Saints Tyler Shough’s New Orleans Questionnaire + Todd Graffagnini, Desi Vega, Dodd Loomis - Ep. 8

In Episode 8 of The Mark Romig Show, we bring together an incredible lineup of guests who reflect the very best of New Orleans culture, sports, food, and entertainment.

From the LOVE NOLA TV studio on St. Charles Avenue, Mark Romig is joined by New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough, Pelicans radio play-by-play voice Todd Graffagnini, restaurateur Desi Vega, and New Orleans Film Society Executive Director Dodd Loomis for a dynamic and wide-ranging conversation.

We kick things off with the krewe talking about the electric atmosphere surrounding Banana Ball at the Caesars Superdome, the return of parade season, Super Sunday, and what makes New Orleans such a unique place to live. As always, there’s a reminder that in this city, there’s always something happening.

In 5 Minutes With…, Dodd Loomis shares his vision for the New Orleans Film Society and how the organization is elevating storytelling through both education and live experiences. From the New Orleans Film Festival to the French Film Festival, Dodd explains how film in New Orleans goes far beyond the screen and becomes a fully immersive cultural experience.

Next, in Move the Chains, Todd Graffagnini breaks down the current state of the New Orleans Pelicans. He offers insight into the team’s progress since the trade deadline, the importance of player health, and what the future could hold as the young core continues to develop. Todd also reflects on his journey in broadcasting and the passion of New Orleans sports fans.

In On The Table, presented by Blue Runner Foods, Mark sits down with Desi Vega, one of the most recognizable names in New Orleans dining. Desi shares stories from his early days in the restaurant business, lessons learned from legends like Emeril Lagasse and Ruth Fertel, and how he built a group of restaurants known for both exceptional food and hospitality. From Mama’s Meatballs to the art of the perfect steak, this conversation captures the spirit of New Orleans dining.

Our featured guest is Saints quarterback Tyler Shough, who opens up about stepping into a leadership role in New Orleans, his relationship with Drew Brees, and what it means to play in a city that lives and breathes football. He also shares his experience as Grand Marshal in a Mardi Gras parade, life as a new father, and how he’s embracing the culture of New Orleans both on and off the field.

The episode wraps up with This Week in New Orleans featuring April Dupre’s top recommendations on where to eat, drink, and play, followed by Mark’s Positively New Orleans, highlighting the city’s rich performing arts tradition.

Whether you’re a lifelong New Orleanian or someone who simply loves the culture, this episode captures the energy, authenticity, and spirit that make New Orleans unlike anywhere else.

The Mark Romig Show is presented by Blue Runner Foods, New Orleans & Company, The Historic New Orleans Collection, and Visit The Northshore.

Be sure to subscribe, follow, and share as we continue to celebrate the people and stories that define New Orleans.

The Mark Romig Show is produced by LOVE NOLA TV, the official tourism and visitor information channel of New Orleans, seen in thousands of downtown hotel rooms and locally across all major digital platforms.

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 📍 Filmed in New Orleans, Louisiana

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 For the love of New Orleans.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

My in-laws are in town and they're like, does this go on like every single time in New Orleans? Is there always just parades? Like, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 0:06

Is there always just fun stuff to do? We can't just invite a bunch of people into a dark theater, watch the movies, and leave. It's like, what? No, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We're in New Orleans. Yeah. Every moment of this needs to feel, smell, touch, taste New Orleans. We lost at the very end.

SPEAKER_07 0:19

I'm like, oh my god, I'm doing this. And like, what's wrong? I said, that just cost me like 20 grand. They go, you bet that much on a game? I go, no, revenue-wise.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

From the Love Nola TV studio on New Orleans's beautiful St. Charles Avenue, this is the Mark Romic Show. Today's guest, Executive Director of the New Orleans Film Society, Todd Lumit. Radio play-by-play voice of the New Orleans Pelicans, Todd Graffanini. We're on the table with restaurateur, Desi Vega, and New Orleans State's quarterback, Tyler Shaw. And now, your host, Mark Roming.

SPEAKER_10 1:04

Welcome everyone to the Mark Roaming Show. Thank you for watching our full episodes on YouTube. Hit that subscribe button and turn on your notifications for all of our conversations. You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon Music and get clips on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Crew, this is already our eighth episode, and this is going to be a great one. We'll be talking with the newly appointed Executive Director of the New Orleans Film Society, Dodd Loomis. Now that we are after the trade deadline, I want to talk Pelicans basketball with Todd Graffanini and what they look like moving forward. And we always love talking about food on the show. Today we talk about steak with one of the best around, Deszi Vega. And guys, we get our first New Orleans Saint to the show. It's a big one, too. Are you guys excited to welcome Tyler Shuck to the show?

SPEAKER_09 1:56

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_10 1:58

I am so okay. I am so excited. I mean, I think you feel the enthusiasm in the community about the upcoming season, and Tyler's a big part of that.

SPEAKER_04 2:08

He's a stand-up guy as well. I mean, you know, obviously anyone who makes it to the NFL, the teams pick up stand-up guys. They always they look into doing that as for the brand, but he truly is from what I've seen of from Mardi Gras and every of these other interviews I've seen of him. He's a stand-up guy, so I can't wait for you to be able to do it, man.

SPEAKER_10 2:22

Yeah, and new dad as well. New dad, I heard that as well. Uh a lot going on this past weekend. Uh we were all at Banana Ball on Sunday night. That was a lot of fun. My goodness. That was I mean, Drew Brees, huh? That was Drew Brees. I got I got emotional when he did you really 70,000 people welcoming Banana Ball, but also welcoming him back, and it was a surprise uh to everyone in the uh in the stadium.

SPEAKER_05 2:47

And I I still get upset that Drew retired in the 2020 season where he wasn't able to get the proper like full stadium fans because it was COVID and all that. So it was nice seeing it.

SPEAKER_10 3:00

He got it Sunday. Also, this past weekend we had a number of parades around the community, and we had Super Sunday as well. That's right on Sunday. Uh I mean, this is the core of New Orleans, right? The cultural core of New Orleans happening.

SPEAKER_09 3:14

Always something happening every weekend.

SPEAKER_10 3:16

Yeah. How do we rest? We don't rest. We don't rest. Right. You know, we've got some big ones coming up. Uh you've got the Tennessee Williams is coming up, the French Quarter Festival, and you've got, of course, the Jazz Fest. We're gonna get into all of those in the weeks uh to come. But um exciting, exciting to be uh a New Orleanian and living in this region. North Shore or South Shore, it's the best place to be living.

SPEAKER_04 3:41

Mark, on behalf of all of us, we want to thank you for the invite to your suite at the dome. What a great way to experience the Savannah Bananas and uh what a I mean it was I felt like a kid going to the Ringling Blood Circus. It was just such a great, such great excitement and such great um entertainment. Really, really fun.

SPEAKER_10 3:58

Thank you, Pooch. It was a great way to get the uh the crew together and to uh experience something very unique. Uh I know there are baseball purists out there. Here you had the mixture of uh a lot of baseball, a lot of music, uh a lot of family. Uh it was just a special special weekend.

SPEAKER_09 4:15

Agreed. A lot of high-end media production.

SPEAKER_10 4:17

It really was. It was crazy. And you know, there's a gentleman that used to work for the Saints and Pelicans that now works for them, Josh Richardson, uh who does um all their uh production now, and uh you can tell that uh he he took a lot of what he's learned there uh and added it to the great show that uh Jesse Cole and the whole banana ball people put together.

SPEAKER_09 4:37

Oh yeah, it fits perfectly into the culture of the supernatural. Yeah, hope they come back.

SPEAKER_04 4:42

I hope New Orleans gets a team, to be honest with you. I mean, I think they have their little circuit and it'd be cool for New Orleans, just but we're a party kind of atmosphere and and uh the the fans loved it. It'd be cool for New Orleans to have a team in that league.

SPEAKER_10 4:53

Yeah, I mean and uh I was out in uh champions uh square before, and uh I I don't get it to experience before a Saints game because I'm usually at the dome about four hours before kickoff. So to experience what that's like with the music on the stage and just everyone in good moods and just getting ready to come into the Caesar Superdome was it was nice to experience. All right, let's get on with the show. All right, y'all. You know, New Orleans has always been a city that tells stories, like through music, food, art, and of course, film. Our next guest is helping bring out that together in a in a really big way. Dodd Loomis is the new executive director of the New Orleans Film Society. That's the organization behind the New Orleans Film Festival and the New Orleans French Film Festival, and so many programs that connect filmmakers and audiences across the city. And fittingly, he's a New Orleans native who grew up and surrounded by the culture he now helps to celebrate. And now we get to spend five minutes with Dodd Loomis. Dod, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. Pleasure to be here. Oh, thank you. You're a native, as I just said, and you've talked about growing up surrounded by the artists in the community. What is it about the city that first pulled you toward storytelling and particularly the film society?

SPEAKER_08 6:19

Well, I mean, like you said, I'm originally from here, and you know, it's like you can take the boy out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the boy. So I I don't pass the real test. I can't say uh I'm from here. I have to say I was born here because I didn't stay all the way through high school. I left when I was 14. So uh, you know, even though I'm even though I'm sixth generation New Orleanian. I'm not from New Orleans, that's I mean, I love this place, but I'm sorry, that's obnoxious. Anyway, I left when I was 14 and I was gone for 25 years. Right. And uh traveled the world and worked kind of half and half between film and uh live events. And I've always in that time just had such a passion for the city. It's I love this place through and through. So always trying to find any excuse I can to come back, Mardi Gras, Easter, Thanksgiving, Jazz Fest, like we all do over the years. But then just trying to find that opportunity to move home and to make it permanent, you know. And um, so what brought me back was a live events uh production, uh kind of executive producer gig uh working here in town. And that was when it kind of scaled up, you know, and started working on large halftime shows and big sporting events and this kind of thing. And then downsized to make sure I could get a second kid and tone things down a little bit with the wife, not overload. So I became a professor at Tulane for four years, and then once we got that kid, everything's good, clean bill of health, then I can get back in the mix again. So uh I I've I'm now the executive director of the New Orleans Film Society. I was on the board for two years, and it is just such an interesting combination of two of my passions, which is film, well, I guess really three passions film, live events, and the city of New Orleans. And so I just wanted to be a part of it and just help as a board member to help this, you know, nonprofit uh arts organization, you know, help it thrive. And then after two years, just by coincidence, the the board asked me to become the ED. Here I am.

