Creole Cuisine: African American Contributions is a celebration of the
influence of African-American chefs and restaurateurs on Creole cuisine
and food culture in New Orleans. This exhibit is based on and expands
upon one existing currently in the Southern Food and Beverage Museum as
well as draws on the book Creole Feast for inspiration.
Cover of Creole Feast (1978) by Frank Lotz MillerSouthern Food and Beverage Museum
In the book Creole Feast, published in 1978, Chef Nathaniel Burton of Broussard’s and oral historian and civil rights activist Rudy Lombard opened the doors to some of New Orleans’ top restaurants, revealing to the reader that the creators of Creole haute cuisine were not Creole persons of European descent but, instead, African American. The book presents chefs from some truly elite restaurants, such as Galatoire’s, Broussard’s, and the Caribbean Room, who, with few exceptions, remain today almost unknown to the contemporary public. While these men and women cooked in the days before “celebrity” chefs were hailed as masters of their art, Burton and Lombard celebrated these chefs, honoring and preserving their legacies with this account.
Leah Chase
Widely known as the "Queen of Creole Cuisine", Mrs. Leah Chase ran Dooky Chase with her husband Edgar "Dooky" Chase II until his death in November of 2016. Coming from a big family in Madisonville, Louisiana, Chase spent a lot of her time growing up in the kitchen with her mother and sisters. Born in 1923 in the segregated South, she struggled with the limits imposed by her gender and complexion, which led her to leave her hometown for New Orleans.
Dooky Chase Sign (2017-04-20) by William MutchnikSouthern Food and Beverage Museum
After marrying musician Dooky Chase Jr. and raising their children, Leah Chase began working at Dooky Chase, the restaurant of her father and mother-in-law. Located at 2301 Orleans Avenue in Treme, the barroom and sandwich shop passed to Chase from her husband’s family in the mid-1950s.
Chase is an icon in the New Orleans food world, not only as a chef but as an advocate for African Americans in the city. Once she took over, Chase renovated the place to change it from a bar to a sit-down restaurant, turning Dooky Chase into one of the first fine dining restaurants that served African American patrons. Civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall even used the upstairs dining room to plan movements and marches. Additionally, she redecorated the dining room to display works of art by African American artists, creating the first art gallery for African American artists in New Orleans
The Dooky Chase Cookbook The Dooky Chase Cookbook (1990) by Leah Chase and John & Bonnie Boyd Hospitality & Culinary LibrarySouthern Food and Beverage Museum
Leah Chase’s food embodies the fusion of many different cultures and cuisines that make up New Orleans: one can find culinary traditions from Africa, Spain, and France. Chase’s cooking is a combination of classic creole dishes, like Creole Gumbo and Crawfish Etouffee, and unusual dishes created from whatever ingredients she had on hand, like Roast Venison with Juniper Berries, which is featured in The Dooky Chase Cookbook.
Leah Chase (1970) by UnknownSouthern Food and Beverage Museum
Leah Chase has been described as a relentless worker with a steadfast work ethic. Gambit Magazine wrote, "Work is a compulsion for Chase, and her tenacity, combined with the courage to pursue unconventional and sometimes controversial decisions, has charted the course of her life and left her mark on the worlds of New Orleans food, art, culture, and politics." Leah Chase has three cookbooks published so far and, in her nineties, is planning on releasing at least one more.
Writer and food historian Lolis Elie wrote, “In those days before integration, when we needed a place to meet and eat and plan a future for our city that would include all of us, her doors were open. When we wanted to keep Thursday before Easter Holy, we came to her for green gumbo and fellowship, and a reminder of those old Creole traditions that we might otherwise have forgotten. When we needed support for our arts or our community, or just a kind word and a smiling face, we went to her. Now that the winds and waters of the recent hurricanes have left Dooky Chase battered and in disrepair, Leah Chase needs us. She intends to rebuild that once grand restaurant. We hope you will join us in helping her.”
This exhibit has been made possible due to contributions from the John & Bonnie Boyd Hospitality & Culinary Library, the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, the Southern Foodways Alliance, Rise Delmar Ochsner, Leah Chase, Wayne Baquet Sr., and the Newcomb Archive and made possible with funding from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation.
