Opening Music New Orleans culture is the tradition of food and music, and the history of the two are inseparable.

You know, a rhythm kitchen.

It's just not us.

I mean, we can take any kitchen in this town, and we can interpret their native experience through the local ingredients that we have here in New Orleans.

And I guarantee you, there's a lot of talent in that kitchen that's going to be able to orchestrate all those elements, all those variables.

And he's going to make sense of that music through a beautiful dish.

New Orleans is a celebration of food, music, life, family and community.

And it's a spirit that you cannot duplicate.

You cannot replicate.

You cannot commercialize.

It comes authentically from the people of New Orleans and the history of this great city.

You're here because of the food and the music, and there's no getting around that.

The two feed each other, which we gather.

We nourish each other.

We support each other.

We break bread, and we and we dance.

If my food was music.

I definitely think there would be balance in it.

You can't have really too much of of any one flavor, any one instrument.

You definitely want to have solos and things of that nature to make the comparison.

You can't have anything that just stands out more than anything, because that's that's all you hear.

That's all you taste.

I think balance is definitely the key to creating great food and also creating great music.

So, you know, shrimp and grits, it's like a real smooth kind of a delicacy.

So it'd be maybe like Duke Ellington saying.

Duke Ellington song playing Shrimp and grits.

Theme Music You're not going to get dishes and food like this anywhere else in the world.

Highly flavored, highly seasoned, bounty of the bayou.

I mean, so much that we can say about our city.

And the chefs are at the forefront of making sure that we preserve these stories.

The Atchafalaya Basin the Gulf of Mexico, southern Louisiana.

You just.

You have so much to draw from.

From all the fish and the shellfish.

The crab is amazing.

All of the charcuterie.

The boucherie, the andouille sausage, the tasso ham, the boudin.

It's really never ending.

It's truly one of the, best regional cuisines, I would say, in the United States, and one that's been present for hundreds of years now.

And and just keeps growing and expanding.

And it's really, truly amazing.

When we started Atchafalaya so many years ago, for me to have fun, we needed to have live music.

And we would have, great music every Saturday and Sunday for brunch.

And as great as that was, sometimes I thought, well, you know, there could be something a little more meaningful here.

Perhaps we can put food and music together in a more meaningful way, a more interesting way.

Music Playing Rhythm kitchen really hits home.

In the kitchen there's a definite cadence, if you will.

There's a rhythm.

There's a beat.

20 plays.

There is a lot of noise, but also silence at the same time.

So everybody's working together like you would be in a band kind of with the same.

The same goal, to make beautiful music or to create beautiful food.

I'm a culinary historian, and I spend my life looking at cookbooks, and I imagine the music that goes along with it because I believe in something that Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor.

She was a cookbook writer, food historian that she said in her cookbook about vibration cooking.

I believe that New Orleans, our cuisine has a vibrationcy.

The music is going to dictate the pace.

The music is going to dictate the rhythm of a dish.

It's going to be very hard to hear something brash, so upbeat, so chaotic and then try to put together some harmonious and beautiful plate of easily enjoyed, shareable food.

You know, you're walking home from Jazz Fest and you just had the most fulfilling day possible.

You're walking to your car and you're just going right through, you know, a brass band performing on the street.

You take all of that and you can bring that to your cooking, and it's easy.

It's it's how you chop your vegetables.

It's how you choose to make your roux.

You know, it's that's, when you cook, there's only one way to cook, and that's cooking with music.

That's where you're going to get some soul.

And that's how you break bread with your brother.

That's the rhythm.

So beginning of the evening, I want you to come in and have something, you're waiting for your table.

Maybe you're waiting at the bar, but you need to have something that is compelling, rhythmic, and, hopefully it results in some memory making experience.

And it culminates in a performance or a feast that we can all break bread with our brothers over some beautiful music.

I think there are a lot of similarities between writing music and creating food.

Certain ingredients.

I think sometimes they're very basic and they speak for themselves, and, and and you just let them shine.

I would think sometimes with other things, it needs more help.

Maybe like a more harmony.

So you can add more ingredients to it.

I think it kind of can work both ways.

And it's fun sometimes when you're just being creative and you just run with it, and, and things work well together.

And I would imagine, you know, at a, at a, at a show, it's it's the leader of the band.

