In honor of International Women's Day, the LRA spotlights female chefs who have risen the ranks with the male cohort, and cemented their names into New Orleans culinary history. 

​
Chef Zoe Chase has been in the kitchen her entire life, that of her family, Dooky Chase's Restaurant. She grew up earnestly watching and learning from her great grandmother, Executive Chef Emeritus Chef Leah Chase. The passion for food & hospitality led Chase to enroll in culinary school at New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute. Under the guidance of her Uncle Edgar "Dook" Chase IV (Executive Chef and Leah's grandson), Zoe is currently a sous chef at Dooky Chase's Restaurant and is next in line to take the helm of their historied family restaurant. Tune into WYES-New Orleans on April 29 at 10 am to see her debut on their new series "The Dooky Chase Kitchen: Leah's Legacy."
​

​Meril is home to Chef de Cuisine Bergen Carman. Once the pastry chef at Emeril's Delmonico with nothing but her love of food and her new English degree from LSU, Bergen fell in love with the energy of the kitchen from day one. Her dedication to hospitality has moved her to the top of the ranks at Emeril's sister restaurant in the Warehouse District. ​

​Corporate Executive Chef Haley Bitterman is stationed at Brennan's Restaurant on Royal Street, but her expert eye oversees the culinary program for the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group. A native of Cincinnati, she has called New Orleans home since the first moment working an externship at Mr.B's Bistro. Haley then helped open Ralph Brennan's BACCO, a Northern Italian restaurant in the French Quarter (since closed), and a few years after it's opening, landed the Executive Chef position there. Today, she has her hand in every kitchen of all the Ralph Brennan restaurants. ​

​Chef Nina Compton at Compere Lapin was catapulted into the loving arms of New Orleanians after her stint on Bravo's Top Chef: New Orleans. The St. Lucia native had been in Miami as Executive Chef at Scarpetta, and then The Villa Casa Casuarina, when she decided to compete on the reality show. Taking home second place and the fan favorite award, Compton settled in the Warehouse District with the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery and Compère Lapin, responding to New Orleans' rich creole history that she identified with being from the Caribbean. Since, she has earned the James Beard Award for "Best Chef of the South," among other accolades. Compton's empire expanded with Bywater American Bistro, and continues with an upcoming fast-casual spot inside the soon-to-be Caesars Hotel. ​

​Chef Aom Srisuk opened Pomelo last year on Magazine Street. Her boutique Thai restaurant honors her roots where she grew up in Thailand running her family's restaurants, and met the love her life--her husband Frankie who runs the business with her. Needless to say, Thailand holds a special place in chef's heart, and she loves sharing her authentic family recipes with New Orleans. Pomelo has since become a neighborhood fixture. She was working in the kitchen at Cho Thai, and then Saffron before opening a place of her own. ​

​Executive Chef Meg Forman owns and operates Gracious Bakery. Her love for all things sweet inspired her to enroll at the New England Culinary Institute. She was the pastry chef at Bayona Restaurant for six years. Since 2012, Gracious Bakery has grown into multiple locations, and even entered the retail market with at-home kingcake kits. ​

Tasting menus used to be a thing of past, but over the past few years, they’ve made a resurgence. Big cities like New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. are breathing new life into a style of dining that once seemed confining. That’s exactly what Chef Serigne Mbaye is doing in New Orleans at Dakar Nola, at just 29 years-old.

Honoring the capital of Senegal, Dakar Nola serves traditional Senegalese cuisine through a seven-course tasting menu (Wednesday nights offer a prix fixe $50, 3-course menu). Mbaye, nominated twice by the James Beard Foundation for Best Emerging Chef, was born in Harlem but lived most of his youth in Senegal, West Africa, where his Mother was born.

“Being nominated twice solidified that the work that we’re doing is important,” Mbaye said. “People want to hear what we have to offer.”
​
The ‘we’ being business partner Effie Richardson. Born in California to Ghanaian parents, Richardson witnessed Mbaye’s passion while he was working pop-ups at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum (SOFAB). The two connected immediately over food. Now they’re running Dakar Nola like it’s second nature. 

Mbaye attended culinary school at the former New England Culinary Institute. He decided to return home to Senegal once he graduated to help build a school for orphans in Gambia, with New Orleans mission group Giving Hope.

