This red chef’s jacket belonged to renowned New Orleans chef Leah Chase. Known widely as the “Queen of Creole Cuisine,” Leah Chase has served as the executive chef at her husband’s family restaurant, Dooky Chase’s, since the 1950s. Chase helped focus international attention on her native New Orleans and Creole cooking as a form of American cuisine. Beyond Dooky Chase’s reputation for exceptional food, the iconic New Orleans eatery also served as a key meeting location for organizers during the Civil Rights Movement.

The Creole culinary tradition, exemplified in Leah Chase’s recipes, evolved from Louisiana’s unique heritage. Creole cooking includes elements of French and Spanish colonial traditions mixed with those of African, Caribbean, and Native American flavors and ingredients. The resulting dishes—including staples like crawfish étouffée, gumbo filé, and jambalaya—are truly unique creations, blending local ingredients with the traditional cooking techniques of Louisiana’s natives.

Leah and Dooky Chase, Jr., played critical roles in the Civil Rights Movement in New Orleans, assisting African Americans in registering to vote, speaking out openly against segregation, and opening their business to local leaders for meetings and meals.  Chase’s restaurant served as a haven for meetings between movement leaders including Oretha Castle Haley, the Rev. Andrew Young, Thurgood Marshall, Dr. Ralph Abernathy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dooky Chase’s Restaurant and Leah Chase’s culinary legacy demonstrate the critical connection between community activism and the preservation of culinary traditions.

The chef’s jacket above is now in the collection of theSmithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visitors to the museum can view this object in the “Cultural Expressions” exhibition.

Credits and Sources:

2014.218.1 - Chef jacket worn by Leah Chase, ca. 2012. Manufactured by: Chefwear. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Dooky Chase's Restaurant and Chef Leah Chase

"Dooky Chase's Restaurant." Accessed December 28, 2015. http://www.dookychaserestaurant.com/.

Hearn, Lafcadio. La Cuisine Creole: A Collection of Culinary Recipes from Leading Chefs and Noted Creole Housewives. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books, 2008. E-Book. Accessed December 28, 2015.