Le Chien Brewing Company and a pop-up espresso bar called BaristaJaz were among a number of local startups showcased Tuesday at Baton Rouge Entrepreneurship Week’s opening night celebration.
Attendees had a chance to taste four craft brews from Le Chien Brewing. Owner Brett Dunham says he plans to open a brewpub in the Capital City within a year. Dunham has been brewing beer for 10 years and worked with both Tin Roof and Gnarly Barley in Hammond. For now, his brewing system is housed at Gnarly Barley until he opens his own place.
“Our concept will be different because we’re not distributing out. This will be more like a brewpub or a tap room,” Dunham says. “It’s something no one has done here.”
Le Chien, which means “the dog” in Cajun French, was one of several featured businesses Tuesday night at the Shaw Center, following a day of BREW events and panel discussions throughout downtown Baton Rouge.
Another brewing business, Melissa Dixon’s pop-up espresso bar BaristaJaz, set up shop at the Shaw Center offering specialty coffees to attendees. Dixon, a longtime barista who manages French Truck Coffee in Baton Rouge, began BaristaJaz this year when she bought a handmade espresso machine from Florence. Her coffee bar is available to rent for events.
“We’ve done weddings, office parties and movie sets,” Dixon says. “We can do latte art. It’s a specialty espresso bar, which no one else is doing in Baton Rouge.”
Other startups and small businesses featured at the BREW event included Parker’s Pharmacy, video game developer King Crow Studios, King Tremaine premium candies, Accurate Medical Billing and Ambici wood watches.
The second day of BREW events began this morning with the Arts Entrepreneur Summit hosted by the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge. The council is partnering with BREW for the first time to host business development workshops for creative professionals.
This evening BREW will feature keynote speeches by cyber security expert Jeff Moulton and marketing guru Ryan Holiday. See the full schedule of today’s BREW events, which includes panels on hiring, virtual workspaces, Cryptocurrency and more.
Although registration closed Monday, BREW organizers say they’ve opened additional limited seating for the two keynote speakers this evening. Those interested are encouraged to register and select sessions they want to attend through the app or website.
Check back with Daily Report PM for more BREW coverage.
—Annie Ourso Landry