SPEAKER_10 8:23

It's good fortune for the board. Thank you. Um so the New Orleans Film Society, for those that are not familiar with it, really is a year-round organization. Talk about the programming and and how it has an impact on the city.

SPEAKER_08 8:35

Yeah, that's right. So the New Orleans Film Society has two major functions. One is education, and the other is exhibition. So on the education side, that's not very public-facing because it's very much about uh we have different tracks. We have a producer's track, we have a director's track, uh, and then we have kind of a finance track where we're working with not just up-and-coming directors or up-and-coming producers, but you know, they've directed four, five, six shorts. Maybe they even have a feature under their belt. They're really about to bust through. We have less than a 2% acceptance rate for those programs, for all three of those programs. Uh, same with the directors, same with the producers. And then the financing uh program is really about uh cultivating a cohort. So usually it's around three artists who are all focused on the same film, usually screenwriter, director, and a producer. Usually that kind of constitutes the cohort. And, you know, these movies can't get made without money. So we work with them and train them and help make introductions to put together pitches and and find money.

SPEAKER_10 9:41

Um and that's unique to uh the film society.

SPEAKER_08 9:44

Yeah, yeah, very much. I don't I don't know other programs that have it. I mean I'm I'm not saying other festivals don't have it, but I'm I'm not familiar with that myself. And and then, of course, we you know, and then back to the kind of live events component, it's I always wanna I want to do both. I want to be able to work with artists and work on the inside of the industry, but then find the public-facing experience there that's consumable by everybody and entertaining and exciting. So, what we end up doing is taking that the this finance one I'm referring to is called South Pitch. And it's an absolute fan favorite because we've turned it into Shark Tank for filmmakers. So they work for six months. We partner in with all these excellent producers in the field and line producers and screenwriters and you know, even graphic designers to help them figure out their pitches. We we pair them up with uh acting coaches and improv people and all sorts of stuff so they feel confident on stage and they know how to pitch their story. And then it all culminates to South Pitch. Um we have uh South Pitch narrative and south pitch um documentary, where we we pack out each each one 350 seats and 350 seats. It's you know, kind of standing room only. And then we have this big panel of all these incredible uh industry professionals from A24, Netflix, you know, Mobi, you name it. And these are our not really our students, like our class, our cohort gets up and then they pitch one by one in front of 350, you know, live uh studio uh you know audience members, and it's just full of energy and it's super exciting. So, like to me, that's a perfect kind of combination of got industry meets public. But that's the that's a bit about the education side. Then there's the exhibition side, which is really all public-facing. What we're most uh known for is the New Orleans Film Festival, which is had the 36th annual New Orleans Film Festival, Oscar qualifying. Um, we within the industry, we've won so many elite awards that means something within the film world, you know, of best uh uh film festivals, um, best kind of user experience as a filmmaker, best audience experience. So we really try to lean into, you know, something I say to the staff all the time is we are not the Cincinnati Film Festival. We are not the Houston Film Festival, we're the New Orleans Film Festival. So we need to lean into everything that's authentically New Orleans, and this is where this kind of whole live events component comes in. We can't just invite a bunch of people into a dark theater, watch some movies, and leave. It's like, what no, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We're in New Orleans. Yeah. We every moment of this needs to feel, smell, touch, taste New Orleans and have it be authentic, you know?

SPEAKER_10 12:20

Yeah, you've said that New Orleans is not just about what's on the screen, it's it's everything else that goes along with it the food, the music, the culture.

SPEAKER_08 12:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_10 12:27

I mean, it just blends it all into the case.

SPEAKER_08 12:29

That's something I'm I'm really passionate about in everything that we touch. Um it it shows up in all this other programming that you're talking about on the exhibition side. The uh another uh film festival that we produce. We so we the New Orleans the the New Orleans Film Society produces each of these events, right? And one of the uh festivals that we produce is the French Film Festival, which the 29th uh French Film Festival opens up this coming Thursday. And we also have another program called NOFS 365, New Orleans Film Society, 365 days a year. And they can be anything, but again, the idea is that we never just invite a bunch of people to show up into a theater to watch a movie and leave. That's not enough. Go to the AMC for that, you know. They're gonna charge you $16. I was about to say we charge you 18, but we don't. I mean, our last event we charged $8. You know, we're applying for grants, you know. But we want it, you're gonna meet people, meet filmmakers, have interesting conversations, maybe you participate in a workshop, maybe it culminates in some sort of interesting panel. Um, coming up, we have dances and we have all sorts of stuff, I guess we'll get into as we dive into the French Film Festival.

SPEAKER_10 13:40

Yeah, why should someone join the Film Society?

SPEAKER_08 13:44

Um, I think folks should join the Film Society because I'll I'll say that something that we offer to the city of New Orleans is contrary to a lot of what the kind of stereotypical brand of New Orleans is. You know, something I say is that you know, not everybody wants to get hammered on Bourbon Street, not everybody wants to sweat for days on end out at the racetrack. You know, like it's not for everybody. So I think for a local, there is more esoteric and interesting ways to engage in the culture of the city and in the community. Now, that doesn't mean that we can't throw a big party and throw down, but the breadth of offerings that we have throughout the year is really fantastic, I think. And it because we're actively applying for grants that that we are very successfully getting that help subsidize and keep all of these various cultures and art forms alive, that means that all of the costs are defrayed to a certain degree, right? And and held by incredible organizations like the Warhol Foundation. I mean, that is a big deal to get that grant. Everybody wants that grant, but we're getting that grant. And uh it's because we kind of have these bona fide days of of almost four decades of receipts of Australia track record. Exactly. So I guess what I'm getting at is that for for the for your average uh you know, New Orleans or kind of community member, you pay this small subsidized fee to be able to open up a full annual calendar of events that could be as esoteric as a Jean Cocteau uh lecture. Uh, because you know, we're flying in, you know, the pre-eminent uh scholar on Jean Cocteau. That's pretty esoteric and interesting, being you know, hosted by the French consulate, um, or a big backyard Zydeco bash with three zydeco bands and and a and a party and uh and all coupled with obviously Jean Cocteau films and with a doc in this case a documentary about um the history of Zydeco.

SPEAKER_10 16:02

Right. I mean, this is New Orleans, so uh it's making it that much more special. Like you said, it's just not a regular films festival or a film society for that matter. So New Orleans has become a huge production center for film. I know we've had our rough patches over the last couple of years, but you you've got your finger on the pulse. How does the film society help promote New Orleans as a production center uh with all these companies coming in to do films here now?

SPEAKER_08 16:30

Yeah, so on the face, you know, on our mission, we're not a lobbying organization. Um we have opinions and and we're talking to everybody who who is in uh Baton Rouge and is working to, you know, we are huge proponents for the tax credits and we want to do everything we can to help support it. But uh but to be clear, we're we're that's there's other organ like film Louisiana is very actively organizing and trying to, you know, they're flying to Los Angeles and lobbying producers to get those productions to come in. And so then we invite Film Louisiana to absolutely everything. Come to everything, you're a VIP. You know, we want to keep those close connections because we are we are adjacent, we're kind of similar, you know, other sides of the same coin kind of thing. Um so and then I would say that with the organ with the um industries that are that are or the rather the films that are here shooting, you know, we we try to reach out to all of them and just get them involved in the community so they don't ever feel like tourists, like they're coming in, they're filming, and then they have to leave, that they are welcome here, they're invited. And then I would say then a third piece is within the within the uh particularly the New Orleans Film Festival, this is a coveted festival. It is um it's we receive 4,000 submissions for 131 slots. That is amazing. Yeah, so it's less than a 2% acceptance rate by by lot. Um and we are actively reaching out to industry to come in to see these filmmakers on the ground level. Um and that's something that we definitely have room to grow. Right. Um but w what my my philosophy is instead of spending a hundred percent of our time trying to get, I don't know, agents from William Morris or whatever it is to fly in to come see the show, instead, or you know, the festival, it's instead to lean in to us being a destination film festival. Instead of the distribution film festival or the market film festival, to say, hey, just the low-hanging fruit is the destination film festival, is New Orleans. Everybody on earth knows New Orleans, everybody's itching for an excuse to come to New Orleans. So the first thing we need to do is lean into that, and um and then with that comes good press, it comes knowledge around it, the filmmakers leave and go, holy smokes, I had the best time there. That was amazing. And I believe that if you generate that type of positive experience, inevitably you all of a sudden you've got major players who are going, you know what, I I just need this is the excuse I needed to get to New Orleans, and that's all we need. You do that once, and then all of a sudden it can start to grow and build on itself, and then you become the market festival, which that can then become the distribution.

SPEAKER_10 19:35

Yeah, and then I think it feeds into the system of uh being aware that New Orleans would be a great place to shoot a film. Um hundred percent. You've got a welcoming community, you've got a film society that's very successful. Um and uh again, the awareness factor I think is huge, so we can beat out those other communities that are offering incentives and other things to have.

SPEAKER_08 19:55

And actually, Mark, to that point, I guess that's really kind of the fourth piece of the puzzle, is that in the film festival, in both the uh the the New Orleans Film Festival and the French Film Festival, we have uh conference. Uh the French Film Festival, first ever this year, it's just about to happen. Uh, very excited about that. Um, for the the New Orleans Film Festival, Knoff, we've been having a conference for you know three decades. And the conference is huge. It's I don't know, 200 hours of conference content. It's massive. And to your point about uh productions coming in to shoot here, that this is a welcoming place. Yes, welcoming. We've got hospitality and our bones and culture coming out of our ears, but also expertise. Because okay, cool, you go someplace that's fun, but if there are no gaffers and a best boy doesn't know what that means or how to do it, then you're boned, right? So you have to have the expertise. And Louisiana at large absolutely has the expertise. So within the conference, we showcase so much of that talent. We build these panels and workshops, and it's such a you know showcase of the skill and talent that lives right here 365 days.

SPEAKER_10 21:10

That's fantastic. Um so you're planning the next several years. Uh you know, your leadership is so important. I want to talk uh briefly about the board as well that you've um created, uh helped create. Um what is you what's your plan for the next three to five years? What do you see happening?