I'd say I generally look at our gigs our performances and concerts similar to how a chef looks at a ten course meal.

So we don't want it to just be one particular thing.

So we want to give you that flavor of the brass band and maybe the sounds in the street.

We want to give you something that's blues based.

We want to play something like Charlie Parker in the bebop sound, something like Louis Armstrong and the traditional New Orleans sound.

We want to give you some of that Duke Ellington in the swing, something that's going to kind of ruffle your feathers like Thelonious Monk or Ornette Coleman, and then we want to play our own music, something with a funky groove.

And by the end of the night, we say, we cooked up a great meal to improvise in the kitchen.

First and foremost, it takes a lot of years of of honing your craft where you can just go back there and start putting stuff together just from the top of your head.

I've worked with a lot of talented chefs during my career.

And I've learned from from the very best of them.

But it is a lot of fun, the same way a band can just be free forming and kind of going off in a million different directions and then bring it back.

The same thing in the kitchen, where maybe one of your guests says, be creative, make something for me that I've never had here.

And to go back into the kitchen and pull from all the wonderful ingredients and just create something right then and there, in the moment, it's it's it's a high, it's a rush.

It is.

It's a lot of fun.

I'd imagine that one difference between the bandstand and perhaps what the chef deals with is we will change or call an audible depending on what happened before.

So, for example, maybe I'm playing a song and the idea of this song is I want the folks to to be in a good mood throughout.

Then maybe somebodys solo takes a turn and it gets a little more serious.

So then what we do with the next song after that is determined by what happens in that previous song.

Or maybe I want to play a song and it's really a romance song, but then the soloist decides, okay, we're going to take it out to another realm.

Then I have to decide, okay, are we going to play a more of a groove tune?

So I see that that's the biggest difference, is that audibles are being called all of the time and it's like we ease into it and it's actually kind of a thing I got from Wynton he did a tune and he said, it's like the caravan coming in from the distance.

So that's how we go.

We start real easy and then it just builds and it builds and it builds.

So there's a fair amount of anticipation, you know, it's just like you've been waiting for that dessert the whole meal.

Like a lot of times you just go for the dessert and then once it comes out, you just want to sit back, relax and enjoy yourself.

We like to finish the set with Little Liza Jane, because it not only involves the audience, but it's only collective improvisation so one person doesn't solo on the song, and we start off at a nice little easy groove, boom boom boom.

Bo do do do, boom, boom, boom.

And it's like a bolero.

It's coming at you from a distance, real soft and easy.

And next thing you know, it's the intensity is building.

The intensity is building.

And then we have group improvisation and maybe the trumpets are doing their thing, the saxophone.

And they have the chords that they're playing.

Trombones.

We harmonizing, we play a certain kind of riff.

So you get a chance to experience all of what the band of the rhythm section is, just grooving, piano players taking it easy, and then at some point the vocal comes in and then the audience.

There's that participation and we all collectively get together, and it's like a dessert that the entire table can enjoy.

And you've waited and it's the end of the night and you get that wine and everything is just right.

Band plays “Lil Liza Jane” The folks like to sing along with it, but it's a nice, easygoing song.

Some folks, when you're in the set, it's really high energy.

But a lot of times we like to just set that groove up.

So we come in boom, boom, boom.

And then once the vocals come in, it gets the folks involved and tells me, you got to have a smile on your face, and we want you to, you know, got to move your wrist a certain kind of way.

So, that to me is like a really great dessert that takes time to prepare.

And once you get it, it caps off the meal.

Just right.

Come sing along with me yall Oh Lil Liza, Lil Liza Jane In the morning... Oh Lil Liza, Lil Liza Jane That is, That's our way to have.

Have fun.

To have a meaningful relationship between food and music.

We, you know, as a team, we choose a musician, a band, and we take the time.

We listen to their music.

Let's go see them live.

Let's get an impression of what they do and get a feel for them.

We come back and we think about like, well, what can we do?

How can we italicize or put our slant on what their music sounds like?

In essence, we ask ourselves the question if their music was food, how would that taste?

So we take the time and we, make some decisions.

What's available, what ingredients are seasonal?

What can we do?

The dish that we're going to prepare, I think is a very classic New Orleans dish.

And you have this beautiful fish from the Gulf of Mexico that is definitely the focal point on the plate.

And cooking it properly, with the skin getting nice and crisp and lightly seasoned.