It was a chance encounter at the airport that changed everything. Cliff Ragan Hall, co-founder of the New Orleans Fish House, was also doing mission work with Giving Hope. The two got to know each other, and Hall offered an olive branch to Mbaye. Through his friend, former Commander’s Palace Executive Chef Tory McPhail, there would be a job waiting for him at the iconic Commander’s Palace. Mbaye accepted the offer.

He worked through every kitchen position at Commander’s in four months until he became the PM Sous Chef at the former Café Adelaide. Then he worked at SoBou, and helped open Picnic, Provisions & Whiskey. Next, he headed to San Francisco to work at 3 Michelin-star restaurant Ateleir Crenn, and then, the former 2 Michelin-star restaurant L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in New York.

He returned to New Orleans and started doing food pop-ups at SOFAB during the pandemic. He collaborated for dinner series with notable New Orleans chefs, like Chef Micheal Gullota of Maypop and Chef Nina Compton of Bywater American Bistro, among many others.

Eventually, he landed as Chef de Cuisine at the popular Mosquito Supper Club. The communal, multi-course tasting menu restaurant gave Mbaye a place to thrive. Chef Melissa Martin encouraged him to use her restaurant as a platform for Dakar Nola.

“I’ve always dreamed of opening a restaurant,” Mbaye said. “Working at the Mosquito Supper Club made me realize how it could be possible.” 
​

New Orleans and Saint-Louis, Senegal are both are port cities, and both are former French Colonial capitals developed during the French Imperial expansion. They sit across the Atlantic Ocean from one another, also known as mirror cities. As early as the 18th century, most enslaved Africans in Louisiana were from Senegal.

Africans sold as slaves in New Orleans brought a skill set with them from their homeland which shaped today’s Cajun and Creole culture in Louisiana—music, dress, architecture and food. See photos of Saint-Louis and the French Quarter next to each other, and the similarities in architecture are near identical. Mbaye is shifting the narrative of Cajun & Creole cuisine by peeling back layers of Senegalese flavor with each course.

“When you look at the West African style of cooking, it’s all one pot,” Mbaye said. “Soul is built with layers of flavors, and that’s what most people come to New Orleans for.”

That soul is rooted in West Africa. Richardson knows their space has the power to educate the community, and illustrate the approachability of West African cuisine.

“I love when they are shocked at how the flavors trigger some memory of their life,” said Richardson.

One of Mbaye’s courses is what’s known as “The Last Meal.” Enslaved Africans were force-fed black eyed peas with palm oil before taking the harrowing ride across the Atlantic Ocean to New Orleans. The legume and the palm oil are high in saturated fats, and slave owners believed this meal would keep them alive through their journey of The Middle Passage.

Mbaye’s elevated version is a creamy Black-eyed pea soup with local crab meat and a drizzle of palm oil. In a sphere of fried seafood, sandwiches and rice-based dishes, Dakar Nola brings something fresh to the New Orleans culinary scene.

Dakar Nola’s seven-course experience starts with a warm welcome. The ataya, a Senegalese tea made with gunpowder tea leaves, is served with palm butter bread, called mburu in the Wololf language. The most recognizable dish would be the jollof. The versatile rice dish is very similar to jambalaya. The spices of ginger, garlic, thyme, bay leaf and scotch bonnet fill the dining room each evening.  

Mbaye pays weekly visits the local farmers markets to handpick the freshest ingredients, and he loves to use Gulf seafood. The first appetizer course is parce que, which features Gulf shrimp and tamarind. 
​

Mbaye and Richardson lucked up when they found a renovated double shotgun along the six-mile stretch of Magazine Street. They were looking everywhere for a permanent location, and they “acted quick and rolled the dice,” Mbaye said.

Authentic African tribal masks adorn one wall, a collection from his mentor. It’s not uncommon to see a delighted guest share their dining experience on social media, and have a photo of them in front of the masks with Chef Seringe himself.

“I look at the masks and see the different cultures that speak to me,” Mbaye said.  

The choice for Mbaye to develop a tasting menu was natural. Plating, presentation and farm fresh ingredients complete the menu’s story. Mbaye is ready to impress, but more excited to comfort his guests.

“Michelin star restaurants do a very good job of telling the story between the farmer and the food, highlighting technique and organization,” said Mbaye. “New Orleans is very much, ‘you’re coming to my home’ versus Michelin star ‘I’m trying to impress you.’ I love them both, that’s the beauty in it. Dakar has a little bit of influence of everything I’ve learned.”

