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August 21, 2009: Local culinary legend Leah Chase will serve as the honorary chairperson for the 2009 Big Read celebration in New Orleans. Known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine, Chase was born to Creole parents in Madisonville, Louisiana. When she was 14 years old, she moved to New Orleans to live with relatives and to attend St. Mary’s Academy. After high school, Chase worked in the Colonial Restaurant in the French Quarter in New Orleans. In 1945, she married musician Edgar “Dooky” Chase II, whose parents owned the Dooky Chase Restaurant. Chase began working at the restaurant during the 1950s and over time she eventually converted the menu to reflect her own family’s Creole recipes. Dooky Chase was known as a gathering place during the 1960s among many who participated in the Civil Rights movement, and her restaurant was known as a gallery due to its extensive African American Art collection.
