New Orleanians have always loved to cook and to share what they've made with others. So it makes sense that as soon as there was television, there was a Crescent City chef on the screen spreading the good news of New Orleans food. The first was an African American cooking star named Lena Richard, who made her TV debut on WDSU-TV in 1949. Fast forward to today, and it’s tough to tune in to any cooking show and not see a familiar face. This week, three local chefs walk us through the fun and the frenzy of their television encounters.

We begin with Mason Hereford of Turkey and the Wolf and Molly's Rise and Shine, who talks about his experience in the lauded Iron Chef competition as well as his popular appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers. More recently, Mason took part in another media adventure and host Poppy Tooker went along for the ride.

Next, chef and YouTube star Toya Boudy explains the strategies she used when making her rounds on cooking competition shows. Toya talks about her life and mission, which she talks about in her first cookbook, Cooking for the Culture: Recipes and Stories from the Streets of New Orleans to the Table.

Finally, Chef Kevin Belton tells of his journey from a child growing up in New Orleans to cooking show host on PBS affiliate WYES and WWL-TV.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

From beignets to poor boys, gumbo to jambalaya, and crawfish to boudin, Louisiana’s cuisine is as eclectic as it is delectable. On this week’s show, we explore our state’s rich food culture, based on centuries of Creole and Cajun traditions.

We begin with New Orleans native and Southern Food & Beverage Museum founder Liz Williams. She spent many years researching her award-winning book New Orleans: A Food Biography, which would go on to be selected for the One Book One New Orleans program during the city’s tricentennial year. Liz explores the roles history, geography, and economics played in shaping the Crescent City’s distinct culinary identity.

Then, we take a close-up look at Louisiana’s most emblematic foods with author Maggie Heyn Richardson, author of Hungry for Louisiana. Maggie tells us about red boudin and why it's in danger of disappearing from our state.

Finally, we stir our appetite for roux, rice, and gumbo with The Essential Louisiana Cookbook author Stanley Dry.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

In her book, To Boldly Grow, author Tamar Haspel uses the term "first-hand food" to describe anything you get with your own two hands – meals we grow, fish, hunt, or even forage. According to the Washington Post food columnist, growing and sourcing your own food just makes it taste better. On this week's show, we get our hands dirty and meet some people who have a passion for the great outdoors.

Before Tamar shares her wisdom with us, we learn what the buzz is about at New Orleans' Audubon Zoo. While more exotic creatures may be what draw the crowds, both native and European honey bees can be found bumbling around the zoo's grounds. Curator Dominique Fleitas gives us a tour of the Pollinator Garden and shows us the hives she helps maintain in the Louisiana Swamp Exhibit.

We also tell you about the strange history of hippos in Louisiana and meet Danlyn Brennan, who has spent her life foraging wild edibles. Her passion for wild craft is clear yet complicated by a desire to keep her methods and locations hidden.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

On Columbia Street in the heart of downtown Covington, you'll find Cured. on Columbia – a culinary venture that doesn’t fall neatly into a traditional category. It's part coffee house and part pub, with a changing menu that includes everything from sandwiches and soups to cheese and charcuterie boards. It's perhaps better defined by its vibe. Cured. on Columbia is a sunny, lively space that embraces guests as they are and gives them a place to kick up their heels and hang out – anytime from morning coffee to cocktails after work.

Co-owners Amanda Birdsong and Anna Watkins joined us in their back garden to talk about their community-based business – a place some locals have described as "Covington's living room."

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

Since 2021, June 19th – or Juneteenth as it's popularly known – has been a federal holiday commemorating the end of enslavement in the United States. On this week's show, we celebrate the day with a trio of African American chefs who discuss the inspiration they draw from their spiritual ancestors.

First, we hear from Chef Serigne Mbaye of Dakar NOLA about his plans for a grand Juneteenth feast in honor of the holiday. Next, Chef Ashbell McElveen tells the fascinating story of James Hemings, the enslaved man who was the founding father of American fine dining.

And finally, chef and cooking school director Dee Lavigne talks with us about African American chef and entrepreneur Lena Richard, who, by the 1940s, had become the Crescent City's premier caterer, a renowned cookbook author, and the first TV food personality.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

From the front of the house to the back, across Louisiana and the entire country, there is a substance abuse problem in bars and restaurants. On this week's show, we speak with Will Arendell, a renowned substance abuse counselor, who demystifies the psychology and physiology of addiction.

