A Seat at the Welcome Table: Remembering Chef Leah Chase, 1923–2019

Abstract

Leah Lange Chase, executive chef and co-owner of the venerable New Orleans restaurant Dooky Chase’s, died June 1, 2019. She was ninety-six and still, almost to the very end, a regular fixture in that bustling kitchen, guiding her brigade; chopping the trinity of onion, celery, and bell pepper; and salting her cooking advice with history and homilies. She was an artist, in that her process of creating and serving signature meals activated something inside us, her patrons—an experience turned ritual that marked and shaped us. She made us all think and see in new ways.