In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by Brian Lizotte, owner of Newcastle's own Lizotte's Restaurant. Brian grew up in the United States during the '60s. His childhood music memories include hearing the sounds of Crosby, Stills And Nash as well as the Doobie Brothers. In 1970, Brian and his family moved to Australia. His interest in food began to flourish and thus at the end of his high school year did his Diploma in Catering and Hotel Management. Completing this diploma in 1984, he would travel Europe to hone in on his cooking skills. On his return to Australia he had the opportunity to work in the kitchen of Rhinoceros Studios in Sydney. This recording studio was part owned by INXS at the time and so Brian would mix with some of Australia's biggest music stars at the time including Midnight Oil and Ian Moss. 

In 1989 he would start his own catering company called More Then a Morsel Catering. This catering company was a pioneer in the field as it was the first to specialise in national music tours. His clients would include The Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, Billy Joel, Elton John and U2. After More Then a Morsel Catering, Brian would start opening his own restaurants. One he opened in 2009 was Live n Cookin' @ Lizotte's Newcastlein New Lambton. At the time of this interview Brian was looking for a buyer for the restaurant but has since found one and so it will be a part of the community for years to come.

Jack phone Brian to talk about his memories growing up during the '60s in the United States, the music he grew up listening to, his love of vinyl records, how he came to decide to do cooking as a career, how he came to work at Rhinoceros Studios, his memories of catering for INXS, his memories of hearing classic albums at Rhinoceros Studios before they were released, how More Then a Morsel Catering came to be, his memories of catering for Frank Sinatra in the early '90s, his time as the personal chef for the Beach Boys on their 1992 national tour, the innovations of More Then a Morsel Catering, the 1998 Face 2 Face tour of Billy Joel and Elton John, his other catering work with the likes of U2 and Madonna, and how Lizottes Newcastle came to be. 

"(Sinatra) was still drinking his chivas regal, he would have a good scotch and they would have to help him get up onto the stage...even though I did feed him, it was only a tuna fish salad sandwich and he always traveled with his Campbells' chicken and rice soup..mixed with Evian Water and then put into Royal Doulton  china...it was a weird era ha ha" - Sinatra Lizotte on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about catering for Frank Sinatra while on national tour of Australia 

Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins