On Radio and Podcast
Check out the NOLADrinks Show with Bryan Dias bi-weekly. Get the podcast on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Android, TuneIn Radio, Blubrry, Deezer, and Nitty Grits Podcasts! Or, right here on NOLADrinks.com!
Join the Conversation
Let us know what you think! Join us as we explore the world of drink, food, and culture in New Orleans and beyond… Use #NOLADrinks on social media…
Sustainability Series
The NOLADrinks Show “Sustainability Series” brings you important conversations connected to the world of drink, food, and culture. Topics include environmental issues, social justice, and health and wellness. The series looks at these themes as they relate to the liquor industry, the hospitality industry, food and food production, cultural preservation, and much more.
Wines of Georgia
Join us as we explore the fascinating wine story from the country of Georgia. Over the course of three episodes, we discuss the 8,000-year history of winemaking, explore various regions, sample different expressions, and much more!
French Quarter Fest Series
Check out our French Quarter Fest Series! We interview musicians who play French Quarter Fest, Satchmo Summerfest, and more! Interviews are taped live at Louisiana Music Factory. We talk music, drink, food, culture, and more!
Hey All – We wanted to share this with you and ask if you can help our good friend, Touré Folkes (pictured at far left). Unfortunately, his place of residence was destroyed in a recent New Orleans fire, costing him greatly. Touré, the founder of the amazing organization, Turning Tables, has always been a supporter of and collaborator with The NOLADrinks Show. In fact, we have been following the Turning Tables story from the very beginning (and have always been proud and honored to do so)!
If you can, please help get Touré back on his feet! Here is the link - https://givebutter.com/Q38t7M
Thank you!
Cheers and Be Well!
~ Bryan
#NOLA #podcast #aid #assistance #giveback
It’s our last show before Tales of the Cocktail 2024 and our short summer break! This time, we welcome Kaitlin Wilkes and Kristine Bocchino, founders of The Ada Coleman Project! It is a terrific non-profit that supports women+ in the drinks business and hospitality industry. A core part of the program is a database they developed that allows hospitality venues, organizations, and others to identify talent for events, seminars, and much more. We discuss how they got started, the need they saw, and other programming they do.
To see more on this show and to get the podcast from our site or your fave podcast platform, check the link in bio! Hope to see you at Tales! Cheers and Be Well, You All!☮️❤️🍸️
We always look forward to bringing you our annual Tales of the Cocktail preview show! As always, we are joined by the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation’s CEO and friend of the show, Eileen Wayner. We let you know everything you need to know about this year’s event – the most important drinks business conference and showcase on the planet! We discuss the events, activities, programs, and much, much more!
Thanks, as always to our friends at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum for hosting us!
To see more on this show or get the podcast from our site or your favorite podcast platform, click the link in our bio! See you at Tales! Cheers and Be Well, You All!☮️❤️🍸️
We’re back with a new show! On this edition of The NOLADrinks Show with Bryan Dias, we are talking about two projects spearheaded by two talented bartenders and hospitality industry veterans. Both projects involve community gardens for and by the industry. We chat with Keyatta Mincey-Parker, founder of Atlanta’s “A Sip of Paradise Garden,” and great friend of the show. Also joining us is Elise Hanson, who recently won Bombay Sapphire Gin’s “Most Imaginative Bartender” competition with her project, “Higher Harvests,” that will transform Toronto rooftops into hospitality venue driven gardens.
To see more about this show, including links to our guests, and to get it from our website or your favorite podcast platform, click the link in our bio! Cheers and Be Well, You All!☮️❤️🍸️
This time on The NOLADrinks Show with Bryan Dias, we talk with Anthony Advincula, National Communications Director, and Brandon Arnold, Community Organizer for New Orleans, of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, aka ROC United. We discuss this national organization that advocates for members of the hospitality industry. Among other initiatives of theirs we cover; we highlight their effort to pilot a mandatory training on sexual harassment and violence in the industry here in New Orleans.
Connect with ROC United - @roc_united
To see more on this show and get the podcast directly from our website or your favorite podcast network, just click the link in our bio! Cheers and Be Well, You All!☮️❤️🍸️
#sustainabilityseries
On this episode of The NOLADrinks Show with Bryan Dias, we talk about the policy initiative being undertaken by the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation supporting bar professionals in the US. The effort is designed to bring about tangible policies and approaches for dealing with critical issues facing individuals in the industry. Our guest is the foundation’s Government Affairs Manager, Tammera Catchings.
To see more on this show and get the podcast directly from our site or your favorite podcast platform, check the link in our bio! Cheers and Be Well, You All!☮️❤️🍸️
#sustainabilityseries
This time around, we’re bringing you a preview of the 2024 New Orleans Spirits Competition, now in its 3rd year. We chat with Head Judge and noted cocktail author, Wayne Curtis, and Director of Operations and spirits industry veteran, Matthew Sharpe. They let us know about the competition, how it works, and lots of new and exciting things coming this year! We discuss how it all culminates with the final judging at Tales of the Cocktail with much of it open to attendees to observe. If you are a spirits producer, we let you know about how to submit your stuff with the deadline to do so looming soon!
