Chef

Leah Chase

"Wayne makes this gumbo just like all the Creoles have always been making it. Everyone in the Creoles of color community makes it in a particular way, but this one has it all: crab, shrimp, chicken, and sausage."

"You got to go to Parkway and get a good roast beef po' boy. It is nothing fancy—they serve it to you wrapped in the paper, and you got to get it dressed with tomatoes and mayonnaise. They use a chuck roast that has fat in it. Some people don't use it because it has got the fat in it, but that fat gives it flavor. They just pull the meat apart and don't slice it, and it is so good. You sit down there with your cold root beer, eat it, and talk to people around you."

"I don’t know how they cook it; I just go there and eat it! It is not too thick and it has a good consistency. It has a turtle flavor, and you often don’t get a good turtle flavor in this particular soup. Sometimes people make a mock turtle soup and all this stuff, but theirs has a good turtle flavor. I came up in the country eating turtles, so I know the flavors in the soup."

"I am a duck person, so I am always looking for a good duck. Chef Spicer does her duck very well. It is a very tender duck breast, and she puts some pepper jelly glaze on it and serves it with wild rice."

"High Hat makes a good roast chicken. You can get a breast or leg, and sometimes they will give you half a chicken. It is not too dry, but really well-seasoned, and it is smoked so nice and tender. It comes with a choice of sides like French fries, cornbread, okra, and tomatoes."

"I love their meatballs and spaghetti. I like big, traditional Italian meatballs and spaghetti served with red sauce. I would not do anything any different than they do. I make spaghetti and meatballs too, but they may make theirs a little lighter than mine."