Chris Montana wasn’t initially aware that his Du Nord was the first Black-owned distillery in the U.S. In the wake of the pandemic and the social upheaval after the murder of George Floyd, the cocktail room closed and Chris and his wife, Shanelle, established the Du Nord Foundation to address social justice. While the Montanas now live in New Orleans, they’ve reopened the Du Nord cocktail room on East Lake Street in the renovated Coliseum Building (co-owned by Shanelle), a Black-led business incubator for the neighborhood.