SPEAKER_08 21:26

Well, I alluded to it a bit with this idea of uh the growth of the of not just understanding, leaning into and putting our resources and focus behind being a embracing being a destination film festival. That's where we are right now. I would argue that that was kind of like as someone who was on the board for years, I mean I don't I if I'm pointing fingers at anybody except myself, that I just don't think that's something that we did very well. Um I think we kind of it was a bit too industry. Um I think in a town as small. As New Orleans in a town that is built on community and partnerships, it's just kind of blows my mind after 36 years, it this organization could particularly an arts nonprofit could be as siloed as it was. And so the first thing is just to take a hammer and just knock all that stuff off and open up and uh and and and lean into what we do best. And in so I was the interim for six months and and then I've been the ED starting in January, so it's been like two months, right? And in that time, uh, I can't even tell you how many times a week, I don't know, 15, 20 times a week, I'm introducing myself to like-minded organizations and saying, hey, we're this organization, never heard of you. I doesn't surprise me. We've been here for 36 years, you know. Now, in the industry, I think a tons of people know us, right? But that's that's what I'm trying to shift here is to say, hey, this is a festival for everybody, not just all the New Orleans, all across the South. Everybody, travel in from wherever, Bolivia, come on in. And we have to open it up in that way. And the biggest, to me, the most effective way to do that is to is to is partnership. Not only does it achieve that, but it also brings our mission to life. And if we work with each of the organizations that we approach, we actually amplify their mission. And it's the idea of amplifying culture, of using various art forms. We're an art organization, you know, our medium is film. Okay, what's your medium? And let's lean into that. Let's okay, what do you want from me? We're not looking talking about money, we're talking about building a beautiful event that helps amplify what y'all care about. And and through doing that, you know, we end up consistently creating good events. So in the last, you know, call it six months uh since uh we started NOFS 365, we've had none of these events were on the calendar, they didn't exist, and they certainly weren't in the budget. So the staff is going, ah, what are you doing? We have no money for any of this. This is crazy. And I was like, I don't know, we're gonna figure it out. We're gonna figure it out. And we've had thousands and thousands of patrons come through these events, none of which was, you know, expected. It wasn't on the calendar, it wasn't in the budget, and it's all paid for itself, it's all taken care of. Our mission has been amplified by serving the community. Each of these organizations we've partnered with, you know, every time it's like, all right, we'll take a gamble. What's it like? Let's see what it's like working with the Film Society. And I'm telling you, 10 out of 10 times, the director of programming finds me at the end and says, Please tell me this, this is just a one-off. Tell me this is a year-round partnership. We say, Yeah, let's go.

SPEAKER_10 24:55

So nonprofits um uh rely on uh good boards. Uh and I think you've you've got I I will say right now, I just became a member, so I'm not talking about myself, but you've got a fantastic board of experts who truly believe in not only the product and the craft, but also New Orleans. Just briefly talk about 100% your your team that you have there.

SPEAKER_08 25:18

Yeah. I mean, I'm really, really lucky to have this board. Um there's they're they're workers, they're passionate, they're excited, and there's such a breadth of experience. Uh, and all the colors of the rainbow, ages, everybody. We've got some transplants, some multi-generational New Orleans, we've got so many different uh, and and everyone brings something very special. You know, somebody's a finance guy and they say, hey man, I just I love I love the events, just give me the paperwork, I'll dive into it, I'll just keep the back end clean. Say, thank you so much. You know, you got a strong lawyer saying, I don't know, don't talk to me about movies, but well, I can I can, you know, and then some people are have been nominated for multiple Oscars and and know all the ins and outs of the film industry. But at the end of the day, the everyone loves New Orleans, and I think that is really the binding.

SPEAKER_10 26:17

There's so much passion around that table.

SPEAKER_08 26:19

And so that way it it really, I think, kind of curbs any sort of goofy ego, which I think you can get on a lot of boards, is that there's just such a shared love of the city. And then I think everyone understands that we we have this megaphone and we have this platform and we have this tool to help help New Orleans thrive, and everyone just leans into that.

SPEAKER_10 26:40

Fantastic. Looking forward to the um festival this fall as well. So, Dodd, this weekend we've got the New Orleans French Film Festival. I mean, this is this is it. So tell us what people can expect.

SPEAKER_08 26:51

Uh, what what can they expect? Um, so uh some of the the classics, some of the you know traditions will still be alive. We're at the Britannia, we love the Britannia, but then there's also a lot of a lot of new stuff that's coming up. One thing is that we have extended the length of the film festival. So we open tomorrow, Thursday, March 19th, and we'll be screening a beautiful film called Colors of Time, and it jumps uh eras in France, and so it's a period piece and it's modern and it's a big fan favorite, it's gonna be great. But we also have had a long partnership with the columns. So we bring in the Marie Antoinette's, we bring in all of these uh fabulous uh French musicians. So we'll have music on the front porch and champagne, and then and then you go to the film, and so every single night, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, we have a party every single day, every night, because we're in New Orleans, and then we also have the films, and we then have a conference, which is uh one of the uh first times we've ever this is this is the first time we've ever had a conference affiliated with the French Film Festival. That will be on Tuesday, March 24th. It is hosted by the French consulate, and we are collaborating with the Villa Albertine, which are uh academic French fellows. They have applied for these incredible grants through the French government, and they are here in New Orleans studying and training in their craft. And so we approached the French consulate and said, could is there a partnership here? Could we build some sort of public showcase where we get to see what type of work these artists are doing, many of them working in the cinema arts? So we've built a thoughtful conference around them. We also have launched the uh first ever real futures for the French Film Festival, R E E L. This is our initiative where we're bringing uh the cinema industry, film industry into a collegiate setting. So we're partnering with Xavier, Dillard, and Loyola, and we have eight hours of programming built where we're doing all sorts of interesting panels on um how to how to how to start a film, how to start your own LLC, uh uh, you know, artist equity, um, all sorts of uh interesting stuff. And then of course the films are are gorgeous. We have we have so we have a guest country, first time we've ever had a guest country, Switzerland. We've uh partnered with the Swiss consulate. Actually, that's why I was three minutes late today. I was just getting off the phone with them. They wanted to go through the run of show. We're building a beautiful wine tasting for them, uh a tasting through the Alps by altitude, where you get to, you know, we're doing a uh cheese tasting, of course. Uh I mean it goes on and on and on. The idea is again that every film is simply a launching pad for a tactile, immersive, sensory experience. And we have 20 films, so that's why we have so many parties and so many workshops and so many lectures.

SPEAKER_10 30:01

You're ready to get some rest after that?

SPEAKER_08 30:04

Never this is great.

SPEAKER_10 30:08

Dod Loomis, Executive Director of the New Orleans Film Society. Where can people find information about?

SPEAKER_08 30:13

So uh our website, of course, the New Orleans Film Society.org. Uh, everything is there. And then also all of our social channels uh we're uh Facebook and Instagram primarily, but uh kind of any sort of business related things we uh we put on uh LinkedIn, a little Twitter here and there, but primarily Instagram and Facebook, we're we're very consistent. And also uh we have a weekly newsletter that we really do spend a lot of time working on. Uh there's very good writing in it. I mean, I'm writing articles. You can subscribe on the website. Yeah, absolutely. It's all free. Just pop in your email address and it tells you what our calendar is moving forward. Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 30:50

Good. All right. Well, see you at the uh film festival this weekend.

SPEAKER_08 30:54

Can't wait.

SPEAKER_10 30:54

Take care.

SPEAKER_08 30:55

Thank you.

SPEAKER_10 31:02

All right, y'all. You know, when it comes to the New Orleans Pelicans, no one follows the team closer than our next guest. Todd Graffanini is the play-by-play on the radio, voice of the Pels, bringing every game to life for fans across the Gulf South. Todd, thanks for joining us. It's great to see you. Thank you, Mark. You know, we're getting deeper into the season. How would you assess where we are compared to you know starting back in October?

SPEAKER_01 31:26

Yeah, it's obviously been a lot different. You know, you start the season and it's a struggle, and uh, you know, the head coach is relieved of duty, and then you got go through the transition of you know, the the assistant coach, James Brego, coming in place of Willie Green. And that's a that's a difficult situation when uh you know you're working for somebody and then he doesn't have the job, and then you have to become the head coach. And so it's a little awkward at first, but you know, that's the NBA, you move on. And uh I think James Brego's done a really solid job uh because it has not been easy for him. You know, you s when he started, um, he's basically trying to implement a completely new system on the fly. And um it was a struggle at first, but as time went on and the team was able to practice and he was able to implement those systems that he wanted to run, um, you could see the definite improvements.

SPEAKER_10 32:25

Yeah, the team reacted very well to that.

SPEAKER_01 32:27

No no doubt about it. Uh and really the last month, uh, Mark, the team has played its best basketball of the year.

SPEAKER_10 32:33

Well, you know, you mentioned that um, you know, the trade deadline always changes the night dynamics of a roster. Now that we've we're past that deadline, how do you see this now, the next bit of that run?

SPEAKER_01 32:44

Well, it it's been good. I mean look, the Bells are seven and four in their last eleven. You could even give higher win totals than that uh through 15 and and 16 games. So, like I said, they're playing their best basketball. You did move on from Jose Alvarado, who went back home to New York. He's doing a really fine job with the Knicks, and we're always gonna pull for Jose and hopefully that the Knicks do well with with him there because I I know just knowing him for six years, uh how much of a dream it was for him to play in Madison Square Garden when he was a Pelicans and now and now he's playing there every night. He's always a fan favorite, no doubt about it. Um but no, look, the the key, Mark, is the team's been healthy, and we've been able to see set rotations now for about a month, month and a half, and that's something, you know, unfortunately, that Willie Green never was able to enjoy, uh, which is real full roster health. And it makes a difference, believe me. Um, when your best players aren't playing, it's pretty hard to win in the NBA. I I mean I've been in it for seven years now, and I think that's one lesson that I've learned the hard way. But also you watch other teams as well. When the best players are not on the court, it's difficult to win NBA games.

SPEAKER_10 34:05

Young core, so what gives you confidence going into the next couple of years?

SPEAKER_01 34:10

Well, Derek Queen and Jeremiah Fears, who of course gotten most of the publicity this year with them being first-round draft picks, uh, they have played a ton of minutes and a ton of games. As a matter of fact, they've only missed three games between them, two games between them uh the entire season, which is very rare. So they've gotten a lot of NBA experience. Then you throw in what Zion Williamson has done, what Trey Murphy has done. Uh we see the emergence of DeJounte Murray, who has played brilliantly since coming back from an Achilles, just eight games uh since coming back, and he's been in double figures in every game. The last two games he's played, he's had 27 points and 35 points. Uh couldn't tell he was hurt at all, which is just fantastic. You have Herb Jones. Uh you've got guys that you can build around. What has hurt the Pelicans this year really in the second half of the season is just the inability to close really tight games. And you know, you can play the what if game, but of course that's not a part of it. But there just there are so many games that the Pelicans have had a chance to win down the stretch, and they just have not been able to do it, and that's really hurt the record uh in the last few weeks.

