.
I love it.
(39:48):
You forgot that the name of ourrestaurant is stage left.
So there's, there are twotheaters next door, so we do do
some of that, but, but what I'llsay is much less than we used
to.
Yeah.
So where that form of dining.
People going, coming here andthen going to the theater.
In the early years of therestaurant was 80% of what we
did.
It is now 17% of what we do.
(40:09):
And you say is exactly right.
I mean, there are some nightswhen the same guest who's
visiting us on their way to thetheater, they have a lighter
meal, a quicker meal.
They don't want to have morethan a drink or maybe two
because they, they'll say, uh.
I don't wanna fall asleep in theshow, you know?
Yeah.
Whereas they may come foranother dinner and, and come at
seven o'clock and stay for threehours.
Yeah.
And, and take their time andenjoy things.
(40:32):
It's, it's two different ways ofdining, but I agree dining is
the main event for a lot ofpeople right now, and that's a
great thing for us.
For sure.
(40:57):
Robert, I have to say you are,you are just a great ambassador
for Yeah.
New Orleans and for therestaurant industry and I am
very much looking forward to ussharing a cocktail somewhere,
somehow making that happen.
And I think you're doing yourfamily proud and, uh, we, we
love, we share the philosophiesthat you have in your bars and
restaurants and it's been apleasure to have you on the
(41:17):
show.
You too.
Absolutely you will.
You can find out all aboutRivera's Properties in our show
notes.
Stick with us.
We'll be back in just a moment.
You're listening to theRestaurant guys.
You can always find outmore@restaurantguyspodcast.com.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31 (41:47):
Hey there everybody.
Welcome back.
Boy, he was fun.
Yeah, seemed like just such agood guy.
We missed him in New Orleans.
We tried to hook up like threehad times in that week.
There were literally fourdifferent events that we were
supposed to cross over, and onehe left early.
One, he stayed someplace elselate.
And two, we didn't get out.
The things we were trying to getout of.
So yeah, new Orleans Star Talesis, it's one of those things.
Fun.
You all should go to Tales nextyear.
(42:09):
We'll probably do another livepodcast from down there.
Next, I'm sure we'll make your,make your plans.
Um.
I have to say, I, I, he broughtup a topic that we both agree
on, but it's not your favoriteframe of reference that I'm
gonna reference.
Uhoh, you know, you talked aboutthe V-shaped bar.
Yeah.
I'm, I'm gonna bring it back toa Shula Club story.
(42:29):
Oh, come on, man.
The Shula Club.
For those of you who don't knowis a shit hole.
It's not.
It's a very nice bar and it's avery nice club full of very nice
people.
Uh, the, listen, I love yourSele brothers.
Yeah, they're great, but it'snot a very nice bar.
It's fine.
You haven't been back much sinceI've done the improvements.
You're right.
It's improved.
It's way better than it was.
(42:49):
It doesn't smell bad anymore.
That's all good stuff.
Yes.
That's been that way for years.
It's all good stuff.
Yes.
Before COVID.
Yes.
So it's a lovely bar.
So the Shal Club, um, uh, is afraternal Irish American
organization in North Jersey.
I ran the bar for a littlewhile.
We did a little turnaround formaking it not a great bar as.
So unloving ly put it to whereit's a great little bar, and the
Shula Club bar is open to thepublic as well.
(43:11):
Yes.
If I lived closer, I would go tothe Shula Club.
Yes, you would.
I promise I would.
I would drag you there all thetime.
So, um, the, but I remember the,my dad was a member of the Shal
Club.
I walked into this club when Iwas seven years old, and they
had a bar up against the wall.
And they did a renovation of thebar.
This must have been in theseventies or maybe the early
eighties, but I think it was theseventies where they pulled the
(43:33):
bar off the wall and they did a,a round bar.
300.
Well, they did a three-sidedrectangular bar for just that
same reason.
Yeah.
So that you could talk to thepeople next to you at the bar.
There was a turn-in, and wealways love to sit at the corner
of the bar when there's aturn-in.
Yeah.
If there's more than two people.
And then you could speak to thepeople on the other side and the
(43:53):
bartenders run an island in themiddle that you could see over.
And I, there was a lot of debateabout that.
And when we renovated the bar,when I took over for a little
while, some people thought aboutputting it back up against the
wall.
Uh, but what the club decided.
That we're a club and we wantpeople to be able to talk to
each other, even when justsitting at the bar.
So we sacrificed some space togain some bar stools to gain
(44:15):
that communal sense.
And I think that's a, an oldfashioned way of having a bar.
And I like it.
Alright.
I'm gonna say something now toyou that's gonna make you happy.
Uh oh.
Okay.
It's, I don't feel good aboutit.
Just Okay.
Uh.
The club is the bar I wasthinking about when I was
talking about his v-shaped bar.
(44:36):
See, see, you just wanna hate itbecause you, you know, it pushes
my buttons.
It does push your buttons.
Yeah, that's true.
And I, and, and as much as Ilike it, I will still call it
names just'cause I know that it,that, that it gets your I up.
If you're in West Orange, NewJersey, I recommend, that's
S-H-I-L-L-E-L-A-G-H.
And now you know how to spellshale.
I would check it out.
I still dunno how to spell it,just so you know.
(44:58):
Well, uh, it's all aboutcommunity.
Like our bar is all aboutcommunity.
His bar was all about community.
And, and listen, what I said inthe middle of that interview was
we're looking at the fastcasuals and those change are
closing.
Closing, yes, yes.
Closing, because that was whereyou went to get food.
And there's a million ways toget food right now, but
independently owned.
(45:18):
Restaurant that's on the nicerend.
That's where you go for anexperience.
And I think that was a great,and that was Affirm.
Today it's lovely to see and getoutta your houses and stop door
dashing and stop Uber eating andgo to the local bar or
restaurant and sit down, have a45 minute meal, and talk to a
bartender and talk to anotherhuman being.
It's, it's a better life., And Ihope we've made your life a
(45:39):
little better for the last houror so.
I'm Francis Shot.
And I'm Mark Pascal.
We are the restaurant guys.
You can always find out more atrestaurant podcast com.
hello everybody and welcome.
You are listening to theRestaurant Guys.
I'm Mark Pascal and he's FrancisShot.
Together, we own stage left andCatherine Lombardi restaurants
in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
We're here to bring you theinside track on food, wine, and
the finer things in life.
Hey Mark.
Hey Francis.
How are you?
I'm doing great and I'm lookingforward to our guest later on
today we have Rob Lelong fromThe Big Easy.