The tasting menu is a new idea in New Orleans, and Mbaye says the future of dining is wrapped in the concept. His seven-courses take diners on a journey, but only if they’re willing. Spending quality time with your dining partner becomes a whole lot easier.

“The food comes to you,” Mbaye said. “You don’t have to worry about what to order.”

Richardson takes that a step further. When the diners trust the chef, the outcome can be highly rewarding.

“The chef is bringing their best,” Richardson said. “People can appreciate what’s in season, and what’s grown locally.”

Guests will feel the influence upon entering the 30-seat restaurant, going deeper than the fine-dining techniques. Mbaye credits his mother for his entire success. Growing up in Senegal and Harlem, Mbaye was very much a part of his family’s restaurants. His mother, a revered chef in her own right, helped build his culinary foundation and strong-willed character.
​
“She came to this country very young, and by working hard, she was able to provide for her family and achieve a lot,” said Mbaye. “30 years later, here I am cooking food that I grew up cooking and eating, but with my own voice.”
 

​Follow the Mississippi River up North from the Gulf Coast and you’ll find the quaint riverfront town of Vidalia, Louisiana. Concordia Parish’s largest city sits right on the LA/MS border, and it’s less than a 10-minute drive to its neighboring city Natchez. Chef Ashley Allen takes that drive every morning to his new restaurant Coconuts Bar & Grill. 

“We wanted to bring something new, sexy and fresh to the area,” Allen said.

Coconuts Bar & Grill is inspired by the Virgin Islands, where he’s from the island of St. Thomas. However, his journey to the west bank of the Mississippi River started the next state over.

Allen received a call from his good friend Chef Nick Wallace, back in 2020, asking him to come down to Natchez and help lead the Church Hill Variety Group. The restaurant group is a partnership with Wallace (a Bravo Top Chef alum and Food Network Chopped Champion) and Oscar winning filmmakers Tate Taylor and John Norris. Allen and his wife Sarah previously led the culinary teams at all three restaurants—Smoot’s Grocery, The Little Easy and Church Hill Variety Restaurant & Farm.

Now, the couple is in the process of moving to Vidalia full-time. They see an area ripe with potential. It’s not uncommon for Vidalia residents to travel to Natchez, and vice versa. Allen says he loves how both Vidalia and Natchez feed off of each other.

“Something about this side of the bridge seems different than the other side,” Allen said. “I enjoy the community here, and the way each side compliments each other.” 
​

​Allen says hospitality, culinary arts and tourism have always been a way of life growing up in the Virgin Islands. St. Thomas is home to dozens of high-end hotels, attracting people from across the globe to come experience the laid-back mentality of island life.

He’s always had a love for cooking, influenced by the bounty of fresh food the Islands provide. Since the age of nine years old, Allen would help his grandmother shop at the market for fresh meats and vegetables. Returning home, she would guide Allen in prepping everything just right for the family feast.

“That was before I was even out of high school,” Allen recalls. “Then, around 16 or 17, I started working at the Hyatt Regency in St. John, leading into me learning more about resort and fine dining cooking.”

Allen has been working in various restaurants on St. Thomas, and brings 20 years of culinary experience to Coconuts Bar & Grill. This is the first restaurant he has owned in the states. Together, he and his wife operate the space in a cozy nook right off the Natchez-Vidalia Bridge. 
​

Coconut palm trees are originally from the coasts of Africa and the Indian Ocean, which were introduced to the Caribbean by early settlers. Allen’s plan with Coconuts Bar & Grill is to educate patrons on all the ways you can cook with coconuts.

“Coconut trees are so associated with the Caribbean, but coconuts are also a global ingredient,” Allen said. “Most people know coconuts by coconut water. I wanted to bring together something familiar, in a way where it’s not so commercialized.”

Allen’s menu fuses the Caribbean and Southeast Gulf Coast effortlessly, in his own way he calls “soca” cuisine. Taken from the first two letters of “Southern” and “Caribbean,” soca cuisine embodies the vibe of Coconuts Bar & Grill, and it also happens to be a genre of Caribbean house music originating in Trinidad. The artists are passionate, and the beats are soulful, just like Chef Allen’s passion for hospitality and serving soulful food.

The Soca Meat Pies emulate the famous Natchitoches meat pie, but Chef Ashley’s version has the ground beef mixed with sofrito, and served with an avocado-cilantro lime crema. The coconut crusted shrimp are served with a sweet chili lime sauce, but the same crustacean is also served on a po-boy. The Coconut’s Po-Boy pairs the coconut shrimp with local Natchez sausage company Passbach Meats, fully dressed and then topped with a chipotle remoulade sauce.