It works so well with all the other elements.

You have the crispiness of the of the potato and they're hot right out of the fryer.

Season with salt and pepper.

You have the nice, delicate sauté of the baby spinach with maybe just a little bit of lemon, a little bit of shallot.

You know, you're going to put some jumbo lump crab right on top of this fish, which is just adding more, just wonderful flavors to a great piece of fish.

And then the nice citrus in the Beurre Blanc just ties everything together.

Every bite you could eat it separate or the way I do, I eat it all together.

It's just really wonderful.

And it works so well.

Music playing Yes indeed Chef Christopher Lynch.

Everybody.

All right?

A toast to Del everybody.

So your beautiful music into your delicious music, chef.

Cheers, everybody.

Cheers everybody.

Enjoy.

All right.

It's special dinners like this that we get to, you know, get to.

Well, we want to make a fan and we get to everybody as much as you guys do.

And keep coming back and bringing the friends and the family.

And, you know, it's very similar when you think about it.

Oh yeah.

Well, we were talking about it after the show the other night, you know, how is there a set list?

Is there not a set list?

Is it a is it a jam?

Is it.

Yeah.

What's the structure?

And, you know, musically and culinary speaking, I think it's very similar.

You want to give them what they want, but you got to surprise them, too, you know, especially if it's multi-courses.

It's just like many songs.

You don't want it to be too obvious.

You got to have some surprises, you know, up your sleeve.

You know, plenty of surprises in the 90 minute set.

Yeah.

When I was really young, I used to hang out with my great aunt.

aunt Marguerite.

And she used to get the crab and she would.

She would take out all the meat of the crab, which was an arduous process.

But she just, she just would do that.

And ever since then I just had this thing with like I was like, where are you at aunt Marguerite?

You know.

So yeah, that was one of my, you know, great memories.

A memory is.

Yeah, they're doing that.

And it's like at the time I didn't understand.

But as I got older I was like, oh my goodness.

So that's the thing about New Orleans, you know, everybody's grooving.

You know whatever they doing, it could be something sophisticated, something real simple.

It could be in the street.

They got the groove.

Yeah, that's what it is.

Well, you know, that's just like, you know, within the food scene here, too.

It's not just our good restaurants, our restaurants that are really, you know, reaching really ambitious.

You see that same kind of love at the mom and pop po'boy shop, right?

My roots are in Mississippi.

And it's something how Mississippi and Louisiana share the magnolia as well as the Mississippi River.

But it's the food and the music that always bring us together.

The art.

Because this is art, right?

And we don't think about it that way.

Sometimes, however, it's it's when you ask the question about what's next, the song like this was a whole melody, a piece that was like, I mean, even the way we prepare you know, squeeze the lemon on some people because it's it's such a beautiful melody.

And it was, you know, to your point, it's like nourishment, you know, it's a it's an honor to cook for people as you're consuming this into your body.

But music is nourishment for your soul.

And I think, you know, to trust people or people to trust you to give that to them is very special.

And we don't take it for granted, you know, just, talk to my staff, my, my, my sous chefs and see where their inspiration is.

What do you feel like doing?

You know, I got this, you know, beautiful piece of fish, a beautiful piece of meat.

What are you thinking?

And to collaborate to to give them, you know, their voice.

It matters to me.

It makes my life easier.

And sometimes it makes the dish better because I might be thinking one thing and theyre adding something completely different.

It's like, wow, you know, like you're never too old to to learn.

You know, we're learning every day.

And I try to surround myself with people that are going to push me as much as I'm going to push them.

Oh, yeah.

And it just makes it fun.

We do the same thing on a bandstand, in the middle of the set I'll be like, all right, Blues are rhythm changes.

And they'll say, blues.

I'm like, all right, rhythm changes.

And then it's like, man, how did y'all fall for that?

We create this beautiful, harmonious piece of music that is either on paper, on a plate, or we wear it.

At the end of the day, you can say that collaboratively we have created something that the world will remember.

Yeah, seeing you guys play is inspirational and you know, that gets us, that gets us going.

You know, this masters of the craft.

And you know, we got to get back and we got to do what we do.

And, you know, do it the best we can.

Yeah.

And and keep them coming.

You know.

So like we all have different stories about how we came into playing with Delfeayo.