He owns a bunch of greatproperties down there and uh,
(00:33):
it's gonna be a lovelyconversation about New Orleans,
one of my favorite cities.
Yeah, really long term.
New Orleans guy, doing some coolstuff down there.
Excited to talk to him.
But in the meantime, what do yougot for me?
people are using appliances inways they shouldn't be using
their appliances.
Is this gonna be sexual?
Never.
Okay.
I thought, I promise I willnever start a show like that.
(00:56):
This is a family show, mark.
What are you talking about?
Exactly?
That was funny, by the way.
I'm sorry.
That was really funny.
I hope you're laughing in thecar wherever you are.
I think most people have seenpeople using their dishwasher to
Oh, to like cook a lobster?
Yeah.
Or the latest one I saw wassomebody So steak in their
(01:16):
dishwasher.
No.
Okay.
No.
The first thing that I wanna sayis.
Maybe you can, but youshouldn't.
No, it's a hard No.
It's a hard no.
It's a hard no.
It's a hard, no.
Boiling, boiling water is toohard.
Yeah, that's too hard.
You can't, you can't try thesoup feed steak in a, in a pot
(01:37):
of boiling water.
But what they're saying is.
They that you should, you'regonna soo stuff in lower than
boiling temperature water, butkeeping it at a constant
temperature.
But you know what?
You don't need a frickingdishwasher to do that.
You can just dishwash do what Ijust said.
The dishwash and the dishwasherdoesn't give you constant
temperature anyway.
Right.
And all you're gonna have is ashitty water log lobster look,
or a well no overcooked steak.
(01:59):
But the lobster is supposed tobe in a bag.
It's all supposed to be in abag.
No, no, no.
You put the lobster right on therack, brother.
Why that?
That Oh, absolutely.
Are you serious?
I'm totally serious.
Oh my goodness.
It's the stupidest I trend on,on Instagram that I have ever
seen.
I thought that was stupid when Ithought it was in a bag.
It's really stupid.
I'm gonna, I'm just gonna begall everybody who's ever seen
that just don't do it.
(02:19):
Don't do that, that, and scrollpast that person and unfollow.
Alright.
Those are the things that youshould be doing though.
I have seen stuff where peoplesay, you, you, you have like
done stuff in a bag, in adishwasher, but also
unnecessary.
Buy yourself a little CUVmachine.
So, you know what?
My aunt used to do?
What?
So my aunt for years and yearswould find the clam shell or the
(02:44):
snail shell.
That was perfect.
from buying fresh snails, andshe would run them through the
dishwasher so she, she could puther next set of stuffed clams
or, or snails.
We did a lot of snails.
She, she serves snails a lot inour family.
Uh, when I was a kid, like everyfancy schmancy dinner party and
the snail shells were alwaysperfect looking.
(03:05):
Yeah.
But who knows what was livinginside the snail shell that had
gone through the dishwasher.
18 years ago for the first, thatwas a snail 18 years ago.
Don't eat out of its carcass.
I remember the, there wererestaurants who used to, um, and
I, I don't know if they stilldo, but if, I think people
mostly know that if you buyscallops in a big bucket,
(03:26):
they're a lot cheaper than ifyou buy.
Mm-hmm.
If you buy dry scallops, orcertainly scallops in the shell
are much more expensivedepending on where you are.
Yes.
restaurants would use scallopshells for scallops that had
been shipped in wet, as wetscallops.
So they would buy diverscallops.
Yeah.
One time, which come in theshell one time.
Open the scallops, save theshells, run them through the
dishwasher, put a cheaperscallop in the scallop shell and
(03:48):
serve you that.
You.
Yeah, I, I, there was arestaurant very famous, like at
the New York Times three starrestaurant in New York that used
to do that with oyster shells.
And my buddy who used to workthere was like, I can't believe,
come on, man.
I can't believe that do better.
I Say it again, do better, Josh.
Mark (04:03):
So my aunt calls me about these snails that she has.
the-restaurant-guys_2_0 (04:07):
Mm-hmm.
Mark (04:07):
So now you can buy snails shelled in a can.
Okay, so she has a can of snailsthat she wants to keep and serve
to people.
I was like, okay.
she was like, they're old.
I was like, well, how old arethey?
You know, they're canned.
They're probably good for ayear, two years, three years,
whatever, Uhhuh, and She goes,they're 25 years old and I hear
(04:33):
my uncle in the background go30.
They're 30 years old.
I'm like, you gotta throw thecanna nails out.
I gave them a Canna nails forChristmas that year, and I went
in their cupboard and threw awaythe canna nails Alright, one
other, Do not do this food, foodthing.
Go ahead.
We had a guy who worked for usin our kitchen, um, and he was
(04:53):
really talented.
He had worked in a Michelinstar, uh, restaurant in Germany.
Oh, I know the guy you'retalking about and I know what
you're gonna say.
And I, and he had some ideas.
This is the nineties, right?
So this is before the internethas connected the world.
And there were some differentideas.
And one of the things he said tous was just like.
One of the waiters came andsaid, um.
(05:14):
This person is, he's collectingall the butters as they come
back from the table, the halfeaten butters off the table.
Well, yeah, and it wasn't likeyou stuck your lip on the
butter, but you used your butterknife to get the butter and put
on bread.
Okay.
We don't know that.
You didn't stick your light tobutter butter though.
I don't know exactly.
We don't know that you didn'tsneeze in the butter once.
That butter, we don't know whatyou did to that butter.
'cause that was your butter.
So it wasn't our butter anymore.
It's your butter.
Now what?
We said, the guy was like, whatare you doing?
(05:35):
He's like.
Well, we are not going to throwthis away, are we?
I'm like, yeah, we're, yes.
Yeah, we're we Most certainlyare.
You don't want that butteranymore.
We most certainly are.
We don't.
We sold that butter.
It's now sweet butter.
Well, once it was out of thechain of custody, I don't know
exactly what happened to thatbutter and he was mad.
Yeah.
He's like, how dare you wastebutter like this?
I'm like, yeah, we're wastingthe butter.
Like I'm like, no.
(05:55):
So gross.
Sorry again.
I don't know what you did withthat butter.
No, no, no, no, no and no, no.
Alright, so we're gonna be backin a few minutes.
We're gonna be talking withRobert Leblanc to ask him if he
reuses any of the butter in hisrestaurants in New Orleans, and
we're guessing not so stick withus.
You're listening to therestaurant guys.
You can always find out moreabout
us@restaurantguyspodcast.com.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31 (06:15):
Hey everybody.
Welcome back.
It's Mark and Francis.
And today our guest is RobertLelong.
His restaurants in New Orleansare amazing.
He's a James Beard, outstandingrestaurateur nominee.
Uh, he's a hotelier, a sandwichshop owner.
He's got boutique hotels likethe Chloe and Celestine and bars
like barrel.
Pay showed will in the way.
Um, his places are anchored inhistoric New Orleans as well as
(06:37):
being completely fresh.
And his story is superinteresting and that's why we
asked him to come join us on theshow today.
Hey Robert, welcome to the show.
squadcaster-2bdf_1_07-31-20 (06:43):
Hey guys.
Thanks for having me.
I'm fired up to be here withy'all.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07- (06:47):
Yeah, it's, it, what you're doing
there is pretty exciting.
You know, you have a, you have atown that is kind of with the
old guard, you know, we hadDickie Brennan on a show
recently.
We had T Martin on a show notthat long ago.
And you got these, these, know,royalty families in New Orleans,
and now you, you're carving outyour little niche of, more
boutiquey style of places and,you're kind of the next
(07:09):
generation in that city.
It's, it's really a cool thingthat you're doing.
Tell us a little bit about what,what's going on there.
squadcaster-2bdf_1_07-31- (07:15):
Thank you, um, so much.
And, and look, I'm glad youbrought up T and Dickie because
I think one of the things thatmakes New Orleans magical is, is
the old guard, the generationthat t Dickie, Melvin Rod from
gwas, they've been incrediblysupportive, um, of us and, and,
and my peers.
And I remember some of our.
(07:37):
Earliest regular guests at ourfirst restaurant, Sylva.
Literally Dickie Brennan wouldsit at the bar when he was
building Tableau next door, and,and t Martin would come in once
a week.
And when you don't know who youare and you don't even believe
in yourself, to have people likethat come in and tell you that
you're doing something reallyoutstanding.
And I, I just, that was reallyimpactful to me.
(07:57):
And if I ever make it, I, Iwanna make sure that I'm doing
the same exact thing for the,for the, for the generation
right behind me that they'vedone for us.
And so.
But look, because those placesare so great, we're also clear.
You can't replicate that.
You just can't compete withGallo's 125 year history or the,
the depth of, uh, character andexperiences that exist in the
(08:18):
brand's restaurants.
And so what we wanted to try todo was create spaces that
reference some of the mosticonic aspects of their
hospitality.
But to do it in a, in adifferent and slightly more
refreshing way, uh, in a waythat's probably a little bit
more oriented towards having acocktail.
We always say we want people tofeel as comfortable just sitting
at a table to have cocktails asthey would sitting at the bar to
(08:40):
have a whole meal
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-3 (08:41):
It's no surprise that those people
welcomed you to the city.
I mean, Francis and I have beenhere for 33 years, and one of
the things we love is when a.
New restaurant with a newconcept and a new perspective
opens up in our city because.
I mean, not to the degree thatNew Orleans is, but New
Brunswick, New Jersey is arestaurant destination city, and
(09:04):
I can't be a restaurantdestination city with my two
restaurants being the only twore restaurants in the city.
So a a lovely new restaurantjust opened around a corner
here.
We're, we're excited.
Azi Azi just opened around thecorner.
We're excited that thatrestaurant's joining the scene.
Yeah.
And, and gonna become animportant part of the restaurant
dynamic here because.
It is different.
(09:24):
Sure.
And it is bringing something newto the city and it does bring,
you know, more people in and,and keep the city interesting.
And, and new.
squadcaster-2bdf_1_07-31- (09:32):
Yeah, I mean, the secret's out now
because there's been so manyhigh quality podcasts.
Your guys is, you know, amongthe best of them.
But, the biggest misnomer isthat everybody in restaurants
and bars are all competing withone another.
We're all friends and, um, Ithink the industry's better when
we're talking honestly, andsharing best practices and also
sharing mistakes and misstepthat we made.
And so some of our most.
(09:53):
Helpful conversations and someof our biggest supporters have
been people that, uh, theoutside would quote.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31- (10:00):
we found that in a lot of places
here as well as our, our friendsin New, in New York have,
there's a, there's just arestaurant community comradery,
but there have been a fewoutliers over the years and
everybody's an angel.
And there are people who viewevery, Entree served in your
dining room is a night thatsomeone's not in their dining
room and they, they haven'tlasted.
I mean, the, the people who comein with that point of view who
(10:24):
to steal staff from you or tryto get people, you know, they
come for your piece of the pie.
Um, it doesn't work.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31 (10:31):
and so it's about make the pie
bigger is really the only waythat a restaurant community can
survive.
What do you think?
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-202 (10:36):
I, I couldn't agree more.
You know, if you think about it,you, you all have a couple
restaurants.
If somebody's in town for fouror five days, they can't go to
your restaurant every single
the-restaurant-guys_3_ (10:45):
Exactly, exactly.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07 (10:46):
someplace else and experience something
else.
And, know, if, if somebody goesand has a great restaurant
experience anywhere, they have agreat restaurant experience
everywhere.
And so You know, if you go inthere with kind of a chippy
competitive attitude and you're,you're sort of thinking about
what somebody else is doing asopposed to trying to be the best
that you are, the guest picks upon that and what it does, it
doesn't just give them a poorexperience in your restaurant.
(11:08):
It gives them a poor experience,but going out to dine
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31-2 (11:10):
I think that restaurants serve a,
a greater purpose and NewOrleans is a, is a very
important city, but it's alsokind of a small city and a tight
knit community that's verystable and been there for a long
time.
And the restaurant people havebeen there for a long time.
And you know, I say more andmore, you know, as the
restaurant business is more andmore challenging and we're
losing a lot of our quickservice restaurants and a lot of
the chain restaurants'cause theywere places to get food.
(11:33):
That's what, that's what a quickservice restaurant is place to
get a kind of a flow restaurantexperience.
It's a place to get food in acorporate chain with an
anonymous person who gets youthe same food that you can get,
and every other one of those,whatever the chain is, and I'm
not saying they don't serve apurpose, but they're not doing
so well now because it'sexpensive to eat out no matter
what, but what I think.
what remains is restaurantswhere people feel that they're
(11:54):
in a community and in a part ofthe, when they come to your,
your house, they may not beirregular, but your regulars
feel at home.
The new people feel like youknow, they're welcome there.
And also I think the people inthe town they like, they like
talking to us about.
Our former Matri D, who is nowthe Maury of the frog and the
peach around the corner, and hesays Hello, and we're gonna go
(12:17):
this place for dessert.
