Leah Chase
“I hate for people to tell me what I can’t do, because that’s the one thing my mother always told us ‘Can’t is not in the dictionary’. . . Every time they tell me you can’t do something I go crazy. Go do it again. So I’ll be around here til- I get it done.”
Illustration by Brittanie Mitchell for Seeds & Receipts.
January 6th 1923 - June 1st 2019
Leah Chase was a renowned Creole chef who fed not only her community but dozens of well known civil rights activists, actors, artists, and politicians in her restaurant, Dooky Chase’s, in New Orleans.
She came from a large family and was raised in Madisonville, Louisiana along with her 13 siblings. As a young adult she would become a waitress where she’d begin her initial introduction to cooking as a professional. When she got married to Edgar “Dooky” Chase Jr., the couple would take over his father’s restaurant and transform it into the cultural hub it is today. Leah played a pivotal role in this transformation with her knowledge of creole cuisine and driven yet hospitable personality.
Up until her passing in mid-2019, she was still cooking in the restaurant, getting featured throughout food media, and being the high-caliber person she was known for. Throughout her lifetime she won dozens of awards from organizations like the NAACP, amassed a huge Black art collection showcased at Dooky’s, and went on to have four kids and dozens of grand-kids.
DIG DEEPER
Cooking Fried Chicken with Leah Chase and Julia Child (14 min.)
Gumbo 101 with Leah Chase (8 min.)
Leah Chase on Callaloo/Gumbo Z’Herbes An Interview by Charles Henry Rowell with John O’Neal