DJ Piazza
Margot's | New Orleans
SEPTEMBER 2022
As soon as DJ Piazza graduated from Tulane University, he hopped on a 112-foot schooner and sailed from Australia to Thailand. His favorite task? Cooking for the entire crew. He followed that burgeoning passion for hospitality back in New Orleans, becoming a pastry cook and baker at Domenica. Piazza followed his brother to Charleston, South Carolina and continued baking at Butcher & Bee, but didn’t stay for long—he couldn't get past those solitary morning shifts and longed to do something people-facing.
While attempting to work as a realtor, Piazza picked up a part-time job at Saint Alban, a coffee and sherry bar that introduced him to the concept of hospitality. When it shuttered in 2015, he became a server at Leon’s Fine Poultry & Oysters and a barista at Collective Coffee Co.. At the age of 25, Piazza was promoted to director of operations for the coffee shop and its Italian sister concept, Ristorante Juliet, where he was responsible for the entire beverage program. Although he had very little wine knowledge, he learned on the job, making connections with distributors and tasting as much as possible.
In 2018, Piazza followed his brother once again—this time, to Chicago, where he landed at Korean-American restaurant, Parachute. He opened their second concept, Wherewithall, as general manager before moving on to natural wine shop, Diversey Wine. In 2022, Piazza returned to New Orleans and connected with cocktail dynamo Brad Goocher, who was looking for someone to head up the wine program for his wood-fired, sourdough pizzeria, Margot’s. Now as wine director, Piazza hand-selects bottles at a fixed price based on guest’s preferences rather than listing them on a menu—a concept inspired by Ops in Brooklyn and P.Franco in London. Having a tendency towards bottles made by smaller producers with a hands-off approach, Piazza is bolstering New Orleanians' growing interest in natural wine.