And we'll say, he'll say helloto that person and it makes the
guest feel like.
I am in a community with anetwork of restaurants, and I am
known in this community.
It's, it's, it's, it's anextension of the dining room.
And I think in a little citylike New Brunswick, in a, a real
communal city like New Orleans,it makes a big difference.
You did something really cool inone of your restaurants.
(12:39):
You created a v-shaped bar sothat the, customers could talk
to each other more than theywould at a conventional bar, and
I just thought, you know, that'ssomebody who's, who's.
Taken his vision and said, okay,I want, I want my customers to
feel good with each other andtaking it to the next step.
Tell me, tell me why and how youdid that.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31- (12:58):
Yeah, so, you know, you touched on
something a second ago, Francis.
It's, it's really aboutrelationships.
You know, and relationships arebinary.
They're a one or a zero.
You're either good atrelationships, you're not good
at relationships.
And so the, the restaurants thatI think succeed are the ones who
establish a relationship betweenthe guests in the restaurant.
the guests and the team members,and between guests and other
guests because we're a socialcreature and we want to be
(13:20):
connected.
And a lot of those chainrestaurants don't do that as
well.
They're transactional.
They make the, you know, theymake the spinach dip as well as
it is everywhere in the country,but it's a very transactional
experience and people still needto be fed.
So those places do okay, butpeople really crave
relationships.
We're so disconnected because weinteract digitally.
We don't meet anymore.
You know, we, we zoom.
(13:41):
Call anymore, we text.
Um, so, so I think thatrestaurants become ever
important as that third space.
But you have to, you have tomake sure that you're able to
foster relationships with guestsand you have to allow guests to
foster relationships with yourpatrons.
And, you know, there's no waythat you can be relational with
your guests, be relational withyour team, and then be
adversarial with your neighbor,or the restaurant down the
(14:03):
street.
It just doesn't, it doesn'twork.
And that, you know, so it's likeif you're adversarial with your.
down the street, you're probablyadversarial.
Even if it's subtly orsubconsciously with your team,
you're probably a littleadversarial with your guests.
Right?
And so that.
relationship piece is animportant part of it.
And it, Yeah.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07- (14:22):
Yeah.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07- (14:22):
percent.
And so, you know, so we designedeverything with our physical
space and our program toencourage people to bump into
each other more frequently withhappenstance.
And one of the things we prideourselves on is.
Um, the solo diner, you know,the, the, the person who comes
in by themselves at the bar,they're gonna at least have one
friend, and that will be us, youknow, the bartender taking care
of'em.
And if they are at the bar forfive or 10 minutes, you can bet
(14:45):
the bartender's gonna introducethem to the couple next to them,
or the person sitting across theway who they should, should
know.
And, And you can establish, youknow, great memories that way.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31 (14:55):
And I know I, I'm, I'm belaboring
the point a little bit, but whenwe extend that and we have that
sense of community like you havewith Dickie and t and other
restaurateurs in New Orleans,and we have with the other
restaurateurs and, andrestaurant staffs in New
Brunswick, if you're visiting atown for a week or you just
moved into a town, how great isit?
How much do you feel like you'repart of a community?
If you go to the other bar andsay, oh, well, you know, I was
(15:16):
talking to the bartender I wastalking to, I was talking to
Julie at Sage left, and she saidI could come try this place.
Oh, that's great.
We love Julie Taylor.
And then that you send themsomeplace else and so you go
into another place where you'venever been before.
And so by being part of thatnetwork of hospitality joints,
you're creating that communityand then you know, a couple of
bartenders names and you a coupknow a couple of servers names
(15:37):
and you're new in town, but atleast you know, four or five
people.
I don't know.
I, that's why restaurants are soimportant.
I mean, when we were in NewOrleans, you know, the dive
bartender was sending us to thiscool, trendy place and that
person was sending us to thisfancy schmancy place, and that
person was sending us to theback, to the dive bar.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-2 (15:55):
Yep.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31 (15:55):
You know, it was, it was this great
symbiosis that I, I very muchenjoyed.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31 (15:59):
That's
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31 (15:59):
Mm.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-20 (15:59):
You know, we, we, we co-opted that
Maya Angelou quote, people willforget what you said.
They'll forget what you did, butthey'll never forget how you
made them feel.
And when we talk about it allthe time, it's like people will
forget what they ate here.
They'll forget what they drankhere, but they'll never forget
how you made them feel.
And so if you can make them feellike they're a welcome part of
the community, if you can makethem feel connections to other
human beings and to our team,that's, that's the juice.
the-restaurant-guys_3_ (16:22):
Alright, so let's talk about your places.
Um, you have a, you have a, acollection of different sorts of
places and, and I think what Ifirst wanna talk about is, uh,
the places where people canstay.
Your, your, where you have roomsbecause most of our audience
does not live in New Orleans.
And talk, talk about.
The Chloe and Peau and howthey're different and what, what
(16:42):
you're going for inaccommodations.
'cause we've stayed at Airbnbsin New Orleans.
We've stayed at, uh, the MonteLeon, we stayed at the Roosevelt
Hotel and they're all greatexperiences.
But you, you are a boutiquehotelier kind of thing.
What's that all about?
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-202 (16:56):
So we try to, um, we operate
smaller hotels, so Chloe's 14rooms ine 14 rooms, and we have
a strong food and beverageprogram that help make the
economics of a 14 room hotel.
Okay.
But by nature of their beingsmaller, we can more deeply
embed our hotels in culturallyand historically significant
residential neighborhoods.
And we really want our guests toget a sense of what it's like to
(17:19):
live in New Orleans, not just tovisit New Orleans.
And New Orleans is is magical.
The French Quarter is magicalhotel.
Mat Island is a great hotel, andthat's a great experience, it's
an experience of New Orleansthat most people only get when
they're traveling to NewOrleans, not when they live in
New Orleans.
And those of us who live therehave really rich lives.
We're fun.
We bump into people we loveevery day.
(17:39):
By nature of the close proximityto one another.
But I don't think a lot ofhotels were able to translate
that experience that makes NewOrleans such a magical place to
live.
And so we really try toreplicate that.
And even with Celestine, whichis in the French Quarter, which
is a heavily trafficked touristdestination, it's more in the
residential part of the FrenchQuarter, the the slightly more
quiet side of the FrenchQuarter.
And there's tons of people wholive and work on a daily basis
(18:02):
in that end of the FrenchQuarter.
And.
We want our guests to get asense of what it might be to
have a nice apartment in theFrench Quarter of New Orleans,
or a nice apartment uptown in,in the case of Chloe.