“There are little touches throughout the menu,” Allen said. “I use a little coconut milk to flavor our jasmine rice, and I use it in cocktails.”

The Soaked Caribbean Rum Cake tastes exactly how it sounds, but Allen brings Louisiana to a Caribbean staple by using rum from 1827 Spirits, Vidalia’s local boutique distillery. Dishes like rosemary garlic roasted mahi-mahi, shrimp criolla (sautéed shrimp served over ginger-coconut jasmine rice), macaroni pie and Johnny cakes are Caribbean specialties Allen grew up cooking and eating. 
​

Passion for the culinary arts comes in many forms. A chef doesn't just cook at the restaurant, they're in the environment getting involved. Back home, he learned more than just cooking skills working in luxury resorts, and coming to the states, he brought his passion for workforce development.

“Living and working in that environment has taught me to be able to multitask, and be creative on the fly,” Allen said.

Once he moved to Natchez, he quickly sought out mentoring work, and took on a twofold role as professor of a class titled “Restaurant University” at Copiah Lincoln Community College (CLCC). This special program was created with CLCC and Allen to develop a workforce in Natchez, which now he will carry over the bridge to Vidalia. Hospitality is the main ingredient to thriving food scene, but the training is where it begins.

“If your staff is not trained properly, that’s where you would end up losing out on the hospitality side of the business,” Allen said.
 
The guest experience starts before a customer even crosses the restaurant’s threshold. Allen and his wife have a large following on Coconut’s Facebook page. They share food content and special menus, but the videos of chefs on the line preparing dishes bring an authenticity that diners are craving in 2023.

Once guests arrive, smiling and welcoming staff accompany the warm food they’ve already viewed online. Hospitality is so much more than staying in a hotel, or being served, it’s a reflection of the culture that’s shared and celebrated. 

Students who enroll in the CLCC class are exposed to plenty of hands-on training before graduating. Allen brings them to his restaurant for a view of what is expected, from front-of-the-house to back-of-the-house.

“Live experience is always better,” Allen said. “We train them, and we hire them. I think that’s a formula for success.”

Allen’s business formula is full of unique factors, and his former life in St. Thomas, mixed with his time in Natchez is helping propel everything coming Vidalia’s way. The opportunity to create jobs and a restaurant culture in Vidalia is there, and Allen’s timing couldn’t be better than now.

“I’m very happy here,” Allen said. “They say timing is everything. It’s the perfect time to create, and be ahead of the game and pioneer something here. This area is like a diamond in the rough, so let’s to shine it up.”

​​COVINGTON, LA--The Gloriette in the Southern Hotel in downtown Covington, is pleased to announce new items on its local and French-inspired dinner menu. Chef Steven Marsella presents nearly two dozen new dishes in the boutique hotel's posh dining establishment, from appetizers and salads to entrees and desserts.

“Many of the dishes I’ve incorporated into the menu come from experiences I have had over the years,” said Chef Steven. “Sharing those dishes with guests makes this very personal for me. I hope the food tells a story and leaves a lasting impression on each guest.”

New appetizer and salad items include Endive Salad with Point Reyes blue cheese, pear, and walnut vinaigrette; Baked Camembert served with red wine pear compote and baguette toasts; Basque Style Clams in chorizo broth with Brabant potato, kale, and grilled sourdough; New Bedford Sea Scallops with butternut squash, lardon, kale, and pumpkin seed granola; and Crawfish Tagliatelle with mushroom confit, bottarga, and lemon chili gremolata.

The new entrees are Scottish Salmon with green lentils, cauliflower soubise, and preserved lemon vinaigrette; Buttermilk Brined Poulet Rouge with a country ham and asparagus sauce supreme and Parisian gnocchi; Pan Roasted Pork Chop with sweet potato dauphinoise, creamed kale, and pork jus; Gulf Shrimp Capellini with garlic chili bordelaise and bagna cauda crumbs; and Filet Mignon Au Poivre served with asparagus and pommes mousseline.

​In addition to dinner, the Gloriette serves brunch on the weekends from 10 am until 2 pm. Guests can expect dishes such as Rum Caramel Sticky Bun, Blue Crab Gumbo, and Caesar Salad to essentials such as Eggs Benedict, Avocado Toast, Pan Fried Crab Cake, Duck Confit Hash, and The Gloriette Breakfast of two farm eggs, brie cheese grits, cream biscuit, smoked bacon or apple chicken sausage.

