ROUSES_JanFeb2019_Magazine

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

PHOTO COURTESY WILLIE MAE’S SCOTCH HOUSE

in his book, Song for My Fathers: A New Orleans Story in Black and White . “His menu, which he posted on a chalk- board each day, was likely to include such fare as garlic chicken, barbecue ribs, ham and turnip greens, and shrimp jambalaya. But his most popular dish was the most famous New Orleans staple, red beans and rice, which he sold for twenty-seven cents a plate in those days. For sixty cents, he’d add his gut-scalding hot sausage.” Willie Mae Seaton, who won a James Beard America’s Classics award in 2005, had been making her famous fried chicken at Willie Mae Scotch House in Faubourg Treme since the 1960s. Her great-grand- daughter Kerry Seaton Stewart has taken the restaurant’s helm. She’s managed to expand the operation while maintaining the spirit and flavor of the old place. The lines to get into the place are fitting testi- mony to the quality of the food. LeonWest,who served as executive chef at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center for 14 years, is now plying his trade at Messina’s Runway Cafe at New Orleans Lakefront Airport. His crab cakes and

at Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse. He ulti- mately returned to Cafe Sbisa, where he had worked earlier in his career, to help Craig Napoli re-open the French Quarter landmark. Nina Compton, a native of St. Lucia, has re-infused Caribbean cooking into the New Orleans dining scene with her James Beard Award winning Compère Lapin restaurant. She has gone on to open another successful eatery, the Bywater American Bistro. While Leah Chase was included in the original Creole Feast , her grandson, Dooky Chase IV, was far too young to be consid- ered. But his Dook’s Place Restaurant and Seafood Bar at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport continues the family tradition of serving excellent fried seafood and New Orleans specialties. Marlon Alexander worked for years as a private chef and as the banquet chef at Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, before a trip to New Orleans for a bachelor party altered his ambitions. He fell in love with the city and decided to stay,opening Poulet and Cru in the Pythian Market food hall.

shrimp and grits are signature dishes, but the omelettes named for famous aviators are also not to be missed. At times Rudy Lombard talked about writing a second volume or an updated edition of Creole Feast. His hope was to include some of the chefs left out of the earlier book and also take stock of the younger black chefs who were cooking in the city.There are not nearly as many black chefs leading New Orleans kitchens today as there were in the 1970s. Still, there are many noteworthy chefs who would merit inclusion in an updated version of the book. Erik Veney was named executive chef at Muriel’s Jackson Square in 2002. He left the restaurant for stints at Stella and Restaurant R’evolution before returning to Muriel’s a few years ago. His crawfish and goat cheese crepes are a signature of the restaurant. Albert Singleton, the chef and co-owner of Cafe Sbisa, is a New Orleans native who worked his way up through the ranks in jobs at Bacco and Desi Vega’s Steak- house before becoming chef de cuisine

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