SPEAKER_10 35:24

And look, the Western uh conference is such a gauntlet. Uh I mean it is an amazing group of teams. So let's look at what do you see happening with the playoffs and and what teams do you think are gonna make the run?

SPEAKER_01 35:36

Well, okay, see you know, it's it's hard to pick against them because they're the defending champs. Now they have had some injury issues, but they they're so deep, Mark. Uh they really haven't been bothered where you know a team a little bit further down the standings would be. Um I think the story is San Antonio uh with Victor Wembenyama. They have you know, they're a two-seed right now, they're just a couple of games behind OKC. Now the kind of scuttle butt around San Antonio is is one of the none of those guys have been in the playoffs, and how are they going to make a run when they don't have any playoff experience? Because the the adage in the NBA is you get in the playoffs, you take your lumps for a few years, you learn how to navigate the seven-game series, and and then after a few years, then you move on and you make your run and you win a championship. You know, that's the talk around San Antonio. How can they win when they haven't done anything in the playoffs? Well, I just personally myself I don't believe in that narrative. Um I think if you're good enough, you're good enough. And look, now the playoffs are a different animal, absolutely. Uh just you know, teams decide to play defense in the playoffs, so it's really more of a half-court game. But when you have a guy that's 7-7 and can dominate everyone who's trying to guard him, um, you throw all that out of the window. Uh he is truly one of one. Uh he's an alien. I I don't it it's it's it's fun to watch him. It's even more interesting, Mark, when you're on the court with him at the same time and you actually, you know, kind of sneak over and stand next to him. I mean, I'm 6'1, and I'm basically right at his belly button.

SPEAKER_10 37:27

Yeah, you can imagine what a five-six person would look like next to him.

SPEAKER_01 37:32

It it's it's really crazy to watch.

SPEAKER_10 37:35

But that's what makes back special. I mean, the players, the personnel that come through.

SPEAKER_01 37:40

But just like you were saying, I mean, the West is very, very deep. Uh you know, you could take any of those top six teams, uh, and you would not be surprised if they made a run to the Western Conference Finals.

SPEAKER_10 37:52

Let's talk about your background. What got you into sitting there and uh calling play-by-play like this? That's a great way, too.

SPEAKER_01 37:59

Um I was a baseball player growing up, as uh one of your producers well uh uh knows, uh having played against them in high school. And uh I played college ball at Northeast Louisiana, now UL Monroe, and came home after that, and I got into a really serious car accident, and uh my baseball career ended overnight. And I'd always had an affinity for microphones and headsets and listening to games on the radio, and I knew once I was out of baseball and I knew I wasn't going to play anymore that this is something that I thought I really wanted to do and wound up going to Loyola to finish my degree, uh, great communications program. I uh was able to do in front of camera work and and radio work while I was still in school. And I went to Ken Berthlot, who was then the voice of the Tulane Green Wave back then, and I introduced myself. I was I was still at Loyola, and I said, Hey, uh Mr. Berthlot, my name's Todd Graffanini. You know, I I used to play baseball, but I'm about to graduate from Loyola, and I'd like to do what you do one day. And lo and behold, he said, Hey, look, uh, my brother Kyle happened to be on the two-lane baseball team at the time. He says, Is that your brother? I said, Yes, it is. He goes, Well, how'd you like to sit in with me for a couple innings? And I'm thinking to myself, are you serious? I'm like, sure, absolutely. And uh that was in April of 1992, and here we are. I that's literally how I started. So I owe everything to Ken Berthlot for at least giving me an opportunity. Um, I spent 27 years at Tulane. Uh the final 12 was the full time doing football, basketball, and baseball. Baseball is really where I I uh I started. And uh I got the Pelicans job in the summer of 2019, and it's been a blast.

SPEAKER_10 40:05

That's great. And Green Wave Hall of Famer as well. Absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:08

Um well when you're there for that long, they have to, you know, at least throw you a bouquet at the end, I guess.

SPEAKER_10 40:14

That's fantastic. Um let's talk about a little two-lane baseball. What's happening over at Turchin?

SPEAKER_01 40:18

Well, it's been a struggle, uh, Mark. Uh they had a rough weekend. I actually was able to go out the last couple of days, but uh they just got swept by Creighton. There were three very, very tough games. Uh one was the Friday game. We were in Houston playing the Rockets at the time, uh, lost in 12 innings, and the last two games on Saturday and Sunday lost by one run. It's kind of the same thing. We were talking about the Pelicans. They've just had a they've had trouble really finishing off those close games. They they were uh really, really below average in runners in scoring position, trying to knock those runners in. That really hurt them this weekend. Uh right now they're below 500, but conference starts for them this weekend, and there's a lot of time left. You know, I can remember some Tulane teams in the past that had you you're always gonna go through one or two weeks during a college baseball season, which is 56 games, uh, where things aren't gonna go your way. The good news is there's time to turn it around. And uh look, Jay Ullman's done a great job at Tulane. Um he's a fantastic coach. Just gotta, you know, get those timely hits. Pitching defense, timely hitting is is baseball in a nutshell. And they had the first two for the most part this weekend, but didn't get the timely hits. Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 41:36

Uh just briefly talk about the fan base here uh for the Pelicans, as well as Tulane. I mean, you the the the fan base never goes away. I mean, it's such an exciting arena, both Smooth the King Center and and Tulane Turchin. Yep. Um you see it from your vantage point. Uh speak about the fans as well.

SPEAKER_01 41:55

Well, I'll tell you about the Pelicans fans. They are as loyal as it gets. Uh had the last two years been good when you're talking about wins, no. But the fans are there every night, yeah, and they are loud. And even talking to visiting radio guys are like, man, I didn't expect to see this many people here uh for a 20-win team. I said, Well, we've got a really hardcore fan base that love basketball. And I think you saw Mark when the Suns were here a few years ago in that playoff series, which really transformed the city uh a couple years ago, the OKC playoff series. Fans want to come out and support the Pelicans. Um it's just, you know, you gotta get more wins. It's it's it's a bottom line business being in the NBA. It's bottom line. You win or you lose, period. But even through the losses and the tough last couple of years, fans have been there and they have been heard and the and the players know it, believe me. Uh Tulane has been, it's been very strange for me being on the other side now where I was firmly and fully in it for more than half my life. Um to see really since the Cotton Bowl year, how I go around town and people are wearing Angry Wave hats. I never in my wildest imagination would have would have imagined just the regular New Orleanian buying into the two-lane green wave. I I never would have thought, and since that Cotton Bowl year, it has happened more and more. And what Yulman Stadium has done, Mark, uh to transform that campus, again, really in the last five years, where it is now an event. And because again, I was doing the games when Yulman opened, and the only game that would really be crowded. Or sold out was homecoming. Everybody would come back in for homecoming. It's not the case anymore.

SPEAKER_02 44:05

They're there.

SPEAKER_01 44:06

Every Saturday, they're there. That campus is thriving. That campus is buzzing. It's a football atmosphere. And it's amazing. I again never would have dreamed. Never would have dreamed of it. But it's been awesome to watch. And look, I get to go as a fan now. Not that I didn't enjoy doing the radio, but I can tailgate now. I can go sit in the stands and I can cheer the wave on. And uh it's just been it's been so much fun.

SPEAKER_10 44:38

We appreciate you very much. Um, ladies and gentlemen, the radio voice of the Pelicans, Todd Graffanini. Uh great uh great to have you in the studio. Uh and please come back. Why don't we talk about the uh season when it's over with and what the uh the new season looks like. Anytime. Great.

SPEAKER_01 44:54

Anytime.

SPEAKER_10 45:01

All right, sports talk to food talk. We're on the table next, sponsored by Blue Runner Foods. Our next guest is a name that steak lovers in New Orleans know very well. Desi Vega is the owner of several of the city's beloved restaurants, including Desivegas Steakhouse, Mr. John Steakhouse, Desivegas Burger. A lifelong New Orleanian, Desi has built a reputation for great food, great hospitality, and some of the best steaks you'll find anywhere. And I'll add to that some great stories. Desi, welcome to the show. It's great to have you. You know, you're born and raised New Orleans, and your name has become synonymous with steaks in the city. How did you get started?

SPEAKER_07 45:42

At an early age, my dad had uh a couple of frost tops that start out. He was always in the food business. And um he converted the frost top into like a mini steakhouse. We called it steak and patty. And that's where my steak thing came from. And then through there, of course, after I finished college, I knew more than my parents and was telling them how to run the restaurant. And he goes, I think I always tell people before LeBron took his talents elsewhere, I go, he was really good friends with Mr. Dick Brennan. So I'm like, hey, we'll call up Mr. Dick. I said, I'm going to work for Commanders. And I'm so glad I did. But in a way, I was kind of like at my dad's restaurant, I could come in and eat my breakfast at the bar and watch Sports Center and read the paper. Then when we opened up, put my apron on. I didn't do side work, I didn't shine glasses or silverware, fill up salt and pepper shaker, sugar caddies. People worked with me didn't like me because I didn't do anything. And when I went to Commanders, I found out I had to be to work on time, I had to do side work, I had to do all of this. And you know, Emerald was the chef there at the time and made my community. What a great place to learn. Yeah. It's like, you know, and so worked for you know for Miss Ruth Fertell, Ruth Chris afterwards. So Emerald was at Commander's when he left to do his thing. And I didn't get I didn't make the team. So I went to go work for Miss Ruth Fertell. And when I was opening up franchises for her, we were opening a Vegas store, and Emerald came in as a guest and he was opening up um the fish house in Vegas. Right. And took care of him and went and checked on his steak and sent him out a little Nucello, because I know that's what he drank. And on the way out, he's like, Where are you from? I said, New Orleans, chef. He goes, How do you know I drink no cello? I said, Well, I used to work for you, but I didn't make you team. And so I came to work for Miss Ruth, and he goes, Well, we're gonna have to change that. He goes, Nobody gives hospitality in Vegas like you do. Like I was checking on him. And so opportunity rose. I'm like, hey, mom, how's Emerald's restaurant doing? Then he just offered me a job to maybe come back to work. And she said, I'd love to have you back home, and then came back to work for Emerald. And then uh from there I just decided that I think I got this and wanted to open up Mr. John's with Uncle Paul Verisco and Roddy Silvaggio, and probably one of the greatest moves I've made in the restaurant business. Yeah, the rest of so much history there.

SPEAKER_10 47:54

Jeez, we're gonna get into that, but I want to talk about your parents for a moment. Tell us about Mama's meatballs.