The Cypress Bar, situated adjacent to the dining room within the Southern Hotel, serves drinks and small plates throughout the day. Chef Steven’s menu includes items such as crab beignets, fish tacos, and three-cheese mushroom flatbread. Pair a bite to eat with one of several signature cocktails, Sage Advice crafted with vodka, grapefruit, elderflower, lemon, fresh sage, and champagne; the Girl Next Door mixed with gin, pamplemouse, grapefruit, Luxardo cherry, rosemary, and club soda; or The Assembly made with Pinhook bourbon & rye, Remy Martin 1738 cognac, Calvados, Luxardo, and bitters. The Cypress Bar also offers a diverse selection of red and white wines and rosés and sparkling wines and champagnes. To finish off an evening, several desserts are available including dark chocolate tart, crème brûlée, and lemon curd parfait.

Chef Steven’s career path began in his hometown of Providence, RI, where he attended culinary school. After graduation, he worked at Blue Point Oyster Bar & Restaurant in Providence and The Summer House in Nantucket with New York Chef Donna Hall. He then headed to New Orleans, where he helped Emeril Lagasse launch his eponymous restaurant, followed by stints at Food Art Catering and Brigtsen’s Restaurant, The Gate House and The Cheeky Monkey back in Providence and Newport, RI, and a second location in Miami’s Blue Moon Hotel; and later Ralph Brennan Catering & Events. Most recently, Chef Steven served in a leadership role as Corporate Chef for Creole Cuisine Restaurant Concepts in New Orleans, where he developed successful restaurant concepts, led the banquet department, and trained a skilled hospitality team.

The Gloriette is open for dinner Monday through Thursday from 5 – 9 pm and on Friday and Saturday from 5 – 10 pm and brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10 am – 2 pm. The Cypress Bar is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 am – 10 pm and Friday and Saturday from 11 am – 11 pm. For more information please visit: https://www.thegloriette.com

​Life is certainly full of ups and downs, but it is also filled with small wins that can equal great success if you’re looking through the right lens. Picture these next few sentences as you read. You’re pushing your grocery cart down the egg aisle and come across a dozen eggs for under $3. A wrong exit taken off the interstate has landed you right in front of a gas station with regular unleaded for $2.75. Or, a trip to Goodwill brings a brand-new pair of running shoes into your life for only $10.

The small wins in life are what can bring the most joy, and the most success. Imagine, you’ll be driving on that tank of gas for longer, you’ll be able to buy two dozen of eggs and your weekly runs will reach a new level of comfort. This same idea is what has kept our newly appointed LRA Chair running for his nearly 40-year career.

Michael Maenza of MMI Culinary is the 2023 Chair of the LRA. He’s played his hand in foodservice & hospitality time after time. He’s been a crawfish boiler, a caterer, a food manufacturer, a restaurant owner, and a logistics operator. Now, he does double duty operating his 150,000 square feet food manufacturing facility, and governing as the LRA’s newest volunteer leader. Maenza’s success today is owed to one small win that fell into his lap back in the 80’s—a broken down trailer and kettle. 
​

His food manufacturing business MMI Culinary has grown to be nationally known for their dedication to providing quality prepared foods for multi-unit operators, national restaurant chains, retail outlets and large foodservice venues. The manufacturing plant also serves as the producer for his catering business. Mr. Mudbugs and 12 Seasons Catering are where it all began to grow big for Maenza. His decades of industry experience even tie back to the banana business in New Orleans.

“I came out of the womb in the food business,” said Maenza. “My grandfather and my dad were in the produce business, and at the age of six years old, for .25 cents a day, I would help out in the banana room at their warehouse under the Mississippi River Bridge.”

The bananas would come in on big stalks and then they were broken down into bunches, that were then sold to restaurants and groceries stores. Eventually, he started delivering those bananas across the Greater New Orleans area, helping him meet the players in the industry.

This is where Maenza’s small win comes into play. Around the mid 1980s, his family’s business was expanding to include seafood, and Maenza’s friend, Tommy Martinez, then of Bocage Supermarket in Baton Rouge, connected him with a gentleman named Eugene from Pierre Part. Eugene had a seafood picking plant – shrimp, crab and crawfish—and the facility was immaculate. “Eugene was thinking we might buy the plant or a huge amount of seafood,” Maenza said.

