Chefs have over the years have become their own form of celebrities. While women were still getting a foothold in a former boy’s club, Leah Chase, a chef in New Orleans, Louisiana, broke the glass ceiling, becoming an author and television personality known today as the “Queen of Creole Cuisine.”
What Is Leah Chase Known For?
Named the “Queen of Creole Cuisine” Leah Chase made her name as a Black female chef who not only had a successful restaurant, but crossed over into cookbooks, media, and even collecting art. Creole is a cuisine that has roots in African, European, and Columbian cooking. Some famous dishes include jambalaya, red beans and rice, gumbo, and etouffees. She’s also kind of a Disney princess, or at least she had one based upon her.
According to National Geographic, Leah Chase was an icon for the culinary landscape and civil rights pioneer and was an inspiration behind Tiana, Disney’s first Black princess. Like Tiana she had an upbringing where she had to rise to challenges to make it where she was today; she grew up in the South when segregation and a lack of resources for Black individuals was considered normal.
Outside of being a restauranteur, Chase became well-known for her Creole cuisine. She worked with traditional recipes and created modern twists, helping to make this style of cooking popular outside of the New Orleans area.
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What Is Leah Chase’s Background?
Leah grew up in Madisonville, Louisiana. She was born to Charles and Hortensia on January 6, 1923, although at the time her name was spelled “Leyah.” Her father worked at the Jahncke Shipyard while her mother maintained the more traditional stay-at-home role. She had many siblings, with sources suggesting from 10-13. She was one of the oldest and grew up on a farm using the produce to get them through the Great Depression, which began in 1929.
With no available high school for Black children, she moved to her aunt’s house to continue her education at St. Mary’s Academy and later graduated from there. The location was in the French Quarter of New Orleans, a place of culture and religion, and it is this place that led to her interest in cooking and food. She worked various jobs include waiting tables at the Colonial Restaurant and The Coffee Pot. In 1946 she married Edgar “Dooky” Chase Jr. who was trumpet player and leader of a well-known New Orleans jazz band. They would have four children together.
Dooky’s family was in the restaurant business already. They had a po’boy shop in 1939 and opened Dooky Chase Restaurant in 1941.
What Did Leah Chase Do for the Civil Rights Movement?
The Civil Rights Movement was defining moment in the history of the United States. While slavery had been outlawed at the end of the civil War, Jim Crow laws enforcing segregation and the threat of violence and segregation were a part of life throughout the country. Some of the major events include the rule of Brown v. Board of Education, the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the March of Washington.
So how did Leah Chase make her role in the Civil Rights Movement? The restaurant became a safe place for Black citizens to gather and talk about politics. It also hosted events like voter registration and strategy meetings with organizers including the NAACP, and leaders such as A. P. Tureaud and Martin Luther King Jr.
According to historian Mark Cave, “[Chase] broke the law serving Black and white people together but got the police to turn a blind eye by feeding them too.”
Outside of Food, What Else Did Chase Do?
Chase was as interested in art as she was cooking. In 1977 she joined the Board of Trustees for the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA). She was also an Honorary Life Member when she was no longer on the board. Chase even testified for the National Endowment for the Arts to the Capital in 1995, and argued why the arts are so important to human existence.
She also collected works of art on her own, from various Black artists in the Dooky Chase restaurant. Part of the reason was segregation laws meant she wasn’t welcome within museums. According to Chase, it wasn’t until she was in her fifties that she was able to go inside museums. She was even featured in paintings by Gustave Blache III that were later displayed at NOMA, depicting Chase at her restaurant working.
What Accolades Did Chase Receive?
Chase held honorary degrees from Dillard University, Tulane University, Our Lady of Holy Cross College, Loyola University New Orleans, Johnson & Wale University and Madonna College. She was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food & Beveridge in 2010 in her late eighties. Others to hold that distinction include Grant Achatz, Richard L. Arrowood, and Anthony Bourdain among others.
According to the foundation, “the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America is a cadre of the most accomplished food and beverage professionals in the country…each has been identified by his or her peers as having displayed remarkable talent and achievement.”
Chase died on June 1, 2019 at the age of 96 in New Orleans, Louisiana. However, her legacy within the culinary world and the arts lives on throughout the United States and beyond.
