It's New Orleans: Out to Lunch

Peter Ricchiuti is a Tulane finance professor who has spent more than 15 years conducting business conversations New Orleans style: over lunch at The Columns hotel in Uptown. Out to Lunch, part of the It's New Orleans podcast network and also broadcast on WWNO 89.9 FM, has produced over 500 episodes and earned a 4.8-star rating from devoted listeners. The format is deceptively simple. Ricchiuti sits down with entrepreneurs, executives, nonprofit leaders, artists, and civic figures over a meal and lets the conversation unfold naturally. What emerges is a portrait of the New Orleans business community that corporate podcasts rarely capture: personal, funny, occasionally messy, and deeply rooted in the culture of the city. Guests range from the founders of local vodka brands and textile companies to leaders at the Historic New Orleans Collection and innovators in healthcare education. Ricchiuti brings an economist's analytical mind paired with a storyteller's instinct for the interesting detail. He asks the questions that reveal how business actually works in a city where relationships matter more than PowerPoint decks. The show updates biweekly with episodes that typically run about 30 minutes, making it a manageable listen that consistently delivers insight into the economic life of New Orleans and the people driving it forward.