SPEAKER_07 47:59

Oh wow, they're they're they're famous now in New Orleans and they're getting kind of you know, kind of even on the the coast here a little bit. People we just opened in Ocean Springs and people are asking for the meatballs already. Yeah, um, it started out like at Emerald's. We do like a little amuse bouche, a little something to welcome to the restaurant. So I'm like, what can I do? That's cost effective. We cut all our steaks in-house and we do this and do that. Maybe we can grind them up and we can make meatballs out of it. So I got mom and Aaron got the recipe, and uh the trick to it is, and we did a little video uh with um my love to eat guys, and um the key is like you know, nice breadcrumbs, garlic, onions, parsley, uh parmesan, reggiano cheese, a little more expensive, but it makes it taste a little better. And uh the key is in how you roll them, a little a little water to make them moist. My mom puts about maybe in about two pounds of meatball, about a half a cup of water, which people don't do. And it makes them moist. So when you got a meatball and you can kind of cut it with your fork without it like shooting off your plate on you. And it just it just we brown them and then put them in the gravy. Uh-huh. Not sauce, gravy.

SPEAKER_10 49:07

I I wish you would have brought a few here. We could have.

SPEAKER_06 49:11

Next time. Next time. Next time we do a cooking segment.

SPEAKER_07 49:14

I'll love to do that.

SPEAKER_10 49:15

I love it. You know, uh, we have such a strong steakhouse tradition in New Orleans, but you know, there's steakhouses all over the United States, all over the world for that matter. What makes steakhouses in New Orleans different?

SPEAKER_07 49:26

Well, I I think the the people, first off, and the um the sizzle at Miss Ruth started with the steak, and and I don't think there's a lot of restaurants or any steakhouse around the country that they serve it on a regular, maybe a hot plate, but not with a sizzle, not with butter. You know, butter, is it healthy for you to have it? We don't douse it in butter, but the trick is to get the sizzle is you have the parsley, which is the garnish, right? And when you cut the parsley, it's damp. So when you put the parsley on top of the steak, and then when you hit it with the butter on a hot plate, wet parsley creates that sizzle.

SPEAKER_10 50:01

Oh.

SPEAKER_07 50:01

Which I learned from her, of course. And so I'm like, if I'm gonna do a steak, we're gonna do it that way. But uh, you know, I think the sizzle has made New Orleans steakhouses the the thing. I think a lot of people are starting to do it now. And I think the people make a big part of our steakhouses in New Orleans.

SPEAKER_10 50:16

Yeah, I mean it it it seems to me that's where uh families come together, business comes together. It it absolutely it's a great atmosphere. And you you have great atmospheres in all of your uh establishments. Um you also focus on seafood, which is sort of unusual for a steakhouse or or offering steaks.

SPEAKER_07 50:32

Well, it's it's it's real simple. And I refer to what I learned the commanders are from Emerald, but we have we have the lake, we have the in our backyard, we have fresh seafood that we can get. We always love to buy local, and you know, when you have that product so close to get to, and I can understand why when I was in Vegas, it was hard to get shrimp because you're in the middle of the desert, right? So it does take a little bit more to get that out there. And I just would assume at other steakhouses, you know, they focus on steaks, not so much on seafood. We need to focus more on seafood here because everybody loves seafood in New Orleans. And if you come to somebody and don't don't eat meat, you know, you got to have a nice seafood dish for them or some chicken or something, something to that each other. Yeah, we're in the middle of it. I want to I want to capture not just steak eaters. You know, fifty, you know, fifty-five percent of men eat steak, you know, but what about the women out there? So we want to we want to cater to both.

SPEAKER_10 51:21

Right. And somebody wants to come and have the atmosphere that you provide in all of your stuff.

SPEAKER_07 51:25

Yeah, and both restaurants, you know, all the restaurants are different, too. They all got their own. Yeah, talk about that. Tell us about your children. For example, yes, Mr. John's um old school Italian steakhouse, you know, the tile floors, low ceilings, ceiling fans. We have the pictures of every celebrity that's come through the restaurant, mostly Saints players that come in there. Uh, we do a thing with children. If you're under 10 years old and above five, we bring you to the kitchen to make your own dessert, uh, which is something my grandfather taught me a long time ago. He goes, because you know, that's your next customer.

unknown 51:55

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 51:56

And so we bring them back. And the reason why we don't want them too little because we have those 1800 degree brawlers back there, and it's a kitchen, so we don't want too little, but we don't want too old either. But there's here's some kids that still come a little older. And I've already had two rehearsal dinners from at with me from kids that had desserts in the kitchen. Oh, you see. So it's just like we want customers for 40, 50 years, wanting to bring their kids there too.

SPEAKER_10 52:18

You made that impact. Um, and you're really in the in the greater New Orleans area, so you're on the North Shore. Yes, sir. Uh you're out in Harrahan, right?

SPEAKER_07 52:26

Burgers in Harrahan and Lakeview, uh Steakhouse is Mettery, New Orleans. Well, both on St. Charles, Johns and Desi's, and we just opened up Ocean Springs in November last year.

SPEAKER_10 52:37

How do you split your time?

SPEAKER_07 52:38

What do you think I need a helicopter soon? Um I I try to spend as much time at each restaurant. I I kind of look at the reservations book. There's a nice app we have from Open Table that we get uh can show me where the reservations and what time people are coming in. So I try to plan like, okay, John's is usually an earlier spot, just like Metary. Desi's is a little bit later. So I try to hit Metary first or hit John's. It just kind of depends. And I, you know, I like to go from Metary here. I don't like to come all the way to downtown and go back to Mettery. So I try to hit, just look at, see where I need to see, who do people I need to see. I love to see everybody in the restaurant, but it's hard to come in and spend 10 minutes with somebody and go, I gotta run to the other restaurant.

SPEAKER_10 53:19

So you know, I think what you're also describing is something that you probably saw active. Well, I think you have it in your DNA as well, but you saw that with Commander's Palace, you saw that working uh for Ruth as it related to the customer service and being present, being letting letting the customer see you.

SPEAKER_07 53:40

That's so important. It's it's it's important, and you know, a lot of people joke with me and everything, they gotta see Desi. And you know, it's like it's it's fun being there. It brings a lot of energy into the restaurants when I when I come in there. It's just it's it's people don't even know Desi Vega's a real person, like tourists that come in. They just see the name and they go, Desi's here and they're like, wait, what? Um, but people you know, people spend a lot of money with you, and you know, they want to see me, they don't want to see a manager. They they they like to see that, hey, listen, I'm supporting you and I'm coming to see you, and and sometimes it's it's it's you gotta be there. It's it's work. Yeah, I I know I don't call it work anymore, and I hate to say this, but it's like it's a way of life. It's like it's I don't consider I have to go to work tonight. It's like I'm going to the restaurant.

SPEAKER_10 54:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 54:23

It it's like my little sacred place too. It's like when I get there, anything I'm thinking about or any problems or nothing that's going on in in inside the world, when I get into the restaurant, it's just I'm like I'm on stage. And it's just And the atmosphere you've built.

SPEAKER_10 54:38

Um I think that's why you see so many people from across the community. And I I'm thinking about the Saints right now because I know a number of the Saints players love your stakes, they love your atmosphere, they feel very comfortable, they feel like you respect where they are in in their careers, and you're gonna give them their space. But you you do that for everybody that comes in.

SPEAKER_07 54:58

We we we give everybody their space, and we know how to we we teach our waiters how to read a table. Like so if you see four gentlemen coming in, they got books, and they're they're in business, we're not gonna interrupt and like when they look up, we're gonna come to them. You know, you see a six-top getting ready to go to see a concert in the arena. Well, you know, they're fun, like, hey, who you know, yeah, have you seen them before? You can talk to them. So you read the guests, but the players, you know, the big thing we have to worry about, players and celebrity status people that come in is they want their space, they're having dinner. And you know, when Drew used to come in, he would sit, you know, in the corner with his back to everybody so they couldn't see him, you know. But we have a manager on the floor that as soon as we start to see somebody start to try to get to that table with the camera, with their phone, or you know, a football, we kind of stop them. Yeah, and they respect that fact. And like when they finish eating, Cam Jordan's so great with this, he'll go to every table, take pictures, sailor, he'll get behind a bar and make drinks. He's he's just, you know, and I'm hoping he gets to finish here because he's so big to the state. But it's all about giving them their space and and and taking care of them and just don't have a whole frenzy of paparazzi dealing with them. And we we're really good at that.

SPEAKER_10 56:05

So uh somebody comes to one of your restaurants for the first time uh and they need some advice on what are they gonna order, how are they gonna get their steak. What what would you tell that person?

SPEAKER_07 56:15

Uh say, do you are you a ribeye or a fillet guy? And that and that would be what would be my barometer to see which you where you're at. So if you say ribeye, then I'm gonna let you stick with the ribeye and maybe get go up to a cowboy. But if you say a filet, I may try to guide you to our strip New York strip because we take the back cap off, so we serve a fillet of New York strip. And a New York strip has so much more flavor than a fillet, but people just like fillet, they just they're they're filet eaters, and I don't try to get them, but everybody, I don't say everyone, but eight out of ten people that I said fillet, let's get a strip, and they they've stuck with a strip ever since then. Really? And as far as which restaurant to go to, we kind of touch base a little bit on Mr. John's is kind of like, you know, which one's like who's your favorite child? You can't, you know, so John's the baby, but John has that New Orleans Italian steakhouse feel. It's just like if you go on for the first time, and if it's a dinner or an anniversary, I want you to go there. If it's gonna be going to a Saints game or going somewhere, you know, with a group of people, Desi's has energy. Desi has like you never know who's gonna walk in. It's got more energy. John's is kind of like very subdued, very a lot quieter, but the towel floors and the low ceilings do get a little loud now. We got we got stuff for absorbing noise underneath the chairs and on the walls, too, because it does get a little loud.

SPEAKER_10 57:34

So Ocean Springs just opened.

SPEAKER_07 57:36

Ocean Springs just opened about the size of Mr. John's.

SPEAKER_10 57:39

And do you have uh the next iteration of that or what's what we're gonna do?

