Gumbo!

Wayne Baquet Sr. is a New Orleans restaurateur and founder of Li’l Dizzy’s Café, an iconic Creole landmark in the Tremé. Born into a family with over two centuries of history in the city, Wayne learned the restaurant trade from his father, Eddie Baquet Sr., who owned the famous Seventh Ward staple Eddie’s. Over a career spanning more than 50 years, Wayne established an incredible business legacy. He opened Li’l Dizzy’s Café in 2005, naming it after his grandson, a talented trumpet player. Under Wayne’s guidance, the café became a community gathering spot that hosted locals, US presidents, and national dignitaries drawn to his unrivaled Trout Baquet and gumbo.  Wayne retired in late 2020, passing the historic family business to his son, Wayne Jr., and daughter-in-law, Arkesha. Today, he remains a celebrated icon of New Orleans culture, remembered for preserving the authentic flavor and soul of his beloved city. 

Chef Frank Brigtsen and his wife, Marna, are the owners of Brigtsen’s Restaurant, located in the Riverbend neighborhood of uptown New Orleans. Frank began his culinary career in 1973 while attending Louisiana State University. In 1979, he apprenticed at Commander's Palace under the guidance of Chef Paul Prudhomme and became the first night chef at K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in 1980. During his seven-year tenure with Chef Prudhomme at K-Paul’s, Frank attained the position of executive chef. Paul and Kay Prudhomme were instrumental in helping Frank and Marna open Brigtsen’s in 1986. 

In 1988 Chef Brigtsen was named one of the Top Ten New Chefs in America by Food and Wine magazine, in in 1998 he was named America’s Best Chef: Southeast by the James Beard Foundation Awards. He has also been named Chef of the Year by New Orleans magazine and Restaurateur of the Year by the New Orleans chapter of the Louisiana Restaurant Association. In 2022, Chef Brigtsen received the Ella Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award in Hospitality, presented by the New Orleans Food and Wine Experience. Chef Frank’s passion is teaching and sharing through food. For 17 years, he taught contemporary Creole/Acadian cuisine as an adjunct professor at the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University, and he served as chef-in-residence for the culinary arts program at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA). 

Chef Toya Boudy is a New Orleans native, three-time author, multidisciplinary artist, poet, and cultural storyteller who tells Black history through food. Her work explores the intersections of food, history, family, culture, and lived Black experience. She is the author of Cook Like a New Orleanian, Cooking for the Culture, and Cooking from Scratch. She has appeared on the Food Network, Hallmark Channel, NBC’s Today, CBS Saturday Morning, and other national platforms. Blending culinary knowledge with storytelling and cultural perspective, Chef Boudy creates books, television, live experiences, and conversations that celebrate Black culture, self-sufficiency, community, and the traditions of New Orleans.

Benjamin “B. J.” Dennis is a chef and culinary historian born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, whose work centers on preserving and elevating Gullah Geechee cuisine. He draws on techniques passed down from his ancestors and grandparents, along with years of study across the West Indies and West Africa, to create dishes rooted in Gullah Geechee tradition using local, seasonal ingredients. His work has been featured on shows including Mind of a Chef, High on the Hog, and Top Chef. Dennis is widely regarded as a leading culinary ambassador for Gullah Geechee food and culture. 

Dustin Fuqua is a Louisiana-born anthropologist and 25-year National Park Service professional dedicated to cultural heritage revitalization. Descended from Creoles and Cajuns of Avoyelles Parish, Fuqua’s preservation work spans Louisiana French language, bousillage architecture, and traditional crafts. An inductee of the Louisiana Folklife Center’s Hall of Master Folk Artists, he learned the art of foraging sassafras to make authentic gumbo filé under tradition bearer John Oswald Colson. Featured in books, articles, and media, Fuqua’s work highlights environmental memory, cultural perseverance, and the deep Indigenous, Creole, and African roots of this uniquely Louisiana tradition.