So like, what's the story behind.

how you guys connected?

We were in a band together, you know.

Oh, it was a two piece.

We didn't get that far.

Two piece, you know.

Yeah.

You know, people dont really like two kazoos.

Yeah.

you're like, man.

Yeah, this music sucks.

Can you cook?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll.

I can bring it to the table.

Yeah.

It was very short.

We met in the restaurant business that way back in 1996.

Yep.

I just moved to New Orleans, fresh out of culinary school in New York.

And, Tony was a server at the restaurant we worked at.

And one night, just out of the clear blue, he said, hey, do you want to come to my bar tonight?

And I just said, wait, we what?

You got a bar.

What are you doing here?

He's like, well, this is my straight job.

So I said, well, what time?

He said, about midnight.

I said, midnight?

What kind of bar opens at midnight is like, well, this is New Orleans, where there's like the the night shift Snake and Jake's Christmas Club lounge and, the rest is history.

Well, I gotta tell you, flowers and jewelry did not, really impress.

I had to get my wife's attention.

I had to buy her an 86 seat restaurant .

We had to do it.

So I worked for her.

Of course I got to do that, but, Cheers to the boss.

Yeah.

Wow.

Slow played that, slow played that one.

But, best, best, decision I ever made when it comes to professionally.

To you, my friend.

Likewise.

Now, you're right, you're right.

Thanks, everybody.

Happy what you think?

We're good?

So if I can ask the serious question, what's next?

The bill?

Atchafalaya, I gotta go feed my soul.

Atchafalaya I, I gotta go feed my soul.

Well, Atchafalaya I gotta go check this out.

I'll feed my soul feed mu soul..

So I feed my soul, feed my soul, feed my soul, feed my soul, feed my soul.

Last time, I say Atchafalaya, I gotta go feed my soul.

Yeah.

It just what I.

When you look at, many of the restaurants in the city, these are staples in our community.

I mean, we've had restaurants that have been open since the mid 1800s.

They tell so much about who we are and the food that we've eaten throughout the centuries.

I don't know many American cities that are still preserving these dishes.

And these are a glimpse, like I said, of the many, people who have lived here, whether they were French, African, Caribbean, Spanish, German, Sicilian, and we're still holding on to this culture, and we're also holding on to the culture of music.

And so when we see that New Orleans is pivotal in the United States, in the world of preserving something that is so humane and reflects the humanity of our world, we have to support them.

One of the greatest compliments, being a chef of a restaurant is having a clientele that trust you and trust your palate.

They might come in for dinner and just say, hey, chef, how are you?

Just cook for us tonight.

I find that is one of the highest honors where you can just create something that, you know, that they're going to like, maybe with something that they've never had.

That's a result of a lot of preparation.

What the kitchen labor is so hard to make beautiful.

You know, that's that's of paramount importance.

I mean, we take very seriously how we from the kitchen orchestrate delivery to the table, how it's timed.

We can we can prepare all week, all month.

But it comes down to that night.

And when you come here, there's a high expectation.

And consistency is at the name of the game.

So if we can consistently pull off what we've prepared so hard to accomplish and, and that's a good night for us.

Bling.

Bling.

Bling.

Bling..

So that's like a crab dish.

It could be any kind of a thing, but you need to think about crab walking along the beach, just chilling.

Then all of a sudden it's like you didn't see that net coming.

Whoa.

Oh, he got scooped up.

Sorry about that, bruh.

Delicious, though.

You know, here at the restaurant, you're only as good as your last meal.

And we take that very seriously.

How we perform both in the kitchen and in front of the house is of extreme importance.

Cooking in New Orleans is definitely a blessing.

There is just, so much inspiration.

Around you all the time.

Man, what is it about New Orleans?

I mean, it's the shrimp sandwiches.

It's the gumbo.

It's the brass band playing in the street.

I like to create a house where it's.

It's satisfying for you.

It's rewarding for you.

To me, there is redemption and service, and we take service very seriously.

We like to play music.

We obviously play music here in the restaurant during our shifts, but I definitely can get a feel for a night based upon what we're playing in the kitchen.

And you can really see the cooks kind of in unison, just kind of rocking with it and being very focused and producing and having fun at the same time.

If my food was music, how would it sound?

Rhythmic.

Compelling.

Engaging.

Satisfying.

Memorable.