SPEAKER_07 57:43

Well, we're we're looking at Faircourt might be the next spot. Um, and when I refer back to everybody I work for because they've taught me every, you know, a lot of what I know and what works. Miss Ruth built along the the coast. She didn't like Baton Rouge, Lafayette, she went this way, didn't go to New York or LA or Chicago or anything like that. So that's my plan. What I want to do is right now, people know us in Mississippi that come in for for games, for example. Um Fair Hope, they're starting to know us down 30A area. They all know us, but the the real estate down there is a little expensive for a restaurant to make it. Yeah, so we're trying to stay away from that area. But that's the plan to go along the along the coast. And Lafayette's knocking on the door, so that that that's potentially a community that's just been moving very forward and you know, and I didn't want to get out the state because I'll you know, keeping the money here in the state, and and and but you know, when you have people from Mississippi say, We need one here, we need one here, we need one here, and it's like you keep hearing, you keep hearing it. And it's like, okay, let's do it.

SPEAKER_10 58:46

Listen, I think you're probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest, Saints fan that I know. Um how do you feel about the season?

SPEAKER_07 58:52

I I'm so excited. I get goosebumps right now. It's it's it's uh you know what I what I hate about is being so close with the Saints, and you know, when we had a couple of rough seasons the past couple of years, and I got to hear about Mickey Loomis needs to go and this needs to go, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I tell my friends now, I go, don't pull a hamstring, jump it back on the bandwagon. You know, we go through our ups and downs, and the free agency, you know, just uh you know, I'm I'm excited again. You know, it's like it's everybody the dome, it fills up because it's a party. But over the years, I can see my restaurant, which is really crazy, is on a Saints win, we'll have 300 covers on the books. On a win, we open up at about 3 o'clock on a 12 o'clock game. By 8:30, 9 o'clock, we're like no more. On a loss, by 6:30, we're like empty. People wear, they or they may come eat right away and they're gone within an hour. They like when on win, everybody's having fun. It's like even on Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesday, the rest of the week on a Saints win, the whole city's buzzing.

SPEAKER_10 59:54

There's nothing special. I'm the biggest fan. So a Saints victory, and that's the same.

SPEAKER_07 59:59

We're at one of the games, and all of a sudden we lost at the very end. I'm like, oh my god, I'm doing this. And like, what's wrong? I said, that just cost me like 20 grand. They go, You bet that much on the game? I go, no, revenue-wise. I go, my restaurant's gonna be empty now.

SPEAKER_10 1:00:12

But you're like But you're feeling good like the rest of us.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:14

Oh, absolutely. And Tyler, I got to meet him right when he got in town, so it was it was great to get to know him right away.

SPEAKER_10 1:00:20

We're gonna have him on the show, and uh can't wait to learn about uh all the great things that he's been doing. Enjoying. My grandmarshall, man. Yeah, I know you got him at Pygmillion. That was fantastic. Desi, you've you've got all these restaurants, uh I'll call them your children, each with a different atmosphere, you know, different experience. Uh talk about that.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:38

It's like it's like children, they all have different personalities, right? Uh Mr. John's is the New Orleans traditional steakhouse, Italian steakhouse, tile floors, low ceilings, um pictures on the walls, Desi's is all windows, not a traditional steakhouse, but it's on the avenue. So seeing a streetcar pass, uh Lafayette Square right next to us. Uh a lot of energy in that restaurant. Uh Mettery is more of a family restaurant, like it's just a lot of big lunch business over there.

SPEAKER_10 1:01:09

Yeah, I'll go there uh for uh four kids or for the Saints Hall of Fame. Uh and there's is always somebody making a business plan or a family over here in the corner having you know uh dinner with the kids or lunch with the kids. I mean you do get a good cross-section.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:23

Yes, we we do. And uh yeah, like I said, it's new Mr. Johns is traditional New Orleans. Desi's is kind of uh I hate to say an LA LA kind of feel in there, but with the windows. Uh you're sitting up top at at Metary looking over Veterans Highway. Yeah. Um also a good view of the city, too. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, good view of the city.

SPEAKER_10 1:01:45

I I like the fact that you've created an atmosphere that everyone can um uh go to that makes them feel comfortable.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:52

And you know, Mark, it it it wasn't set out to make every restaurant because we have the same menu at every restaurant. I do let my chefs create like their specials. But if you want to get the hoodet shrimp or whatever we have on there, they're at every restaurant. But it's just the decor of the restaurant, and we let the decor of whatever b space we get in, we build around that decor.

SPEAKER_10 1:02:11

Yeah, Kenny Trahan hosts the Saints Hall of Fame board meetings at your uh Mettery location. Yeah. And the first course always is the meatball. No, the meatballs are comes out.

SPEAKER_07 1:02:22

I mean, it's like I think that's what draws people to the board meetings. You know, it's it's it's well you you're at Mettery Country Club on Thursday, uh, next Thursday, right? For the rotary kids. Oh, for four kids, yes. I'm sorry. It's crazy. But the the the meatball, and it's you know, we we get back to the Saints with Coach Peyton, he would come in and just get we have pasta, and he would just get meatballs and spaghetti. And he said, You need to put this on the menu. And I'm like, No, I need people to come buying a $50 steak, not an $18 spaghetti or meatball dinner. He's a good consultant. Yeah, yeah. He actually Desi's was supposed to be Peyton's place. I don't know if you knew that or not. No. So we were having dinner in there, and he was talking about it and everything, and Loomis was there with its draft dinner. And the first, the first year we opened up over there, and I was talking to him about it, was talking about Breeze. Well, Breeze jumped on after Peyton backed out. Peyton didn't really back out. Loomis told him, listen, you just got here, and you know whose restaurant this used to be? It was Mike Dickas. And you know why it's Desi's now? Because Mike Dickett got fired. He didn't concentrate on winning. And then Breeze jumped in, and uh, I just said, you know, I'm putting my name on it. I'm not paying somebody else to work. I'm not working for anybody. That's a great story. That'll be in the book, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_10 1:03:35

It's great. Um, that's terrific. I you know, the fact that you have all of these different um locations and people will go to the ones that they are comfortable in, but you can be comfortable at all your locations. Yeah, which is great.

SPEAKER_07 1:03:47

And I'd just like to give a little shout out to Steve Gleason, too, because you know, his father-in-law Paul Risco is my partner at Mr. John's. And way back when, when Steve was playing, uh, he used to come in and he started bringing Drew in because they were really good friends. And from there it escalated to more players coming in, and then you know, just that became my relationship. We gave Steve a Super Bowl ring at Mr. John's. So that's I say we, like I'm part of the organization, but it was my restaurant. Okay, but but you're but a lot of that Saint stuff started all back then and kind of like kind of started feeding them on Fridays at the facility and so forth.

SPEAKER_10 1:04:21

But that's mutual respect.

SPEAKER_07 1:04:23

Steve, I love him, what he's doing for ALS, and just it's uh I get emotional talking about him sometimes because he's a hero. Like we all do. He's a hero. Uh he's inspired. Sorry, I threw that in there, but I'm glad you did. I'm glad you did.

SPEAKER_10 1:04:35

It just means a lot to me. Um and people uh love you for the the fact that you give them their space and you respect them and you um you you help them do what they're doing, which is great.

SPEAKER_07 1:04:48

Yeah, and Cam Jordan's actually a partner in Ocean Springs, too, by the way. Really. Throw out another name out there. But he is. He can he came in, he's 25% owner. So really well, I'm looking forward to a road trip trip trip trip trip.

SPEAKER_10 1:04:59

So I can keep him here. Do a road trip. Sounds like a road trip. We could take the show on the road there. Oh, absolutely. All right. Desi, thank you. Thank you again, Mark. Thank you. Thanks for being with us. Yes, sir. All right, y'all. Football fans across the Gulf South have been watching closely as a new chapter begins for the New Orleans Saints. And right at the center of it is the man leading the offense. Our next guest is the starting quarterback for the Saints, a player whose journey to the NFL has taken him through multiple programs and ultimately to the opportunity every quarterback dreams about, leading an NFL franchise. Now he's stepping into the spotlight here in New Orleans, a city that lives and breathes football. Joining us now is Saints quarterback Tyler Chuck.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:44

Yes, sir. Appreciate you having me, Mark.

SPEAKER_10 1:05:46

So good to have you. Uh look, before we talk about the city and the Saints, and we've got lots of questions and lots of fun things to uh discover, let's talk about Banana Ball.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:54

What was that like? I mean, it was probably one of the most unique experiences I've ever had. Because I was a former baseball player, so I got to kind of see the but the behind the scenes of them warming up. But it also goes like four hours of rehearsals for them with all the routines that they do every single day. It's like a new show. So it was cool to see the prep work and then have it come to fruition for these, you know, a sold-out dome was is is insane.

SPEAKER_10 1:06:18

Amazing. 70,000 people. Yeah. When they announced you and you walked out onto the uh into the field, what was the well?

SPEAKER_03 1:06:26

The crowd pop was so insane, you just full adrenaline, and they're just like they just told me, like, hey, just throw it up, you know, they should let you catch it. And I was just pure adrenaline. It ended up being like 40, 50 yard throws. I was like, all right, I don't know if I got many more left in me right now. I'm kind of save it. I kind of get tired. Um, but it was such a cool moment um to kind of be able to have my family there and you know be in front of the Saints fans and um have that opportunity. So what a what a great team.

SPEAKER_10 1:06:54

It's not I wasn't there Saturday, I was there Sunday when another quarterback came out, Drew Brees. What did you think of that?

SPEAKER_03 1:07:00

This was uh rightfully so louder and more um and more unique. I mean he was it was impressive him stepping up to the plate. I think that was the coolest part. It was like, hey man, I want to go play. Um because they had the idea beforehand, and and I think him making contact and and running it out was pretty cool because I've I don't think a lot of people have been able to hit that hit the ball or even make contact. No, and it's it's real baseball. Yeah, there's a lot going on in that. That was one thing I learned. Like they're actually playing. It's just all the the dances and all the stuff is like obviously um you know pre-made and it's kind of fixed, but like they they're they're trying to win, they're trying to get after it, and that that was pretty cool to see.

SPEAKER_10 1:07:37

Yeah, we were talking to a player last week uh who actually hails from Morgan City, Louisiana, and he says there's a lot of competition between the four teams that make up our four or six teams that make up the uh banana ball, and uh wish them all the success in the world. Hopefully they get back through here. So uh back to Drew just for a moment. What is that relationship like uh you know, quarterback to quarterback? Is it is it a mentor? Is it a you know what what is that like for you?

