Patrick Brennan

The elves are busy in Santa's workshop at this time of year! So as we head into the big holiday gift-giving time, Louisiana Eats is talking with some homegrown Louisiana elves for delicious inspiration. Guests include Jady Regard of Cane River Pecan Company, Christopher Nobles of Piety and Desire Chocolate, and Patrick Brennan of Congregation Coffee.

New Orleans began her love affair with coffee three centuries ago. Any local of a certain age can remember the grown-ups of their childhood spending hours around the kitchen table drinking a strong French roast blended with chicory. This week we sit down with a cup of coffee and some folks who can tell us the story of coffee in New Orleans.

It is an undisputed fact that Louisiana grows some of the best restaurant talent in the nation. On this week's show, we sit down with the best and the brightest of Louisiana's legacy restaurant families. We begin with the next generation running Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in New Orleans. Since the death of Leah Chase in 2019, the crew she always referred to as "the grands" have stepped up to nurture and grow the legacy Leah established with her husband, the late Edgar "Dooky" Chase Jr.And if you live in the Crescent City – you may know a Brennan of your own. The restaurant dynasty that began with patriarch Owen Brennan in 1943 has grown to include a fourth generation. We sit down with the whole Brennan clan for a glimpse of what New Orleans’ culinary future looks like.

When it comes to sharing our authentic food culture, there is no family as influential over time as the Brennans of New Orleans. Almost 80 years ago, Owen Brennan got the party started at the Old Absinthe House. Since that time, the family has grown and prospered, giving us all a wonderful time along the way.On this week's show, we sit down for the first time with the fourth generation of one of America's premiere food families. We hear from Ralph Brennan's kids Kathryn Brennan McLeod and her brother Patrick, Dickie Brennan's daughter Sarah and his nephew (Lauren Brennan's son) Geordie Brower, and the cousin who is guaranteed to spice things up, president of Baumer Foods, Inc., Pepper Baumer.