And so we also want people toexperience the cultural
experiences that reflect 21stcentury New Orleans.
You know, new Orleans is amagical place because we're
steeped in all this history andheritage, so the architecture's
(18:23):
amazing.
you know, new orleans's role in,in classic cocktail culture is,
is pretty eponymous at thispoint, and so we want people to
be able to experience that, butthat's table stakes.
But there's also musicianswriting really cool songs in the
21st century, and there's greatphotographers and writers down
here.
Um, certainly great chefs andbartenders creating these really
good cocktails that are inspiredby things that are going on in
(18:45):
21st century New Orleans, andthey still reference the
heritage.
It's still rooted in thathospitality tradition.
It's still rooted in this senseof timelessness that New Orleans
really tends to do really well,but it's the same time.
It gives you a sense of what NewOrleans is in today and where
it's going, as opposed to thissense of being a museum that
just preserved what New Orleanswas.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31- (19:06):
So that's a very interesting thing
about New Orleans because it isa, a city that relies heavily on
tourism and people comingthrough.
Yet it is a city with a stablehistory and population that's
been there for a long time.
what's the relationship like?
Between when you put a hotel ina residential neighborhood, how,
how does that work?
How do the people who live inthat neighborhood feel about
(19:28):
your hotel?
How do you be a good neighborwith them and how do you make it
a positive interaction for boththe people who live there?
Yeah, there's, there's lots ofpeople who do not want a 14 room
hotel in their.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31- (19:39):
Yeah, so That's.
a great question and we'rereally intentional about that.
So we want our, our hotels to belobbies for the neighborhoods.
So come in, have coffee in themorning, take your meetings,
come jump in the pool if youwanna jump in the pool.
We really treat our neighborsand all new Orlean.
Um.
The same way that we treat hotelguests.
And that actually is whatinforms the experience of
(19:59):
getting a sense of what it'slike to be a local, from the
hotel guest perspective is thefact that you have hanging out
there and you know, so the waythat we do that is we're really
open and inviting to them.
We have local pricing on ourcocktails and, and, and menu
items.
So it's not.
It's the same as the hotelguests would pay.
But you know, hotels arenotorious for upcharging, for
(20:19):
drinks.
You know, hotel foods moreexpensive.
Hotel drinks are more expensive.
Our food and drinks are right inline with a slightly higher end
restaurant.
Not the most expensiverestaurant, but it's, it's
pricing that locals are used topaying in their local
restaurants.
And that's a really importantpart'cause it allows them to
come frequently instead of justbeing sporadically or
occasionally.
the hotel guests.
What happens for the hotelguests when they're having
(20:40):
breakfast downstairs in themorning?
They're having coffee next to alocal who can, and the
conversation typically alwaysshades more to what's going on
on a day-to-day basis in NewOrleans, or when they're at the
pool, at a pool chair, they'resitting next to a local who's
working on a laptop.
And it's that conversation andthat color that you get by these
interactions with locals,whether it's at the bar at happy
(21:01):
hour or it's at the dining roomtable next to them, or having
coffee in the morning.
That's where you really get therelational.
Aspects with locals and theconversations between locals and
people visiting New Orleans,staying at the hotel.
That's the touch point.
That's the stickiness
the-restaurant-guys_3_0 (21:15):
That's.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-2 (21:16):
that gets people.
the-restaurant-guys_3_0 (21:17):
Robert, when we come back from our
break, I, I really want to talkto you about you and your
organization doubling down atkind of what was a low point for
New Orleans doubling down onyour investments in New Orleans.
And, and I, I thought that was areally cool thing and I wanna
know how you came through that.
So stick with us, stick with us.
We'll be back in just a momentwith, uh, we barely belong from
(21:37):
New Orleans.
Uh, you're listening to therestaurant guys.
Of course.
We'll be back in just a moment.
Hey, everybody.
Welcome back.
Mark.
You had a question?
Yeah.
So Robert, new Orleans goesthrough that same, low point
with COVID, like every other bigrestaurant town in America, and,
Then New Orleans gets hit withIda.
(21:58):
Okay.
And you have to deal withanother flood, and you have to
deal with, with more peopleleaving the city and more
properties being, beingabandoned and your police fo
force being lowered and all the,all the rest of the stuff that
happened in New Orleans duringthat.
What, what I'll say was, was a,was a pretty low point for New
Orleans.
And see you just investing moreand more and more in the city of
(22:22):
New Orleans during that pointwhen we're all sitting here, you
know, looking for cover from,those bad things that happened
to us and, and just trying toget to the other side.
And you keep reinvesting.
So, so tell us about what gaveyou the confidence to, be a guy
who's like, well, no, let's,let's push forward right now.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31- (22:41):
Yeah.
You know, one of the things Ithink makes restaurateurs who we
are is there's a naturalresilience that comes with just
being in this business.
There's so many ups and so manydowns, and there's always gonna
be tough times no matter howgood
the-restaurant-guys_3_07- (22:52):
Some, some people would call that
resilience stupidity.
Robert, just, I'm just
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-3 (22:55):
that's, putting
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31 (22:57):
big headedness.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-202 (22:58):
on it.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-3 (22:58):
Any, any, any way you wanna place
that.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-20 (23:00):
But I, I think, you know, look, it's
tough.
Uh, you know, the DNA of NewOrlean is pretty, is is pretty
tough now, you know, recoveringfrom Katrina and then the BP oil
spill was a little bit toughermaybe than it appeared from the
outside because tourism got shutdown.
Most of the hotel rooms wereallocated to recovery work.
Couldn't get access to GreatGulf Seafood, which is what
(23:22):
everybody likes to eat when theycome to New Orleans.
So that was also a tough time.
And then COVID was a tough time.
And so I just think resilienceis built into the DNA of our
company and, and most neworlean.
And I think you always try tofind, I study stoic philosophy,
so you always, it's based on thepremise that you can't control
what happens.
So you can only control how yourespond.
And, you know, you keep havingthese instances and it's like we
(23:46):
just, you just gotta keep goingone foot in front of the other.
And as long as you don't stop.
Um, and as long as you keeplearning and growing and keep
acknowledging your own mistakesand just pay attention with ida,
we never paid attention.
And with COVID, we never paidattention to all the external
things that COVID did to us.
We really dissected the mistakesthat we were making prior to
COVID that.
put us in a situation where wedidn't have enough cash to be
(24:07):
able to save all the places or,you know, there's always
something we could have done andcontrolled.