SPEAKER_03 1:08:03

Yeah, he's been just kind of this just nether like mentor. You know, I at first I'm like just I don't even feel deserving to even kind of talk to him or um what an honor to meet him originally when I first got here. And but the kind of person he is, he reached out and um almost immediately after getting drafted and just kind of was there. And um he was a huge advocate for me um and just breathing life into me throughout the season whenever I was a backup because he had been a backup, he had a kind of a tumultuous start to his career where he wasn't Drew Brees as we know and love. He had a um grind through a lot of stuff, and that was great for me um being able to talk to him about how you prepare every single day and then kind of transitioning now into um he's gonna hope you know help help help me plan the off-season throwing in San Diego for some of the guys. And um, but yeah, I'm I'm gonna do everything I can to earn his respect and and keep getting better.

SPEAKER_10 1:08:52

Great. Well, hope to see him back in the Dome for a couple of games. Yeah, no, no doubt. Um speaking of New Orleans, uh you've really dived into it when I realized that you were gonna be on a Mardi Gras parade. It was like, all right, he's a true citizen now. What was it like? You were Grand Marshal for Pig Million. A first time ever in a in a parade.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:11

Oh yeah, first time at first time for sure. It was I mean you kind of hear about Mardi Gras, obviously, but you don't really know, um, especially if you're not from here, just the impact of the that it has on the community. It brings everybody together, just the the pure joy of seeing everyone there. But really, it was Desi Vega who um and invited me. We had we had struck up a really good relationship, and uh it was kind of during the season, and I was just like, man, I it's hard to think about right now. I can't even I'm I'm trying to focus on something. I'll get to it, I'll get to it. Yeah, I'll let you know. And um, it ended up coming to fruition, and it was just like I didn't really know what I was getting into, and boy was I glad I did it. And um, we're gonna have to make that a yearly thing for for sure.

SPEAKER_10 1:09:49

So what a what a cool yeah, you learned all sorts of ways to throw the beads, toss the beads, how to not kill people and arm. Yeah, the the city really has embraced you, but uh we also see you embracing the city. What what's it like being uh a member of the community?

SPEAKER_03 1:10:07

I mean I feel like I'm I'm not fully part of it yet. You know, I think there's a there's a level of you know, when you're from here and you've been here for a certain amount of years, and um for me I'm just trying to be myself. Um and then over time I think that happens, but I think the people here, the interactions that you have, that's what makes it really, really fun and really unique, because um we haven't really done much yet from the from the Saints, you know, uh how I feel at least. And um I think the hope and the joy that you see around the community and and whenever we do good as a football team, that's what really motivates you. So I think that's kind of the thing I'm looking forward to continue to do is um just have fun that way, and then who knows what'll happen.

SPEAKER_10 1:10:47

Yeah, you sense though the the way people have wrapped their arms around you.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:50

I mean, that's how they feel about the Saints that's where it's like telling guys and uh and the people who like come want to sign here and and you know re-sign back, and like guys like Cam who have been here for so long, and it's hard not to want to stay here forever, you know. It's like the the love, the the embracement of of everybody. So it's such a it's such a a really cool place that like I said, I feel very undeserving, so I I know I gotta do everything I can to kind of keep breaking the mold.

SPEAKER_10 1:11:18

Yeah, you planted your flag here. You are a new father. Uh can you comment on on what that's like?

SPEAKER_03 1:11:25

Yeah, that's what it's like. Um last night was pretty rough. Uh two nights ago, I was telling people, man, he's sleeping great, man. He's been he's been I gotta just keep my mouth shut. I'm telling everybody he sucks at sleeping now, so I can maybe try and jinx it and sleep. Yeah, something. Or trying every different type of swaddle or diaper fold and something. So uh that's what after this I'm gonna head back to because we got family pictures. So we'll see how it goes.

SPEAKER_10 1:11:50

Beautiful time in your life and your family's life. Um back to football for a moment. Uh take us into the locker room from the quarterback position and the importance of leadership. How do you lead as a rookie uh coming in and how is that changing um going into the second season now?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:06

Yeah, I think when you first come in, you're not necessarily leading, you're trying to just really earn everybody's respect. And you have to do that through making genuine one-on-one relationships with the guys and um just being yourself. And it's a struggle, it's hard. You're not gonna earn 120 guys with the entire buildings, you're not gonna be a leader right away. That's why you have some veteran guys that can kind of show you the way, but you have to do it by example, and then slowly but surely, you know, when you get to play on the field and you get to um prepare and show the guys that you know you're about what you say and you want to earn it every single day, and then that's when those opportunities come. And um, I think Kellen and the whole staff does a really good job of facilitating that for me to have those moments, and uh I know I gotta continue to grow in that way. So I think for me it's just exciting to have the same staff, this everybody kind of coming back this year um to where we can kind of all, you know, we've we've kind of seen what we can do, and it's you know, we're not really satisfied with it. So, how do we kind of increase that standard and uh and hit the ground running?

SPEAKER_10 1:13:03

You know, Demario Davis and Cam Jordan talked about you a lot last year, about what they saw in you, and now with free agency, uh players are talking about signing here because of what you did at the end of last season. We're reading about that, you know, we're we're reading the the sports pages. No pressure, but what does that feel like when you have someone like a fan coming here because he feels this is a place to be.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:24

Well, I think it's it's such a weird feeling because uh like part of me is like, well, we I only play half a year, we haven't really done anything yet. Sure. It's like, man, like this is unbelievable. And then other part of it is like, man, this is what happens when you kind of stick to your routine and stick to your process and and really pour into the the guys around you and you want to you want to be a part of something, and I think the guys kind of sense that and um you know I think we got like I said so much more to go, but I think sure the guys who are signing here, the guys who are coming back, want to be a part of it and want to be a part of you know Kellen's um journey and our journey.

SPEAKER_10 1:13:56

Yeah, and uh we're learning how to pronounce Travis's last name.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:59

Uh now it's H and I know I was like, why didn't you tell me at dinner? You know, I was like, we can just announce it to me. David Edwards, we can just get Travis H and we got to David Edwards from Midwestern America from Wisconsin's a little bit a little bit easier and then HN, ETN H.

SPEAKER_10 1:14:15

I would have said ATN, but now we know.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:17

I was gonna say it's more of like a of the French background, right? But it's it's it's I think that's the biggest thing about New Orleans. You don't really there's names you just you just gotta have to go with, you're not gonna know how to pronounce them.

SPEAKER_10 1:14:27

And everybody's so forgiving anyway, but we'll get we'll make sure we get that right. Uh we're excited though, you know, with the draft coming up and you'll be getting some more weapons to work with, and uh it's it's just gonna be a great year. We all feel we all feel very enthusiastic.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:40

No, I'm excited. I'm excited to see what we do.

SPEAKER_10 1:14:42

Um we like to do on the show uh the New Orleans Questionnaire, the official New Orleans Questionnaire. So if you don't mind, I'll take you through with some of these and let's do it. Since you're a New Orleanian, I think these will be easy for you. First question we always like to ask is what do you think is the best poor boy?

SPEAKER_03 1:15:03

Um be probably Redostus and Mattery. Um And what do you have, what do you have on that? Well, the their the roast beef is a classic, but yeah, I do like a good shrimp shrimp boy. Um you like a dress? Oh, yeah, full dressed. They got a nice little mint like bar in there. You can kind of like I went there one time and it was like packed. Sandwiches always taste better though, that was it. That's true, it tasted good, but we had some time.

SPEAKER_10 1:15:32

All right. Uh you have an opportunity to see one New Orleans musical artist, either who's passed or or she's passed or alive in concert. Who would it be and where might you see that?

SPEAKER_03 1:15:43

Well, I saw Lil Wayne already, that would be my answer. And I got to see him in concert, which was which is pretty sweet. Um I think Louie Armstrong, because he's obviously passed, so I think that's like you got the airport. I mean that's the easiest answer. Um yeah, I'll go with him because Lil Wayne would be my bucket, and I got to do that last year, which is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_10 1:16:01

That's neat. Um favorite New Orleans smell?

SPEAKER_03 1:16:04

Oh geez, smell. Um I so if you know, you know, but you're driving on Dickory, there's this big water pump, and just certain like it hits 5 p.m. and it's like they start pumping. I'm like, this is the worst smell ever. And then but certain the rest of the time it's fun. So that would be the least favorite smell, not yeah. No, it's my favorite because I know I know I'm close to the facility, or I know I'm close to the whole thing. You're close to host in the river ridge.

SPEAKER_10 1:16:33

I love that. All right. You've you've experienced Mardi Gras. Uh have you been to Jazz Fest?

SPEAKER_03 1:16:40

I have not. Okay, I got here last year, and it was like as soon as I got here, and I didn't know what it was necessarily, and I was like, oh man, I can't believe I missed that. So I think that's on the that's on the docket.

SPEAKER_10 1:16:50

Yeah, so there'll be French Quarter Fest before in the in uh mid-April, and then you'll have uh Jazz Fest, of course, and then Mardi Gras. So next year when you come back, we'll ask you whether you prefer Mardi Gras or Jazz Fest. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:02

I think that was like what the question was St. We just did St. Paddy's Day Parade, and I was like, that was that was pretty small. Why don't we do that one?

SPEAKER_10 1:17:08

Did you like that? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:09

I mean that was that was awesome. My in-laws are in town and they're like, does this go on like every single time in New Orleans? Is there's always just parades? Like is there always just fun stuff to do?

SPEAKER_10 1:17:18

I was like, yeah, you guys you guys are just going here. They'll be asking you to be grand marshal for many parades, I have a feeling.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:24

Oh man, I'd I'd be uh I'd be honored. I'd I'd it was unbelievable to see how many parades for that. Because there's obviously St. Patty's Day parades everywhere.

SPEAKER_10 1:17:32

And you know it's a year-round industry, these parades. Once the parade finishes, they start building that for the next year. So it's just amazing costumes and everything. Um if you had to build a Saints Mount Rushmore, who would be on that?

SPEAKER_03 1:17:47

Uh Drew Brees, number one. Um Ricky Jackson. I'm gonna go and slime and Willie Roe. And uh just because I got to play with him as pretty cool when he's from the same city, Cam Jordan. I put him up there.

SPEAKER_10 1:18:06

That's great. Yeah. Beautiful. Um we go to gumbo. Chicken or seafood gumbo.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:16

It depends on how s how salty the chicken one is, because sometimes if it's too salty, then it's not as and then I choose seafood. But if I was just gonna every run of the day, I'd go chicken and sausage, but if it's like a really good seafood, ten out of ten, then you I'd pick that. Alright.

SPEAKER_10 1:18:32

Uh your favorite New Orleans movie or TV series?