To see more on this episode and get it from your favorite podcast platform or our site, just click the link in our bio! Cheers and Be Well, You All!☮️❤️🍸️
A few more fun moments and bites from Day 2 of French Quarter Festival 2024! (Yeah, we’re day walkers!) #FQFest #FrenchQuarterFest #FrenchQuarterFestival #NOLA
A few more fun moments and bites from Day 2 of French Quarter Festival 2024! (Yeah, we’re day walkers!) #FQFest #FrenchQuarterFest #FrenchQuarterFestival #NOLA #NOLADrinks
Some highlights from French Quarter Festival Day 1. Stay tuned for Day 2!!! Check out @NOLADrinks for more… #fqfest #FrenchQuarterFest #FrenchQuarterFestival #NOLA #NOLADrinks
We’re happy to bring you our annual French Quarter Festival preview show! This terrific event starts this week on Thursday, April 11 and runs through Sunday, April 14. Featuring more than 20 stages scattered throughout the historic French Quarter along with dozens of food and drink vendors and other special offerings, there is sure to be something for everyone! We chat with Emily Madero, President and CEO, and Kenneth Spears, Director of Food & Beverage and Hospitality, of French Quarter Festivals, Inc.
To see more on this show and get it from our site or your preferred podcast platform, just click the link in our bio! Cheers and Fest Well, You All!☮️❤️🎵
#FQFSeries
On this edition of The NOLADrinks Show with Bryan Dias, we welcome some of the folks behind Sorel Liqueur! We chat with founder Jackie Summers, along with Josh Davis and Crystal Lilly. Aside from telling you about Sorel, a Caribbean inspired liqueur connected to Jackie’s family history (and more!), we also talk about Brown and Balanced, an organization started by Josh advocating for black bartenders. Along the way, we discuss diversity, equity, and inclusivity in the drinks business.
Quick programming note – we will back really quick with a show early next week – our annual French Quarter Festival preview! To get the latest episode from our site or your favorite podcast platform, just click the link in our bio! Cheers and Be Well, You All!☮️❤️🍹
We’ve got a new show for you! We welcome back Lynnette Marrero and Ivy Mix, co-founders of Speed Rack! We talk about that terrific organization and about their upcoming cocktail book, A Quick Drink: The Speed Rack Guide to Winning Cocktails for Any Mood!
To see more on this episode and get the podcast from our website or your favorite platform, just click the link in our bio! Cheers and Be Well, You All!
#sustainabilityseries
We’ve talked beer a lot here on The NOLADrinks Show over the years. But this time around, more of our focus is talking about pairing beer with food. We’ve touched on it before but here it is a little more focused on the topic. We welcome Chef Richard Papier and proprietor and brewer of Calliope Beer Works, Rich Szydlo.
Please note – the featured interview portion of the show was taped a couple of weeks back before this news broke. Unfortunately, Calliope Beer Works is closing after tomorrow (3/24) due to today’s difficult hospitality environment here in New Orleans. Grab a pint if you can! We wish Rich the best in his future endeavors! There is still a lot to this interview as it relates to understanding beer pairing. Check it out!
To see more on this show and get it from our website or your favorite podcast platform, just click the link in our bio!
Cheers and Be Well, You All!☮️❤️🍺
We’re back with new shows here in 2024! To start things off, we’re proud to bring you our annual Turning Tables show! Learn about this terrific organization that advocates for black and brown persons in the bartending, hospitality, and drinks business industries. We chat with both leadership members and recent graduates from the program. We talk about their history, programs, evolution, and so much more! As with any Turning Tables show we do, it is loaded with important conversation along with a good dose of laughs, to boot!
This is the fifth Turning Tables show we have done, beginning in their very first year. It’s been an honor to do so. It has also been so rewarding to see what they have accomplished in transforming the industry and the many lives they have touched, building careers and creating opportunity.
Thanks to Bacchanal Fine Wine & Spirits for hosting us! Connect with them and Turning Tables:
@bacchanalwine & @turningtablesnola
To see more on this show and to get the podcast from our website or your favorite podcast platform, click the link in our bio!
Happy Mardi Gras, Cheers, and Be Well, You All!☮️❤️🍸️
~ Bryan
#sustainabilityseries
This time around on The #NOLADrinks Show, we chat with the co-founders of Cure Co., Kirk Estopinal and Neal Bodenheimer. Both have been on the program individually a handful of times, but never together! As Cure, their inaugural New Orleans hospitality spot, approaches its fifteenth anniversary and Cane & Table, their second spot, celebrates its ten year, it’s a great time to talk with them about their story. We cover a lot of ground from the earliest days at Cure to the present day operating a full-blown hospitality group!
To see more about this episode and to get the podcast from our site or your favorite podcast network, just click the link in our bio! Cheers and Be Well, You All!
