Alumni Spotlight II- Foodies

Shay whippin' up something good

I have really enjoyed writing this new section of the blog that features alumni in a various fields around the country. Our first edition was all about Tulane fashionistas, and today we are going to meet six alumni that are involved in the cutting edge world of food. These guys are all involved in the culinary industry in some form and I got to catch up with them to see what they are up to and how Tulane helped them to get where they are today. Here goes...

Brennan Foxman - class of 2013 - Entrepreneur, Owner/Founder Wokworks- Brennan is a fraternity brother of mine who just graduated last week and is already prepped to open one of the most unique and anticipated restaurants in Philly. Wokworks is a casual restaurant that is opening soon in the Rittenhouse Square region of Philadelphia. The buzz in the press is already pretty hot for Brennan's new spot (Zagat even picked up on it!), which he says he will gear towards "fast foodies." His goal is to replace typical Asian take out with something much better- an organic, delicious wok-based meal that is both affordable and convenient. Brennan says the end goal is to eventually develop a strong national brand that delivers this type of quality and speed to cities everywhere. He also told me he got some great help and advice in this venture from a fraternity brothers of ours, Mike Casey, a Philly native who just opened Liberty Cheesesteaks here in NOLA. Which brings me to...

Mike Casey - class of 2006 - Entrepreneur, Owner/Founder of Liberty Cheesesteaks. Liberty has been one of the hottest openings in the New Orleans restaurant scene this year. Located just a few blocks off campus on Freret Street, Liberty has filled a niche in New Orleans that was not there quite yet- an authentic Philly cheesesteak, complete with Wiz and Amarosa rolls. Mike and my best buddy Joe had the concept for the restaurant a few years back, and last year took the leap of faith to get the venture off the ground. Liberty opened this spring to some great press and delivered a killer product. Mike's goal was not just to create a great sandwich by New Orleans' standards, but to make a chessesteak so solid that if the shop were in Philly, it would still be a top 5 cheesesteak joint. By all accounts he has succeeded- Liberty has gotten amazing reviews (including a whopping 91% on Urbanspoon). We profiled Mike in the second feature of our Tru TU young entrepreneur series, you can view the video here. It's a great one and worth having a look at.

Shay Spence - class of 2012 - Recipe developer, Royito's Hot Sauce & Freelance caterer / food blogger. I spent a few years recruiting students from Texas, Shay among them. Shay's always been one of my favorites, and he's spent the last year since graduation pursuing his passion for all things culinary. His full time job is at Royito's Hot Sauce company where he develops recipes with the hot sauces and caters events out of their food trailer- catering events up to 3,000 people at festivals like Austin City Limits and South by Southwest. Shay also runs one of the hottest up-and-coming food blogs in America right now, www.chezspence.com. Have a look at the blog- you'll love it. Shay told me that "even though my career path could not be further than my political science major at Tulane, I would not be where I am today without this school. I met some of the most interesting, fun, and intelligent people you could possibly imagine- not to mention studying in one of the most inspiring culinary scenes in the country." Shay's heading to NYC this fall to attend culinary school, so stay tuned to his blog because some of his best stuff is yet to come.

Michael Friedman and Greg Augarten - class of 2008 and 2009 - Co-owners/Founders/Chefs at Pizza Delicious. Tulane has a lot of New Yorkers, but one thing NOLA did not have was a really solid New York style pizza joint. Enter: Pizza Delicious. Co-founders Michael and Greg are both New York natives who decided that it was time for them to bring Big Apple pizza to the Big Easy. The two started Pizza Delicious, as a once-a-week pop-up style delivery service, and this past October, opened the physical Pizza Delicious restaurant in the Bywater neighborhood (thanks to a Kickstarter campaign, no less!). The place has exploded and is easily one of the most popular pizza joints in the city (in small part because of my patronage- I have been three times in the month of May alone). The reviews of PD have been killer too, you can read a few here. Greg and Michael told me that Tulane helped them realize the skills they would need to open and operate their own business and that many of their professors made them want to stay here in NOLA- and that those same professors now frequent Pizza Delicious on a regular basis.

Scott Himmel - class of 2004 - Owner and Founder, LunchOwl. Scott, who also happens to be a fraternity brother of mine (who would have thought we'd have so many entrepreneurs in Sig Ep?) has just launched a pretty cool concept- he's developed an innovated workplace lunch service. Scott founded LunchOwl, which makes it easy for office workers to eat right by delivering delicious and energizing lunches on a regular basis. Based in Cleveland, Scott partners with progressive companies that subsidize his service for their employees. The main mission Scott says is to harmonize work life with the healthy life. As a business major here at Tulane, Scott told me that the business school helped him "assemble a toolkit that I use daily." He even told me that courses he took with faculty members like Kelly Grant and Sid Pulitzer directly prepared him for this venture. It's not his first foodie entrepreneurial idea- Scott founded the ever-popular Campusmenus.com which he sold back in 2009. His LunchOwl concept has taken off very quickly having just started in its pilot testing phase. Stay tuned for him to expand, and quickly.

So there you have it! At a school with such strong entrepreneurial ties and a city as culinary diverse as New Orleans, I suppose it should be no surprise that so many great young foodie alumni have started to emerge over the last few months. All six of these guys have some great concepts that are just on the beginning of some serious growth and expansion. If you are in NOLA, Philly, Austin or Cleveland, check these guys out, before they get too popular!

Mike '06, Joe '05 and Alisha. Mike likes to be known as the Cheesesteak King of NOLA.
See here for why. (bonus points when you see my cameo)

Mmmmmm cheesesteak. 

The LunchOwl fridge in action! 

LunchOwl- Healthy, easy and delicious. 

Where is mine?

Wokworks founder Brennan with his chef, Allen Susser (side note, he is a James Beard winner) and his concept and development consultant Bruce testing out the perfect fortune cookie to go with their woks.

Here's Shay, probably thinking of some wildly creative and delicious recipe. 

Michael and Greg, the Pizza Delicious duo.

Lastly, I leave you with me + Pizza Delicious.