We then meet two New Orleanians who have overcome a host of challenges to find success in food. Sam Caruso had struggled with drugs and alcohol for years before forging a new path for himself with Laozi Ice Cream. His French-style custard is a local favorite, which he sells out of the back of Blue Dot Donuts in Mid-City.

For Martha Gilreath, her pop-up bakery Nolita represented a fresh start. In 2022, Martha met Sam in the rooms of recovery. That year, Sam invited Martha to sell king cakes from his Mid-City location. Months later, she was named executive chef at The Chicory House in New Orleans’ Garden District. Martha joined us in the studio to tell us about her journey.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

On this week's show, we’re trekking across the Causeway once again to explore the culinary scene in St. Tammany Parish. We begin at Backwater Farmstead in the rural town of Bush, Louisiana. There, Ross McKnight and his family make foie gras, a luxury food they hope to make more accessible in our state. 

After we tour the farm, we head over Olde Town Slidell to meet Jeremy and Alyssa Reilly of Restaurant Cote and the Maple Room. These high school sweethearts have carved out a very special place in the hearts and stomachs of the Slidell community for nearly 10 years. 

We then speak with Nick Asprodites, the proprietor of two dockside restaurants and bars: the original Blue Crab on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain and a second iteration at the Pointe Marina in Slidell. 

Finally, we meet Chef Jeff Mattia. Jeff opened his first restaurant, Pyre Provisions, in Covington just months before the Covid-19 pandemic began. Though Pyre Provisions closed its doors this year, Jeff has found continued success in his newest restaurant concept, Pyre BBQ on the Mandeville Trace.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

Whether it's the most elegant wedding reception or a simple family birthday party, no celebration is complete without a cake. On this week's show, we explore this delicious dessert in all its glory.

First, we sit down with Charlotte McGehee, the alter ego of Debbie Does Doberge, to find out how she's given the traditional New Orleans doberge cake a 21st century makeover.

Next, James Beard Award–winning author Aleksandra Crapanzano lets us in on the sumptuous secrets of Parisian home bakers found in her book, Gâteau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes.

And finally, the Cake Mix Doctor is in the house. Anne Byrn's book American Cake takes readers back to the origins of baking in America. From birthday cakes to wedding cakes, Anne has the history behind each delicious layer.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

In many places, the cocktail hour is an honored – even sacred – tradition. And in few places is that more true than New Orleans. On this week's show, we explore the fascinating evolution of cocktail culture in the Big Easy – its past, present and future.

We begin with craft cocktail master Neal Bodenheimer. Neal, who opened Freret Street bar Cure in 2009, traces the city's long love affair with concocted libations in his James Beard-nominated book, Cure: New Orleans Drinks And How To Mix 'Em.

Next, we swing over to Gravier Street to join flavorist Christa Cotton on a tour of her El Guapo factory where she creates her internationally award-winning bitters and much-loved cocktail mixers.

Finally, we sit down with T. Cole Newton, one of New Orleans' premiere bartenders and bar owners. His book, Cocktail Dive Bar, not only shares recipes from his famed Mid-City hangout Twelve Mile Limit, but also imparts plenty of thoughtful wisdom Cole has garnered from over a decade in business.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

In 1941, Emily and Dooky Chase, Sr. opened Dooky Chase Restaurant, a sandwich shop on Orleans Avenue in New Orleans. Five years later, a young girl from Madisonville, Louisiana married Emily and Dooky's son, big band leader Edgar "Dooky" Chase, Jr. Under Leah's leadership, the simple shop grew into one of the first African American fine dining restaurants in the country – the place where Leah Chase established herself as the Queen of Creole Cuisine. Since her passing in 2019, Leah's legacy lies in the hands of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Now, that crew, which Leah always referred to as "the grands," are debuting their own TV series, produced locally by WYES-TV and airing on PBS affiliates throughout the country. For this momentous occasion, we sat down with the younger generations at the restaurant during the taping of "The Dooky Chase Kitchen: Leah's Legacy." On this week's show, we hear not only those young, ambitious voices, but we've dug into our archives to bring you material that never previously aired from the late, great Leah herself.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.