Guess what week it is! It’s #OldFashionedWeek benefiting the Southern Smoke Foundation and their work to support the hospitality industry. Can you guess what our latest show is all about? Old Fashioned Week! Where we chat with Lynn House of Elijah Craig and Caroline Nabors of Southern Smoke. Guess that wasn’t a real difficult question… Link in bio.
Visit a participating bar, like we did at NOLA’s Barrel Proof, (you can find a link in our show notes to search for one near you) and order and Old Fashioned. One dollar will go to the cause and you’re supporting a local hospitality venue to boot! Cheers and Be Well, You All!☮️❤️🥃
New show! On this edition of The NOLADrinks Show, we’re once again talking Elijah Craig’s Old Fashioned Week happening from October 13th thru the 22nd! It’s easy to participate as either a hospitality spot or as a patron and it’s all a benefit for the wonderful Southern Smoke Foundation, supporting the hospitality industry with mental health and wellness and emergency relief programs. We welcome Lynn House, national spirits specialist and portfolio mixologist for Heaven Hill, and Caroline Nabors, director of marketing and development for Southern Smoke.
To see more on this show and get it from our site or your favorite podcast platform, just click the link in our bio! Cheers and Be Well, You All!☮️❤️🥃
We’re back with a new show! This time around, we are at the terrific Uptown sushi spot and izakaya, Sukeban, talking saké and Japanese cuisine. We’re joined by New Orleans saké expert, Shaun Williams, and Sukeban’s chef/owner, Jacqueline Blanchard. This is a fun and interesting show! It’s a deep dive into the world of saké. Of course, we sip on some expressions, talk pairings, and let you know about Sukeban!
Connect with Shaun - @ricegirlrich
Connect with Sukeban - @barsukeban
To see more about this show and to get the podcast from our website or favorite podcast platform, click the link in our bio! Cheers and Be Well, You All!☮️❤️🍶
On this edition of The NOLADrinks Show with Bryan Dias, we once again speak to an author from the terrific book series “Iconic New Orleans Cocktails” by LSU Press. This time around, we talk with John DeMers, a native of New Orleans, who recently penned a book on the classic Vieux Carré cocktail.
We discuss the fascinating history of this important New Orleans drink and the folks connected to it. Invented by Walter Bergeron at the famous French Quarter hotel, the Hotel Monteleone, after Prohibition, the Vieux Carré’s story has roots stretching back long before. Of course, we talk about the drink itself, how it is made, and much more!
To see more on this episode and get the podcast on your favorite platform or from our site, just click the link in our bio. Cheers and Be Well, You All!☮️❤️🍸️
This time around on The NOLADrinks Show with Bryan Dias, we talk with the organizers of the New Orleans Spirits Competition presented by the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation! Our guests are Wayne Curtis, Andrew Faulkner, and Matthew Sharpe. We let you know all about the competition, its history, and, of course, about this year’s version which culminated with the winners being named at the recent Tales of the Cocktail 2023 in New Orleans.
Check out @nolaspiritscomp and @tales_of_the_cocktail for more!
You can see more on this show and get the podcast from our site or your favorite podcast platform by using the link in our bio. Cheers and Be Well, You All!☮️❤️🍸️
Hey All! I am proud and excited to announce that I have been chosen as the new president of the Raising Spirits Society – the charitable beneficiary and organizer of the New Orleans Bourbon Festival! Raising Spirits Society (RSS) is our new name with a new mission – providing resources, experiences, and opportunities in support of young adults in the hospitality industry.
Initially, our primary focus will be around the Greater New Orleans area with the hopes of growing from there. Additionally, we will seek to expand our partnerships and opportunities with brands, hospitality venues, and other non-profit organizations with a similar mission (I’ve already been hitting some of you up on that front!) Another important goal is to broaden and diversify our board and committees. Lastly (for now), we will be looking to increase our presence with year-round activities and programming while all still culminating, of course, with the festival during the third week of March.
I am honored to be entrusted with this role and look forward to building on the New Orleans Bourbon Festival, already one of the premier whiskey festivals on the planet, to push things even further with the Raising Spirits Society and our terrific partners present and future. Please feel free to hit me up to talk shop and stay tuned for more from the fest and RSS!
Check out @nolabourbonfest for more! Cheers and Be Well, You All! ~ Bryan☮️❤️🥃
We closed out Tales of the Cocktail 2023 with a lot of fun stuff – more tasting rooms, parties, The Spirited Awards, laughs, friends, and more! Here’s some action from last Thursday, the event’s penultimate day. Back with Friday fun soon! #TOTC2023 #imbibegram #drinkstagram #cocktails #drinksbusiness #NOLA #hospitalityindustry
Well, Tales of the Cocktail ’23 is a wrap, but we’ve got a bit more to share! It was a great time and terrific to see so many good friends – and make new ones! We’ll have one more round soon! If you don’t already, we’d love to have you check out our podcast, The NOLADrinks Show with Bryan Dias. You can get it from our website – NOLADrinks.com or wherever you get your podcasts! Cheers and Be Well, You All! #TOTC2023 #imbibegram #drinkstagram #cocktails #drinksbusiness #NOLA #hospitalityindustry