And so we made it a point.
That that wasn't going to be theexcuse for the reason why this
company closed down.
That wasn't going to be theexcuse why the New Orleans lost
its soul, and we just wanted tokeep going.
And then, you know, it workedafter Katrina.
It worked after the BP oilspill.
And so we just had confidencethat if you just keep going, you
(24:28):
keep learning and growing andyou take responsibility for the
things that you can control andbe the best you can be over
time, that stuff typically bearsout.
And I think that's a maximumthat's true in life, not just in
our industry, but it's certainlytrue in our industry.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07- (24:40):
Well, I will never forget and so my
house flooded during Ida, so Ihad, you know, during COVID and
I will never forget walkingoutside.
we demolished my house the dayafter Ida.
As soon as we can get back intothe house, we demolished the
downstairs and I walked outsideand it was one of the most
beautiful days.
(25:00):
That I had ever seen.
The weather was perfect, the skywas blue, the birds were
chirping.
It was just this spectacularday, and the choice was just
like you said, I could focus onthe rubble that was sitting out
in front of, what had been thedownstairs of my house.
Or I could focus on, Hey, it's anew day, you know, I'm gonna
(25:21):
rebuild my house.
It's gonna be just the way Iwant it when I rebuild my house.
Which is, you know, I guessmetaphorically what you did,
right?
You rebuilt your house rightafter Ida.
And, that became my focus of,uh, okay, well how am I
rebuilding?
How am I gonna make this, thishome better than it was?
Before this, tragedy happened tome.
(25:42):
I did the little air quotes.
'cause it, it was some water.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31 (25:44):
that's
the-restaurant-guys_3_07- (25:45):
water came in my house.
You know, it did, it did not, itdid not hurt my soul.
And so, so we built back better.
And that's, it sounds like thatthat's the philosophy of, of
building your company during badtimes.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31- (25:57):
Look, I'm sorry that happened to you,
but I think what you just, thestory you just told personified,
while we all love New Orleans,it's, it's the ultimate love
song.
It's like, no matter how muchhappens to you as a result of
being a new orlean that hurtsyou, you love it so much.
The, the highs, the moments,the, the day that you describe,
you know, it's worth the costthat.
(26:20):
We sometimes pay to be NewOrleanians.
it it, it is that magical of acity and, and people do care for
each other.
And my, I don't wanna bepresumptuous, but I would
imagine your neighbors wereoffering to help you with
whatever needed help or, youknow, people in the community.
It,
the-restaurant-guys_3_0 (26:34):
People, you, you, unbelievable support
from friends and family andneighbors and just ridiculous.
Ridiculous.
If I think about it, I'll cry.
So it was, it was spectacular.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-20 (26:46):
You know, we don't want these
tragedies to happen, but, um,you know, one of the magical
things about New Orleans and astory that's very rarely told
about New Orleans is, is everytime one of these things
happens, You really get to seethe strength of the community
that is the city of New Orleans.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31-2 (26:59):
I think that was really on
display.
And ever since Katrina, thenation looks at New Orleans is
like what happened to them now.
Yeah.
And then, then yeah, it's, it isthe bounce back city, uh, ever
since then, and I, I, I wasnever concerned that New Orleans
couldn't rebuild and retain itssoul except after Katrina.
I think it's pretty magicalthat, or it's a testament to New
(27:21):
Orleans that it, it did rebuildand become like, once again, the
city.
Well, well, I, I also wanna say,three, four years ago, Francis
and I went down to Tales of theCocktail and we were like, oh,
new Orleans is not in a greatplace right now.
And, you know, your police forcewould, was diminished your, it
just, it didn't feel like theold New Orleans that, that we
had been to so many timesbefore.
(27:42):
And then we went down last yearand I started to feel again,
like, okay, it's getting better.
And then this year I went downand I was like.
Whew.
Okay.
We're, we're back to NewOrleans.
We're back to be in that, thatcity that I love and it, it was,
it was really good to see thisyear.
I felt really good in NewOrleans this year.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-2025 (27:59):
I appreciate you saying that, and
I think that our industry has alot of responsibility to sort of
be the positive force for goodand, make sure that everybody
sees the glass half full asopposed to half empty.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07- (28:11):
Well, let's talk about the glass for a
minute now.
Um, you have great bars, youhave great hotels.
We're gonna link all of those onour, uh, show notes.
But, um.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-202 (28:19):
I.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31- (28:20):
If you were gonna send someone to
New Orleans or someone weregonna come down to New Orleans
and spend and spend one or twonights in New Orleans, where
would you send them to eat?
Where's your like top one or twothings.
You have to never been to NewOrleans before.
Let's go three nights.
So you can mention your ownplace?
Yeah.
All right.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-202 (28:36):
So look, I love our places, but I
don't ever think it'sinteresting when a restaurateur
mentions their own places.
I think by nature of y'all beinggracious enough to have me,
that's enough coverage for ourown places.
So I'll name three places, um,that I think are quintessential
New Orleans experiences thatpeople should have.
So I think people should go toPatois, which is a neighborhood
(28:59):
restaurant in uptown NewOrleans.
it, it doesn't, probably doesn'tget the attention it does great,
but it probably doesn't get thenational attention that it
deserves based on the quality ofthe experiences there.
But I think that is the bestrestaurant we have in New
Orleans, in my opinion.
I think that you should probablygo to the wine bar at Della
Chase, which is on St.
(29:20):
Charles Avenue, so you get asense of what it's like to be on
the street car line.
And, um, the food's fantastic.
It, it presents a little bitmore like a bar or a Parisian
cafe, but the food is every bitas good as great restaurant
food.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07- (29:34):
Never been there.
Okay.
That's
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-2 (29:37):
it's fantastic.
Um,
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31-2 (29:39):
a ago.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-20 (29:40):
uh, I apologize.
Well, they're always kind ofpopping up and look, I think,
um, everyone needs to go to agrand lunch at GWAS or our nose.
Uh.
It, you know, and, and those areinterchangeable.
They're totally differentrestaurants.
But if GWA is too crowded andyou can't get in, but you can
get into our nose, or sometimesour nose may be a little too
crowded, you get the samefeeling.
(30:01):
The food's really good, butyou're not going for the food,
you're going for the experience.
And nobody takes a diner fromsitting down to truly making you
feel as though you're in therestaurateur's living room.
than either one of thoserestaurants.
And I think that is a greatreminder for anyone of what a
(30:24):
sense of belonging feels like.
And, you know, you guys haveboth been so, you know, it's
awesome.