SPEAKER_03 1:18:36

Um, movie would be Princess and the Frog. Just watch that with the with the fam. And then TV show would probably be just the I mean it's kind of it's really sad, but it's the super educational, but just the Katrina TV series. Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 1:18:51

Um there have been several of those uh lessons that that we never want to have to release.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:57

No, I mean it's just uh unbelievable to learn about, especially the the the impact of the community, yeah, seeing everybody. So those are pretty cool. Very good.

SPEAKER_10 1:19:05

The Disney classic, you can't beat that. Princess the Frog. No, you can't. What was yours? Uh yeah, well, you know, I since that tells the story of Princess Tiana, and which means that's Leah Chase, Dookie Chase, that's that's a favorite. Yeah. Uh but on the waterfront is another good one that's all black and white. Okay, I haven't seen that. Yeah, that's uh that's a favorite as well. Um this is gonna be interesting if uh if you recognize this one. Neutral ground or sidewalk side? For Mardi Gras Parade. Could be.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:34

I'll take it that way. Um I haven't, I mean, I've only gotten to ride, so I couldn't give you a fair answer. Um I would say sidewalk side.

SPEAKER_10 1:19:44

You would be able to you were able to throw on both sides, right? You sidewalk and neutral ground.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:48

Um I would say sidewalk, because if you could if you could get nice to it, like get next to a uh restaurant or something like that. I think you could I don't know where do people where do people pee whenever they're on neutral ground uh they have restrooms?

SPEAKER_10 1:20:00

Well, if they can't find a porta potty, it's amazing where they might go, you know. Um all right, here's one. Your earliest memory of visiting the French quarter was that first time?

SPEAKER_03 1:20:12

Um I remember it it just rained. I might be up there for favorite smell. It's like a post-rain, just all this all the things mixing together. Um I remember I got I got a beignet at Cafe Dumont. Um I had the family in town. This is when you were first got here, yeah, and it was like extremely hot. It just rained, so it was it was really humid, and it was just steam coming out. Yeah, and it was just like, why do people sit outside and eat these these beignets? I'm like, this is unbelievable. So I just remember it being really hot, and I'm like, there's no way people would party down here. And then obviously different times of the year, I saw this is great, but that day I was like, I this is like a 15 minutes max outside right now.

SPEAKER_10 1:20:58

Yeah. I think um, particularly if they're drinking hot coffee at the same time, right? Yeah. But you can't beat a good beignet. All right, here's one dead or alive, who is the one person you'd like to take to lunch and where would you want to take them?

SPEAKER_03 1:21:14

Not in New Orleans.

SPEAKER_10 1:21:15

It could be anywhere. I d if you can figure something in New Orleans, that's good.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:21

Um that's a good one. I'll probably say I I mean I grew up speaking on the baseball topic, a Derek Jeter fan. Yeah, I think going to to to launch with him, with Jeter talking about his journey.

SPEAKER_10 1:21:35

Um you could ship him down to New Orleans to do that.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:38

Yeah. Yeah. But and where would I take him? Aaron Rowls?

SPEAKER_10 1:21:42

Where would you take him?

SPEAKER_03 1:21:44

Wow, that's that's tough.

SPEAKER_10 1:21:47

Maybe back to that po-boy place.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:48

Yeah, Redossa would be a good like uh deep cut. I like Rumba a lot. Um about Desi Vegas? I mean, I've given him a shot already. He doesn't need any more. He's he's me freaking mooching for stuff. He's just he's all over the city anyways. Um I'm gonna stick to my guns. I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go Rumba's. Alright.

SPEAKER_10 1:22:10

Your favorite New Orleans song? Either a song by a New Orleans artist or a song about New Orleans.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:17

Oh, favorite New Orleans song. That's tough. I would say Lil Wayne's No Ceilings, Mixtape, Shoes. Um I mean, like I said, Lil Wayne was was a was a favorite, so I mean actually going down to Holygrove and all that stuff and uh he gives back a lot to the community.

SPEAKER_10 1:22:45

Really good. Um the one New Orleans food item you can't live without. What's that one item that could be a last meal?

SPEAKER_03 1:22:58

I would say I would say red beans and rice. Especially uh my wife likes that a lot too. I think it's just like a staple. You can't really can't really go wrong with it.

SPEAKER_10 1:23:08

Do you uh do you prep it at home? Do you like to go out?

SPEAKER_03 1:23:12

I mean, I haven't been able to make it at home, but just been at the facility for so for so long in football season. They just make it so it's kind of really good there, but having it some other places is good, so that's good. You got a s is that you got a secret for making it at home? Um You got the roaming the roaming recipe?

SPEAKER_10 1:23:27

Back in the day when mom would mom would do it, she would soak the beans all day on Sunday and and then get them to the point where then she could add the the ingredients on Monday. Uh but now you can you know you can buy them in cans. Yeah, like Blue Runner. Blue Runner's got some good uh that's coming. But soaking the beans, yeah, that's another way to do it. But Blue Runner has a great product. Um all right, so you've been out of town for a little while, you're flying back into the city, um you want to go have someplace to uh to relax. Where do you go? The first time back in. And hopefully it's not back to the training camp. Hopefully you can you can you go you go someplace where you can put your feet up.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:10

Yeah, that's that's good. That's a new I'm gonna need a list for that because of this. I haven't been able to really do that. Usually it's home, but like I'm trying to think of a different answer for to go to go relax. Um I think they said four golf was pretty cool, the 504 golf. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Um got to do that with the team to go hang kind of that's a good place to kind of bring somebody to go to go chill but have something to do.

SPEAKER_10 1:24:37

That's a good place. Uh we got the Zura Classic coming up too. Hopefully you can get out there and uh relax, watch some golf, and maybe play in the uh the ProMeah. That'd be cool. Yeah. Um finally, in five words or less, why do you love New Orleans?

SPEAKER_03 1:24:59

Authenticity. Food and the people. Very good. That's good. That works. I can count, I think what works.

SPEAKER_10 1:25:07

Tyler, I am so uh excited that you were able to be with us today. And uh we wish you all the best as a new father, as our franchise quarterback, and as the season starts coming together, we'll be watching you and uh and cheering for you.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:20

Appreciate you, Mark. Thanks for having me. You're a legend, man. I know the getting to know your brother and and the whole fam has been pretty cool, but uh thanks for the opportunity.

SPEAKER_10 1:25:28

Oh my pleasure, and hopefully I can say uh several times touchdown stay!

SPEAKER_03 1:25:33

There we go. Yes, sir. Thanks, Tyler. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_10 1:25:42

All right, there's a lot going on in New Orleans this week, so this week in New Orleans, of course, we're gonna ask April Dupree what's happening. April, take it away.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:50

Thanks so much, Mark. Here's where to eat, drink, and play this week in New Orleans. Crawfish season is rolling, and this week is a great time to dig in. Uptown Staple Frankie and Johnny's has been serving seafood since 1941 and still delivers that old school neighborhood vibe that's perfect for a polybolt crawfish and an ice cold beer. Over the lake, the blue crab restaurant, and oyster bar pairs live music with seafood favorites, making it a fun weekend stuff. In Mid-City, Clint's remains a local favorite known for its signature boil with citrus pepper and clothes and you can actually watch the action happen. If you're looking for a more casual crawfish thing, for example throughout the weekend, with Fridays at Mid-City Night Club, Saturdays at Ecology Beer Collective, and Sundays at BJ's in the Five Center. Seafood markets like Corgi's North Road Seafood and Bronzy Seafood are also great options if you want to grab a few pounds to go. And of course, DD seafood remains a classic limited seafood cravings, whether you're dining in or picking out. When it comes to sipping during the springtime in New Orleans, we have one rule to find a good patio and stay for a while. If you're feeling a little romantic bottom out of the bottom water, never misses. Catch the channel, it's twinkling lights and an unbeatable wine and cocktail selection. If you want a view at the hotel at Funstring Hotel, cocktails and one of the best skyline views in the city. If you want something a bit more casual, long iron on the greenway, both frozen drinks, four bites, and plenty of space to spread out with your friends. The Youth Leadership Council's Wednesday at the square returns this week with electric ramble for the John Cleary and the absolute monster gentleman taking the stage in Lafayette Square. It's free outdoors and honestly some of the best midweek plans you'll find in the city. Grab food from the vendors, find a patch of bread, and let the music do the rest. Sports fans, the Pelicans take on the Dallas Mavericks at the Smoothie King Center on Monday with game day promos and all the energy you'd expect from a big night downtown. And it's the sports. More of your style. Hubbard Street Dance Chicago brings a high-energy evening of contemporary dance to the Sanger Theater on Saturday, making it the perfect excuse to dress up a little and make it a night out. For more information on where to eat, drink, and play this week in New Orleans, scan the QR code. Back to you, Mark.

SPEAKER_10 1:28:17

All right. Thank you, April. A lot going on, and look forward to being part of the great excitement happening this coming weekend in New Orleans. And now we'd like to end all of our shows with something positively New Orleans. New Orleans has long been the performing arts capital of the American South, a city where creativity doesn't simply exist on stage, but flows through our streets, our traditions, and our history. From the earliest days of the French colonial era, this was a place where culture was meant to be seen and heard. The legendary French Opera House once stood as one of the most important opera venues in the country, a symbol of a city that believed great art belonged here along the banks of the Mississippi. That tradition never faded. It actually evolved. In New Orleans, even our parades or performances. The rolling tableau of our Mardi Gras floats tells stories of mythology, satire, and society, turning our streets into moving stages and our citizens into an audience that spans generations. It is truly public art on the grandest scale. Today that spirit thrives through the extraordinary institutions that shape our cultural life. The New Orleans Opera Association continues the operatic tradition began centuries ago. The New Orleans Ballet Association brings world-class dance to our stages. And the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra fills our halls with symphonic brilliance. Opera Creole preserves the remarkable Creole musical heritage unique to this city. And at Le Petite Theatre du Voucaré, one of the nation's oldest community theaters, live drama and musicals continue to inspire audiences in the heart of the French Quarter. Even the silver screen has its place in our artistic story. Each year, the New Orleans French Film Festival, presented by the New Orleans Film Society, reminds us of the deep cultural ties between New Orleans and the French-speaking world. In New Orleans, the performing arts are not confined to a stage. They are woven into the very identity of the city. They connect our past to our future, our traditions to our imagination, and they remind the world that here in New Orleans, culture isn't just preserved, it performs. And that's positively New Orleans. And that's a wrap. Thanks to our sponsors, Blue Runner Foods, New Orleans and Company, our friends at Visit the North Shore, and their podcast, All the Waves. Go check it out. And don't forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell for all of our new videos. We'll see you next week.