“To you, kitchen, facing your oven’s inferno, I sometimes discover paradise on earth.” Old French Proverb

Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s in the small town of Abbeville, a predominately French Acadian prairie town located in Southwest Louisiana a short distance from Vermillion Bay, mine was a world steeped in the remnants of Cajun folkways and tradition.

Primarily small-scale farmers, my grandparents grew vegetables and raised livestock that thrived in the hot and humid subtropical Gulf South. In addition to the farm yield, the coastal prairie environment was home to a cornucopia of seafood and wild game that made possible the development of a unique regional Cuisine that while influenced by the Spanish, Germans, Africans and Native Americans was rooted in the 17^th century traditions of their “old world” ancestors from the Poitou-Charente region in Southwest France.

While my culinary education started as a child in my mother’s kitchen, observing, stirring the roux, and asking questions, it was my father’s more adventurous palate that greatly influenced my love of all foods, raw oysters, frog legs, turtle and all things offal.

Studying History and Anthology at Louisiana State University, I received my Bachelor of Science Degree in 1977 and headed to New York City.  I worked at various jobs , none of which pertained to the degree that I had obtained through my studies. Always cooking, I enjoyed throwing dinner parties and nurturing those who I desired to wow…..keeping in mind,” that the way to person’s heart is through their stomach!”

My formal and professional culinary training was acquired at the highly acclaimed French Culinary Institute in New York City. After my 1987 graduation, I worked with an associate preparing food for the corporate dining room at Newsweek Magazine and  landed a position on the line in the kitchen of Ted Conklin’s American Hotel in Sag Harbor.

My partner Jim Conte and I opened our first restaurant in Sag Harbor, NY in 1995. Paradise Restaurant serving 3 meals a day, 7 days a week during the summer. It was a café with a diner format  that gave me the opportunity to hon my skills and develop a repertoire of dishes that became synonymous with the Chef I was becoming.  The Paradise developed a clientele of celebrities in fashion, television, stage and film, reminiscent of the Brown Derby or Sardi’s in their heyday. After an incredibly busy 5 year run, Jim and I decided to make a move to New Orleans.

We opened Meauxbar Bistro on the corner of North Rampart & St. Phillip Sts in the French Quarter in December 2003. An upscale casual eatery, Meauxbar features traditional and modern interpretations of French, Cajun and International Cuisines. With passion and in survival mode, we persevered through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and was the first full service restaurant to reopen after the storm in October 2005.  Hands on and owner managed, the restaurant evolved into the quintessential local neighborhood restaurant, something that had been missing from the heavily touristed area. After 10 years, once again it was time for us to move on. Meauxbar continues today under the watchful management of Robert LeBlanc.