FB_July-August-2017

ROUSES

EVERYDAY

JULY | AUGUST 2017

he newest burger venture in Baton Rouge, Louisiana —

District Donuts, Sliders and Brew — recently opened in the

Towne Center on Corporate Boulevard, joining the highly

competitive hamburger scene in a city known for its burger prowess.

At the helm are childhood friends Chris Audler, Aaron Vogel and

Stephen Cali. Audler and Cali worked together at New Orleans

Hamburger & Seafood Company,where they often talked about their

shared aspirations for owning their own culinary-based business.

“We all know our lanes,” says Audler. “I’m the food guy, Stephen is

all about the company culture and employee training, and Aaron is

the numbers guy, handling all the paperwork needed to keep us all on

track.We

all know our strengths and support each other every day.”

Sliders

When asked about the story behind the name District Donuts, Sliders

and Brew, Audler recalls their conversation about what to call the

venture, which harkens back to October 2013, when they opened their

first location onMagazine Street near Jackson Avenue inNewOrleans.

“Our location was on the very edge of the Lower Garden District, a

great neighborhood, and the name ‘District’ and the alliteration that

fell into place, District Donuts, just felt right,” says Audler.

“We decided on the concept on the cusp of the craft donut

breakthrough, but knew we could not support three families on

donuts alone, so we grew our offerings to focus on the savory side of

the slider, the coffee and the ambiance,” says Audler.The trio found

themselves basing their restaurant concept on that of the Tastee

Donuts franchise, which served donuts and those

memorable square smaller burgers.

And the secret to District’s version? Every hamburger

slider is made fresh to order with house-blended

Creekstone Black Angus. The team makes everything

they can in-house, right down to the pickles, and partners

with local farmers and vendors for other staples to support

local businesses, much like the Rouses family does in its

markets across the South. Everything (except the buns) is

homemade.

On The Menu

The delicious flavor of the cheeseburger is all in the

preparation, according to Audler. The first thing an

employee learns is how to prep the burgers. It’s all about

the “packing.”The meat has to be cold, and on their first

day employees are trained in how not to overwork the

beef in forming the slider-sized squares.The burgers are

seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked on a griddle,

rather than a grill, to retain as much fat in the burger as

possible.

The menu of sliders changes with the seasons. The

cheeseburger is a constant, as is the fried chicken

version,with other changing offerings such as tofu,BBQ

salmon, beef belly with honeyed goat cheese crema, and

a shrimp Rangoon with sweet and sour slaw. “It’s all

based on market availability,” says Audler. “As long as

we can keep things food forward and approachable, in a

cool vibe and setting, where our customers can riff on us

and we can do the same in return, we’ve achieved our goal.”

That was truly the case on a recent Friday afternoon, when locals

and tourists alike were enjoying sliders, donuts and cold brew at the

original location, while the staff sang Backstreet Boys songs and

danced behind the counter.The vibe was alive and well.

TurnChange

The five District locations — three in New Orleans, one in the

Elmwood Business District in Jefferson Parish and the newest

in Baton Rouge — all operate under a mother company called

TurnChange.

The trio was always in search of a stronger mission, purpose and

meaning in their business, and with 140 employees on the payroll

today, it’s the mantra and passion that drives their success.

As their mission states, Audler, Vogel and Cali want to “change lives

by leading in a way that is life-giving and others-oriented in and

amongst their District family first.” They believe healthy colleague

relationships create emotionally stable and consistent work contexts,

which will lead to lives changed for the better, and they believe that

doing so will cause this culture to spill over into the guest experience

and the streets and neighborhoods surrounding them.

As for how they keep their business competitive, Audler says that

they are their own biggest competitor.

“Our fiercest competitor is ourselves,” he says. “And we support and

wish the best for other businesses similar to ours.”

the

Burger

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District

Mary Beth Romig +

photo by

Greg Miles