While they toured the grounds, a broken-down trailer in the long grass caught Maenza’s eye. It had a giant kettle for boiling. He made a mental note.

Fast forward a few weeks and Chip Aboud gave him a call. He was the owner of what’s now known as Generations Hall, but then it was a night club and restaurant called The Park. The call was Maenza’s big break. Aboud asked Maenza, on a Monday, if he could boil 500 pounds of shrimp and 1,000 pounds of crawfish for the Spring Fling on the coming Sunday. He said, “I’ll do better than that, I’ll boil it onsite so the shrimp and crawfish are hot out of the pot.” 
​

​In one week, he borrowed $3,500 from his dad, bought the rig from Eugene, outfitted the rig and procured the seafood, all the while telling Aboud that everything was on track for Sunday. On the Friday, he realized he needed a name for this venture, plus a uniform.

He came up with Mr. Mudbug, and then he set out for the hardware store to look for red jumpsuits and white shrimp boots. A seamstress who worked for his father’s produce company added Mr. Mudbug Catering to the back. Maenza fondly remembers the look, and says he still has that first pair of shrimp boots.

Towards the end of the Spring Fling, where 1,000 guests enjoyed hot boiled shrimp and crawfish, Maenza was finishing up with the last batch of crawfish. He and his team were drinking a well-earned beer when Aboud came out back and asked how everything was going.

“I told him it was great, and he told me to turn around,” laughs Maenza. “The rig had caught on fire! We didn’t anticipate the burners getting so hot and we had some wood planks for support on the rig that just burst into flames.”
​

Despite the rig going up in flames, the business started growing from that moment on. The onsite boiling became very popular and Maenza began booking events from that one crawfish boil with Mr. Aboud. His successes quickly multiplied.

“From that function, more and more onsite boiling jobs came in and it just grew,” said Maenza. “And, from there, the catering expanded beyond boiled seafood.”

With a name like ‘Mr. Mudbug,’ it became clear, very quickly, that it didn’t have the same appeal for more formal events like weddings. He and his team swiftly created a second name by offering ‘12 Seasons Catering.’ So, when it’s a casual outdoor party, you call for Mr. Mudbug. When formal attire is required, it’s 12 Seasons Catering who will be at your service.

“We wanted to match the ambiance,” Maenza said of Mr. Mudbug’s growth. “In New Orleans, it’s a different season every month. We don’t have 4 seasons, we have 12. We’re always celebrating something different.”
​

Maenza entered the restaurant industry in the early 90s by opening King Creole Restaurant on Metairie Road. As an Elvis Presley fan, he always loved the movie filmed here in New Orleans, and as history tells it, it happens to be Elvis’ favorite movie that he ever filmed.

Maenza himself is a former king, reigning as the King of Argus XXXIV in 2018. His joyful personality keeps the businesses simmering at a nice pace, and after King Creole’s final curtain in 1996, Maenza noticed a niche waiting to be tapped.

A market for high-end, prepackaged foods for restaurants caught his interest. He continued to work primarily with Mr. Mudbug and 12 Seasons after closing the restaurant, while working to form a new operation named Base Logistics.

The aftermath of Hurricane Isadore left parts of Southeast Louisiana without power for a few days, and it was Maenza’s catering company who stepped in to start feeding the line workers. That was the start of Base Logistics, acting as a helping hand to electrical companies after a natural disaster. In the wake of a hurricane, it is easy to feel helpless without power. People want to return to their normal day-to-day, but if the linemen are not taken care of, it slows down the progress.

“Our goal was to get the lights turned on faster,” Maenza said. “One of the ways we could achieve having everyone return to work was to keep the workers on the power lines fed, so they wouldn’t have to go elsewhere to go eat, and come back. Entergy was our first customer. It soon grew to almost every utility company in the country that we had a contract with to produce food for their workers.”

The success of Base Logistics fueled the growth of MMI Culinary, which is now a 150,000 square feet space in Kenner. The food production, research and development center also became the catalyst for Maenza’s next business venture which was SWEGS Kitchen. The acronym is Small Wins Equal Great Success, and this thought is something that follows Maenza in his everyday business practices.
​
When you’re eating a classic New Orleans food that’s lower in sodium, that’s what you call a small win with a highly positive outcome. Every small win in life can equal something bigger than itself. SWEGS was a way to bridge the mental gap between healthy eating vs. not so healthy eating.

