5 Questions with the Chefs Behind Shift NOLA (at Brieux Carré)

To be honest, I am a very poor judge of time. I still consider the Italian Barrel in the Quarter to be a "new place" even though it has probably been there 15 years, just because I remember when my friend ran a smoothie shop in that location for a while pre-Katrina. I am not the "run to a new place" kind of guy as much as an "Oh yeah, I've been there 50 times, let's go again" kind of bore...

But I started going to Shift because I knew the chef/owner/waitstaff power couple from such exciting local events as school pickups and kids' birthday parties where we'd have to be, while trying to juggle our work/family/parade going lives. .

I was impressed from the beginning with the effort they put into their menu for a simple, very local, and affordable neighborhood spot. There are probably a lot of modern culinary descriptions I have heard in passing on TV that would be accurate—like "Chef-Powered"—but I just hear those terms; I can't actually use them. I go with: A place I like to send our customers after a tour because the food is delicious, the brewery is great, and everyone is friendly.

Here are 5 questions with the powerhouse couple behind Shift:

1. Your previous background in town was uptown fine dining—what makes cooking and feeding people in the Marigny neighborhood different from anywhere else in New Orleans?

"Bret spent 7 years at Cochon as Chef and I was GM of Coquette for 5 years before heading back into the kitchen. Bret and I actually met in a kitchen in Los Angeles twenty-something years ago! The neighborhood feel down here in the Marigny is just much more grounded and creative."

2. For anyone dreaming of moving to New Orleans to cook professionally, what was the biggest culinary culture shock or surprise you faced when you first got here?

"Well, having worked in kitchens professionally in New York and Los Angeles since the turn of 2000, down here you have old-school chefs who just want to cook good food. Everything else is a big popularity contest. We both have found it pretty exclusive and trendy—like high school cliques.Don't get me wrong, there are great people and places, but New Orleans as a whole kind of goes with the crowd, which tends to hurt the not-as-popular little guys. Because we aren't the go-with-the-crowd types, we feel it a lot throughout our experience with Shift. It takes one influencer to get you on the map whether you are good or not."

3. You guys do a great job honoring classic local culinary traditions, like serving Red Beans and Rice on Mondays. How do you strike the balance between respecting old-school New Orleans food laws and putting your own modern, creative spin on a pub menu?

"We are not from here, so we are not looking to compete with the kings and queens of traditional local cuisine. However, red beans are an exception because they are eaten all around the world. We keep the base pretty Southern traditional, but our spin is the add-ons—like getting chicken wings, pork belly, or mushrooms on top."

4. Operating a kitchen right inside Brieux Carré Brewing is a unique setup. How do you design your food specials to pair with local craft beers for hungry locals and travelers?

"We come from fine dining backgrounds, so it's definitely unique! We are technically a pop-up, so we prep at an off-site kitchen and have to lug everything in every single day. We run on a sandwich press, a tabletop fryer, and a toaster oven—it's pretty insane how we can bust out scratch-made food out of basically an Easy-Bake Oven! It feels like camping sometimes.We both have done food and drink pairings for years, so we have really developed the palate to make both the dish and the beer shine. It's an art!"

5. If a customer rolls around the corner after one of our bike tours, what is the one mandatory item on your menu they absolutely have to order?

"Honestly, we are called SHIFT for a reason—we have different specials every single day! The Pretzel Bites never go anywhere, but anything else I might name today may not be there in a week; something else delicious will be there instead. ADHD chefs are crazy like that!We update our daily menu on Instagram at @shift_nola. When you come by the brewery: grab your beer directly from the bar, grab a table, and order your food from us right through the QR code at your seat!"

Plan Your Stop at Shift NOLA

• 📍 Where to find them: Inside Brieux Carré Brewing Company at 2115 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70116 (just one block off Frenchmen Street, right around the corner from our bike tour shop).

• 📱 Follow & Menus: Instagram @shift_nola | Website shiftnola.com

• ⏰ Kitchen Hours:

  • Thursday: 2:00 PM – 9:00 PM (Burger Time)

  • Friday: 2:00 PM – 9:00 PM (Friday Flights)

  • Saturday: 12:00 PM – 9:00 PM (Saturday Specials)

  • Sunday: 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM

  • Monday: 2:00 PM – 9:00 PM (Red Beans & Rice)

  • Tuesday & Wednesday: Closed Hungry after our history of drinking cocktail bike tour? Shift is right around the corner with a meal that will perfectly hit the spot after a ride.