Americans love their pizza. We eat around 3 billion pizzas a year—that’s about 350 slices per second. And we wash down a good portion of it with wine: the U.S. is the world’s largest wine-consuming country, drinking nearly 1 billion gallons annually.

Put that all together and you’ve got a complete meal.

Pizza, of course, is ubiquitous in Lafayette. And it’s not hard to find a decent glass of wine. But it’s fair to say we’re not known for those delicacies. We’re more of a boudin and light beer crowd. And that’s why it might be hard to find a sommelier — a certified wine expert like Nick Dooley.

Nick Dooley is a wine expert, a Level 2 Sommelier in what Christiaan calls “a light beer and boudin town.” Lafayette’s favorite wine? According to Nick it’s cabernet.

Nick is a Level 2 Sommelier and founder of Nick Dooley Sommelier, a boutique wine education and tasting business based in Lafayette.

Nick got his start in hospitality bussing tables at Ruffino’s, discovered a passion for wine, and steadily climbed the ranks of sommelier certification.

After an impromptu Facebook gig turned into a hit, Nick launched his own business in 2024. Now, he organizes in-home wine events, curates pairings, and teaches clients how to savor the subtleties of the grape.

He’s also the wine manager at My Somm Wine Merchant in River Ranch.

Red and whites aren’t just varietals, they’re sauces. And you can find both varieties on the pies at Jim Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza.

Paisley Turrubiartez is Co-Owner and local manager of Jim Deggy’s Lafayette bar, brewery and pizzeria. Starting out in Pineville, Paisley and fellow Deggy-ites quickly learned if you’re going to put boudin on pizza in Lafayette you’d better know who made it and where it comes from

Paisley Turrubiartez is the co-owner and area manager of the Jim Deggy’s location in Downtown Lafayette. She started as a staffer on the original Jim Deggy’s food truck in Pineville, where the concept originated, and worked her way up over seven years. When the company expanded to Lafayette, she became part-owner and took the reins of the new location.

Jim Deggy’s serves craft beer and wood-fired pizzas with a dough that cold ferments for 96 hours and finishes in a 700-degree French oven. Their menu is built on traditional flavors with a local twist—and their brewery uses a water-saving Smart Brew system to make it all work.

Christiaan Mader hosts Out to Lunch at Tsunami Sushi in Downtown Lafayette

Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette.

Photos by Alisha Zachery Lazard.