You start at 1130 and you know,you're, you're slow playing it
by one 30, you're sitting at thetable next to you, you know,
wishing happy birthday to, uh,an 80-year-old grandmother,
right?
the-restaurant-guys_3 (30:38):
Honestly.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31 (30:39):
buying champagne for the table.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31 (30:40):
But you're also doing that and about
45 minutes in, you're like, isit 2025?
Is it 2015?
Is it 1987?
Is this 1965?
I don't know.
It's, it's timeless, but notlike in a museum sort of sense.
But you've, you're, you're thereforever.
I have to say, I just throw inmy own recommendation.
The, the French 75 bar at ournose.
(31:03):
Yep.
There is.
There is one chair there thathas been, I think it's the best
seat in New Orleans when youwalk in to the bar from the
street into the bar.
If you just do a hard Right,there's a little like snug right
back there.
There's also, there's also oneon the left, right?
Both sides of the door.
Yeah.
But the one on the right is yousit there and you used to be
able to smoke cigars in there.
(31:23):
I love that.
And you're sitting a littleprotected.
You're right at the French 75bar and that you feel like.
It could be a hundred years ago.
That is exactly what that lookedlike and feels like.
And there's super nice and soFrancis.
Yeah.
I'm not sure I told you this,but do you remember when you
were like, ah, I'm gonna take alittle two hour break, and
Jennifer and Julie and I duckedout for a little while?
(31:43):
Yeah, we sat in that chair.
I know Jennifer sent 75.
Jennifer sent me a picture.
You you gonna go take a nap?
Here's what you miss.
You miss your chair.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-2 (31:52):
love it.
I appreciate the honesty,
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31- (31:54):
So how.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31 (31:54):
point, Francis.
It's that it's that example oftimelessness.
It's, it's, it's why thoserestaurants have been around for
over a hundred years andcontinue to, to thrive and
flourish because they get themost important things right,
which is that sense of belongingand that sense of community and
camaraderie that we all crave.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31- (32:09):
So how long has your family been in
New Orleans?
What's your history with thecity?
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-202 (32:14):
So it's interesting.
My family has been in NewOrleans.
My great-great-grandfather wasthe first royal architect of the
city of New Orleans.
So That's the French side of myfamily.
And then I have an Irish side ofmy family has been there since,
uh, 1866.
My grandfather was an orphan orgreat-great-grandfather, was an
orphan from county Ca Ireland.
And he came to New Orleans to bea sail maker on the docks of the
(32:36):
Mississippi River.
Um, and he settled in the Irishchannel right where he worked
and he eventually became a SteveDore and, and owned a, a company
that did really well.
But he insisted on staying inthat neighborhood.
And, uh, to this day, I thinkboth sides of the family
influenced.
Who I am and what we do.
The name of the company isLeBron Smith.
After my maternal and paternalgrandfathers, uh, the
the-restaurant-guys_3_07 (32:57):
That's great.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-2 (32:58):
the, the French side, and it's a long
line of architects and builders.
And so my grandfather was acontractor, so his home wasn't
super expensive, but it wasbeautifully appointed.
My, we were always listening togreat classical music.
My grandmother was a great cookand she'd meals out.
It wasn't stuffy, but it wasnice.
It was fantastic food.
My grandfather would make sachsfor the family.
Um, and it was nice and itwasn't stiff, but I, but I think
(33:21):
everything that you experiencedviscerally in our restaurants
and bars came from that LeBlancside of the experience.
And then we'd go over to theSmith side for holidays.
We'd spend half the time at theLeBla house, half the time at
the Smith House.
Then you go to the Smith houseand it was exactly the opposite.
I, I'm not saying they were badcooks, but I don't remember what
we ate and drank or if we ateand drank.
But
the-restaurant-guys_3_07 (33:38):
Right.
squadcaster-2bdf_3_07-31-2 (33:39):
what you remember is it the, the
soundtrack of, of the wholeexperience was laughter.
And it wasn't just aunts anduncles and first cousins, it was
third cousins and it wasneighbors and it was neighbors,
cousins, and basically anybody.
That was tangential to them thatdidn't have a place to go for
the holidays.
We come to the Smith house andthat's the first time I remember
(33:59):
experiencing the idea of familyis not just a blood bond.
Um, and how important it is tomake everybody feel welcome and,
and how much that means and howmagical that can be.
And I remember we would getthere, we lived in home
Louisiana an hour away.
We would get there and it feltlike we were there for 30
minutes And, it would be fourhours later and we had to go
home and.
Um, so I think that what we wantpeople to feel emotionally in
(34:22):
our space is a sense ofbelonging and interconnectedness
that's not just, you know, withthe people that you came in
knowing, but also people nearyou.
that the soundtrack beinglaughter, I picked up on that
from the Smith side of thefamily.
And it's, it's interesting howthose experiences are steeped in
the heritage of the bothfamilies because my
great-great-grandfather was anorphan.
He didn't have family, so hedidn't define family as would be
(34:43):
traditionally defined.
and that's why he stayed in thesame neighborhood.
Um, that he landed in when hegot to New Orleans and his
neighbors were his family and,and that very much is still a
part of the DNA of the
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-3 (34:55):
And, and the city of New Orleans was
his family.
Yeah.
And, and, but you talk about theDNA I know so many restaurant
people that talk aboutrecreating that type of thing,
but it's not part of their DNA.
Mm-hmm.
And so it comes across as.
I don't wanna say fake, but, butthat's kind of the word.
(35:15):
Forced, forced, forced, forced,forced is the word.
I'm, I'm thinking about, uh, itcomes across as forced and you,
that's not something you canforce.
That kind of conviviality, thatkind of hospitality is, is.
I'll use Olive Garden as a, asan example, right?
You walk into Olive Garden andthere is a contrived message
(35:36):
that they want to, it's aformula.
It's a formula, right?
And I'm not saying that ourrestaurant doesn't, doesn't
abide by certain procedures,standards, and procedures, but
it's all gotta feel, right?
And if one of the policies andprocedures doesn't feel right.
Then out the window it goes.
Mm-hmm.
(35:56):
you can't recreate that.
It's gotta be part of the DNA.
So I, I love that.
That's part of yours.
(37:40):
Yeah, you know.
It's, I love talking to fellowrestaurateurs and one of the
things I always love about thisshow is there are so many common
threads between places that Ienjoy and places that I like,
and, you know, the way I wannarun my own place.
Yesterday at Family Meal, we, Iwas talking to the, the waiters
(38:02):
and, and busers and, uh, frontof house team about expressing
themselves to the customers.