“It was about nutrition meets culinary, lab coats meet chef coats,” said Maenza. “It’s about hidden health. We started producing mass quantities of red beans and rice without all the sugars and excess salt. We brought in food scientists and nutritionist to help develop the food. We started delivering those foods, and sending them to schools around the country, and we still do today.”

He’s undeniably left his mark, having had his hand in varying aspects of the industry which gives his appointment to LRA Chair a unique perspective. He’ll always remember that trip to Pierre Part, however, and the moment he eyed that broken-down trailer and kettle. A huge ‘small win’ in his book.
​
“It all goes back to the kettle,” said Maenza, “and cooking from the heart. From that kettle, I said ‘yea, we’ll figure it out,’ And, now, here we are. There’s no I in our team, and same goes for the LRA. There is no I in the LRA’s team.” ​

​The saying goes that something worthwhile is never easy, and Chef Celeste Gill knows about the sentiment. Baton Rouge’s restaurant scene has exploded over the past decade, and Gill, a native of Detroit, has played a key role in the development of the food scene in Downtown Baton Rouge. Though it hasn’t been easy, it’s been worth every step.

“When I came here, Baton Rouge was nothing like it is today,” Gill said. “I fell in love with the downtown area. It has kind of reminded me of being home in Detroit, and watching it grow into something big.”

Twenty years ago, she moved to the Capital City. Now, Chef Celeste is known to locals for her warm hospitality, and nutritious and delicious Louisiana home-cooked style meals. Wherever you go in Baton Rouge, there is no doubt you’re crossing her path.

“I just can’t sit still,” Gill laughs over the phone with me one morning. She kids, but, there is truth to her joke.

Gill has two café locations, aptly named Chef Celeste Bistro. She offers on-site catering services and owns an event venue called 520 Spain, located near the State Capitol on Spain Street. Gill sells her own line of Certified Louisiana seasonings and sauce, and you can also find Chef cooking on camera for a handful of different YouTube series. She also works with assisted living center Southside Gardens, and she gives back to the community by teaching cooking and life skills at the Baton Rouge Parish Prison, plus, she volunteers with the Big Buddy Program. Gill is even at work developing a cookbook.

The balancing act is second nature to Gill, and she takes as much rest as possible she says.

“When it comes to business, I’ve always done whatever I’ve felt like doing,” said Gill, “because you have to make yourself happy in order to make other people happy.” 

Her love for food started growing in her family’s kitchen back in Detroit, where she would cook with her grandmother, mother and siblings. Frequently, she would visit the Eastern Market neighborhood for farmer’s market shopping, not far from where she grew up off Fenkell Avenue.

“I remember the first cake I made was a German Chocolate cake,” said Gill “Then I started making food trays for my friends, just for fun.”

Her parents encouraged her to study draft engineering. Gill even placed in some state competitions, but her heart was still in the kitchen. Truthfully though, she never envisioned herself cooking professionally.

“I didn’t think it was something that would take me where I wanted to go,” Gill said.

Where she wanted to go, at the time, was still unknown, but her parents made sure she was given every opportunity to succeed.

“Where I grew up, there was an understanding that you’re going to go out, and you’re going to do something, and you’re going to be successful,” said Gill.

It was in the Aloha state that Gill found her first big success. While studying speech therapy at Leeward Community College in Pearl City, Hawaii, Gill branched out and enrolled in a leisure baking class. From that moment on she was hooked; she knew culinary arts was her calling. The waves of ‘firsts’ kept coming ashore for Gill in Hawaii.

She landed her first job working as the first female chef at an alcohol treatment center with the Salvation Army. Serving as an MP in the National Guard, two of her male colleagues were not interested in going through culinary training, so Gill convinced her superiors to hire her, giving her another position where she was the first female chef.

“Females were not prevalent in professional kitchens [during that time],” Gill said. “They did not want me in the men’s section. But I ended up there.” 
​

Arriving in Baton Rouge, Gill received warm welcomes wherever she sought work. The retirement community at Lake Sherwood Village was the first to offer her a job.

What many people know today as the Main Street Market in Downtown Baton Rouge started out as a humble farmers market, known as the Red Stick Farmers Market (RSFM). Gill was offered to be one of the first tenants, circa 2003-2005, when the Big River Economic and Agricultural Development Alliance (BREADA) decided to open a brick-and-mortar location for the RSFM.