Dr. Jessica B. Harris is a culinary historian and the author of twelve critically acclaimed books documenting the foods and foodways of the African Diaspora, including High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America, which was transformed into a four-part Netflix docuseries in 2021. My Soul Looks Back: A Memoir was a finalist for the PEN Open Book Award. Her most recent book is Vintage Postcards from the African World: In the Dignity of their Work and the Joy of Their Play. Harris is professor emerita at Queens College, CUNY, and holds an AB from Bryn Mawr College; an MA in French literature from Queens College, CUNY; a Licence ès Lettres from the Université de Nancy, France; and a doctorate in performance studies from New York University. She was the inaugural scholar in residence in the Ray Charles Chair at Dillard University in New Orleans. Harris has received many honors, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southern Foodways Alliance, the Amelia Award from the New York Culinary Historians, and the Carol DeMasters Service to Food Journalism Award from the Association of Food Journalists. Harris was named to the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America in 2010, her cookbooks were inducted into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame in 2019, and in 2020 she was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the same organization. Harris was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2021 by TIME magazine. 

Chef Ron Iafrate is the chef and owner of Chef Ron’s Gumbo Stop in Metairie, Louisiana, which he opened in 2012. A graduate of Johnson and Wales University, he spent three decades in the hotel industry before opening his restaurant and dedicating himself to the Louisiana dishes he has come to love, especially gumbo. Originally trained in garde-manger, Chef Iafrate combines classical culinary technique with the traditions and distinctive flavors of south Louisiana. His honors include being named Chef of the Year by the New Orleans chapter of the American Culinary Foundation, and he currently serves as chapter president.

Retired Rice Extension Specialist Dr. Ronnie Levy began his career with the LSU AgCenter in 1979 as a county agent serving Calcasieu and Jefferson Davis Parishes, where he worked extensively with youth through the 4-H program and built a foundation of service rooted in education and community engagement. He later served as county agent and parish chair in Acadia Parish, where he became widely recognized for his leadership in developing one of the most successful extension programs in Louisiana. In 2017, Dr. Levy returned to Acadiana to serve as the LSU AgCenter’s state rice specialist at the H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station, a role he often described as his “dream job.” Over the course of his distinguished career, Dr. Levy has received numerous honors, including the 2023 Rice Industry Award and the 2025 Rice Industry Lifetime Achievement Award, which acknowledge his lasting contributions to the rice industry. In 2022 he was named honoree of the International Rice Festival in Crowley, Louisiana. Beyond Louisiana, Dr. Levy has served as a technical advisor to key committees within the USA Rice Federation, contributing to initiatives focused on sustainability, marketability, competitiveness, and regulatory issues. His presentations at regional, national, and international conferences have further extended the reach of Louisiana’s rice research program and reinforced the H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station’s reputation as a global leader in rice science.  

Food personality, radio host, and author Poppy Tooker is passionate about food and the people who bring it to the table. For over a decade, Poppy has combined these elements in her award-winning, NPR-affiliated radio show, Louisiana Eats! Poppy also provides restaurant commentary on the weekly PBS show, Steppin’ Out.

For many years, Poppy taught classic Louisiana cooking to locals and visitors alike. One of her most enduring favorites is seafood gumbo. In 2008, she beat Food Network star Bobby Flay in a gumbo throwdown. In 2013, Wynton Marsalis chose Poppy to cook gumbo on CBS Sunday Morning as part of his “Ode to Gumbo.” 

Author of many popular cookbooks, including for Tujague’s, Pascal’s Manale, and Tony Mandina’s, Poppy also covers the local food scene in her monthly column for Biz New Orleans. Poppy’s most recent book, Drag Queen Brunch, combined brunch recipes from New Orleans restaurants with photos and stories of the city’s best drag queens. With her motto, “Eat it to save it,” Poppy was instrumental in reviving many endangered foods and food traditions through the International Slow Food Movement. She was named a “Hero of the Storm” by the Times-Picayune and recognized by the International Association of Cooking with their first Community Service Award for her work reviving New Orleans restaurants and food providers after Hurricane Katrina. Southern Living also named Poppy a “Hero of the New South.”