One of the things I said wasnever say something that you
don't believe.
There are enough interesting,delicious things.
If there's something you don'tlike here, you don't have to
talk about it.
You don't have to recommend it.
(38:23):
Pick something that, that youare just absolutely passionate
about and talk to the customersabout that and tell it from your
heart and tell it from who youare and tell it from your
perspective of why you like it.
Nothing's more powerful thanthat.
I love it.
(39:48):
You forgot that the name of ourrestaurant is stage left.
So there's, there are twotheaters next door, so we do do
some of that, but, but what I'llsay is much less than we used
to.
Yeah.
So where that form of dining.
People going, coming here andthen going to the theater.
In the early years of therestaurant was 80% of what we
did.
It is now 17% of what we do.
(40:09):
And you say is exactly right.
I mean, there are some nightswhen the same guest who's
visiting us on their way to thetheater, they have a lighter
meal, a quicker meal.
They don't want to have morethan a drink or maybe two
because they, they'll say, uh.
I don't wanna fall asleep in theshow, you know?
Yeah.
Whereas they may come foranother dinner and, and come at
seven o'clock and stay for threehours.
Yeah.
And, and take their time andenjoy things.
(40:32):
It's, it's two different ways ofdining, but I agree dining is
the main event for a lot ofpeople right now, and that's a
great thing for us.
For sure.
(40:57):
Robert, I have to say you are,you are just a great ambassador
for Yeah.
New Orleans and for therestaurant industry and I am
very much looking forward to ussharing a cocktail somewhere,
somehow making that happen.
And I think you're doing yourfamily proud and, uh, we, we
love, we share the philosophiesthat you have in your bars and
restaurants and it's been apleasure to have you on the
(41:17):
show.
You too.
Absolutely you will.
You can find out all aboutRivera's Properties in our show
notes.
Stick with us.
We'll be back in just a moment.
You're listening to theRestaurant guys.
You can always find outmore@restaurantguyspodcast.com.
the-restaurant-guys_3_07-31 (41:47):
Hey there everybody.
Welcome back.
Boy, he was fun.
Yeah, seemed like just such agood guy.
We missed him in New Orleans.
We tried to hook up like threehad times in that week.
There were literally fourdifferent events that we were
supposed to cross over, and onehe left early.
One, he stayed someplace elselate.
And two, we didn't get out.
The things we were trying to getout of.
So yeah, new Orleans Star Talesis, it's one of those things.
Fun.
You all should go to Tales nextyear.
(42:09):
We'll probably do another livepodcast from down there.
Next, I'm sure we'll make your,make your plans.
Um.
I have to say, I, I, he broughtup a topic that we both agree
on, but it's not your favoriteframe of reference that I'm
gonna reference.
Uhoh, you know, you talked aboutthe V-shaped bar.
Yeah.
I'm, I'm gonna bring it back toa Shula Club story.
(42:29):
Oh, come on, man.
The Shula Club.
For those of you who don't knowis a shit hole.
It's not.
It's a very nice bar and it's avery nice club full of very nice
people.
Uh, the, listen, I love yourSele brothers.
Yeah, they're great, but it'snot a very nice bar.
It's fine.
You haven't been back much sinceI've done the improvements.
You're right.
It's improved.
It's way better than it was.
(42:49):
It doesn't smell bad anymore.
That's all good stuff.
Yes.
That's been that way for years.
It's all good stuff.
Yes.
Before COVID.
Yes.
So it's a lovely bar.
So the Shal Club, um, uh, is afraternal Irish American
organization in North Jersey.
I ran the bar for a littlewhile.
We did a little turnaround formaking it not a great bar as.
So unloving ly put it to whereit's a great little bar, and the
Shula Club bar is open to thepublic as well.
(43:11):
Yes.
If I lived closer, I would go tothe Shula Club.
Yes, you would.
I promise I would.
I would drag you there all thetime.
So, um, the, but I remember the,my dad was a member of the Shal
Club.
I walked into this club when Iwas seven years old, and they
had a bar up against the wall.
And they did a renovation of thebar.
This must have been in theseventies or maybe the early
eighties, but I think it was theseventies where they pulled the
(43:33):
bar off the wall and they did a,a round bar.
300.
Well, they did a three-sidedrectangular bar for just that
same reason.
Yeah.
So that you could talk to thepeople next to you at the bar.
There was a turn-in, and wealways love to sit at the corner
of the bar when there's aturn-in.
Yeah.
If there's more than two people.
And then you could speak to thepeople on the other side and the
(43:53):
bartenders run an island in themiddle that you could see over.
And I, there was a lot of debateabout that.
And when we renovated the bar,when I took over for a little
while, some people thought aboutputting it back up against the
wall.
Uh, but what the club decided.
That we're a club and we wantpeople to be able to talk to
each other, even when justsitting at the bar.
So we sacrificed some space togain some bar stools to gain
(44:15):
that communal sense.
And I think that's a, an oldfashioned way of having a bar.
And I like it.
Alright.
I'm gonna say something now toyou that's gonna make you happy.
Uh oh.
Okay.
It's, I don't feel good aboutit.
Just Okay.
Uh.
The club is the bar I wasthinking about when I was
talking about his v-shaped bar.
(44:36):
See, see, you just wanna hate itbecause you, you know, it pushes
my buttons.
It does push your buttons.
Yeah, that's true.
And I, and, and as much as Ilike it, I will still call it
names just'cause I know that it,that, that it gets your I up.
If you're in West Orange, NewJersey, I recommend, that's
S-H-I-L-L-E-L-A-G-H.
And now you know how to spellshale.
I would check it out.
I still dunno how to spell it,just so you know.
(44:58):
Well, uh, it's all aboutcommunity.
Like our bar is all aboutcommunity.
His bar was all about community.
And, and listen, what I said inthe middle of that interview was
we're looking at the fastcasuals and those change are
closing.
Closing, yes, yes.
Closing, because that was whereyou went to get food.
And there's a million ways toget food right now, but
independently owned.
(45:18):
Restaurant that's on the nicerend.
That's where you go for anexperience.
And I think that was a great,and that was Affirm.
Today it's lovely to see and getoutta your houses and stop door
dashing and stop Uber eating andgo to the local bar or
restaurant and sit down, have a45 minute meal, and talk to a
bartender and talk to anotherhuman being.
It's, it's a better life., And Ihope we've made your life a
(45:39):
little better for the last houror so.
I'm Francis Shot.
And I'm Mark Pascal.
We are the restaurant guys.
You can always find out more atrestaurant podcast com.
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