Since, Chef Celeste Bistro has grown into two locations, with one being on N.5th and Main Street, and the other inside of the NeuroMedical Center in Perkins Rowe. It was her bistro that brought to life her Certified Louisiana Senior Seasonings and Honey Mustard Sauce. Her sautéed shrimp salad was a hit at both locations, and her patrons wanted more.

“People would want the honey mustard sauce cold, so I decided to started bottling it,” Gill said. “The Creole garlic is a seasoning I use on my shrimp and grits. So, that’s my shrimp and grits in a jar.”

Lake Sherwood Village was her first job in town, and she’s come full circle now working with Southside Gardens. The assisted living facility and senior community have a special place in Gill’s heart.  

“The Southside Gardens and I have a mutual connection, we’re like family,” said Gill. “Everything that I do is with the help of an awesome team at each location. There is no way I’d be able to do the things I am doing right now without the folks behind me.”

Gill feels most gratified by her chances to teach and empower. Her work at the Baton Rouge Parish Prison has her teaching low-risk inmates cooking basics—the ins and outs of a kitchen, food safety and job interview skills. This gives them the leg up once they’re out on their own.
​
“I’m a stickler for the basics,” Gill said. “There are so many opportunities through food, and food can be so forgiving. We accept everybody in the culinary industry. You can have a second chance, a third chance, you can have however many chances you need.”
 

​Second chances come in many forms, but it was Gill’s first chance to run a kitchen back in Hawaii that lead her down the path to a thriving culinary career. In both of her early roles, at the Salvation Army and in the National Guard, Gill was not only the first female to take the job, but the first Black female. Understanding this, and overcoming obstacles while learning to work with her male cohort motivated her to brand her own image.

“If it had not happened to me, and other women back in that time, how would we have changed anything? They needed to see females in the kitchen,” Gill said. “They needed to see that Black females are opening restaurants, and running businesses. And, we’re doing it well.”

The respect she has gained through her career shines light on how females are more prevalent in professional kitchens now, Gill says. She was excited when she received a call from the Louisiana Culinary Trails to take part in their Louisiana X Charlotte cooking event.

“I grew up in Detroit watching Justin Wilson and Julia Child,” said Gill. “So, to be down here representing Louisiana, that’s something I’ve wanted to do for years.”

Gill was one of 14 Louisiana top chefs who brought Louisiana cuisine on the road to Charlotte, North Carolina. For two action packed days, restaurant takeovers happened across Charlotte. Gill was paired with Chef J. Rose Mushe of Haberdish Restaurant. Her menu for the evening consisted of Louisiana favorites like red beans and rice, gumbo, shrimp & grits and bananas Foster.

“Everything came together so beautifully,” Gill said of her Charlotte experience. “I have never worked in anyone’s restaurant, so that was different to be on the line, and they’re calling it out and were making it and plating it. The entire experience was priceless.”

While cooking at The Haberdish in Charlotte, everyone was willing to pitch in and learn from her, which was also priceless. All of the smiles and lessons taught combine to bring the guest experience to life.
​
“It’s at the heart of what I do,” said Gill.
 

​While they try to stick to their core roles, “Emery works on the businesses and I work in the businesses,” Landry says. “It doesn’t always work out that way and you may have even seen Emery working a hostess stand at one of the restaurants and having input on the menus. Other times I may be the one to write a proforma and working on the P&L’s. We collaborate a lot.”
 
Tony Abadie is a long-time friend and colleague of the QED pair and was the first person they brought into QED. Once a F&B executive himself, Abadie retired from the Hilton New Orleans Riverside after 34 years, and is now General Manager of Jack Rose Restaurant. It was Landry who talked him into returning to work just 32 days after retirement, but it was Whalen who needed to bless the move forward. He says it’s Whalen’s teaching experience that has helped lead QED, along with Landry’s culinary skills.
 
“Brian is a culinary mad scientist and certainly elevates the cuisine,” Abadie said. “And, Emery’s skills as a teacher are extremely valuable. She’s really teaching us how to be successful in the QED business.” 
 
Melvin Rodrigue, Galatoire’s President and CEO, has followed the team since he worked with Landry and admires their special chemistry.

​“The yin and the yang of how they approach their partnership is really something special,” Rodrigue said. “They work hard at what they do, and put the time in. But, on top of it, sometimes that’s not enough, you’ve got to be calm, cool and collected, and they are certainly that.”