Austin Leslie (July 2, 1934 – September 29, 2005) was an internationally famous

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

whose work defined ' Creole Soul'. He died in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, at the age of 71 after having been evacuated from New Orleans; he had been trapped in his attic for two days in the 98 °F heat, in the aftermath of the August 29

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

. He was honored with the first

jazz funeral A jazz funeral is a funeral procession accompanied by a brass band, in the tradition of New Orleans, Louisiana. History The term "jazz funeral" was long in use by observers from elsewhere, but was generally disdained as inappropriate by most New ...

after Katrina on October 9, 2005, in the still largely-deserted city. The procession, led by th
Hot 8 Brass Band
marched through the flood-ravaged remains of Leslie's old Seventh Ward neighborhood, starting out at Pampy's Creole Kitchen and stopping along the way at the location of the original Chez Helene. With his trademark captain's cap, lambchop

sideburns Sideburns, sideboards, or side whiskers are facial hair grown on the sides of the face, extending from the hairline to run parallel to or beyond the ears. The term ''sideburns'' is a 19th-century corruption of the original ''burnsides'', named ...

, and broad smile, he was known as the Godfather of

Fried Chicken Fried chicken, also known as Southern fried chicken, is a dish consisting of chicken pieces that have been coated with seasoned flour or batter and pan-fried, deep fried, pressure fried, or air fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or ...

.Where Y'At. ''Austin Leslie: The Godfather of Fried Chicken''
/ref> His distinctive style was the inspiration for the restaurant imagery of the 1987 television show ''

Frank's Place ''Frank's Place'' is an American comedy-drama series that aired on CBS for 22 episodes during the 1987-1988 television season. The series was created by Hugh Wilson and executive produced by Wilson and series star and fellow ''WKRP in Cincinna ...

''.

Biography

Early years

While still in high school, Leslie worked at Portia's Fountain on

Rampart Street Rampart Street (french: rue du Rempart) is a historic avenue located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The section of Rampart Street downriver from Canal Street is designated as North Rampart Street, which forms the inland or northern border of the Fr ...

, first as a delivery boy and later in the kitchen under Chef Bill Turner. One of the featured dishes was a crispy fried chicken garnished with sliced

dill pickle A pickled cucumber (commonly known as a pickle in the United States and Canada and a gherkin in Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand) is a usually small or miniature cucumber that has been pickled in a brine, vinegar, or ...

s, which the owner taught him to cook. This would become Leslie's signature item over the next fifty years. After high school he worked as a chef's assistant at the

D. H. Holmes D. H. Holmes was a New Orleans department store and later a New Orleans-based chain of department stores. The company was founded in 1842 by Daniel Henry Holmes, after whom it is named.white people White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...

, and for the four and half years he worked there Leslie was not allowed to prepare orders directly for customers, doing prep work instead. In 1964, his Aunt Helen opened Chez Helene and Leslie went to work full-time as the chef.

Chez Helene

The original location of the restaurant was on North Robertson Street, near the

French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as the , is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (french: La Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Squ ...

. It became the classic "underground" restaurant, featuring good food at reasonable prices in an off-the-beaten-path location. Despite the modest surroundings, it was compared favorably to the grand New Orleans restaurants such as

Brennan's Brennan's is a Creole restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. History Brennan's was founded in 1946 by Owen Brennan, an Irish-American restaurateur and New Orleans native. It was originally called the Vieux Carré restauran ...

Antoine's Antoine's is a Louisiana Creole cuisine restaurant located at 713 rue St. Louis (St. Louis Street) in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is one of the oldest family-run restaurants in the United States, having been established in 1 ...

, and

Commander's Palace Commander's Palace is a Louisiana Creole restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana. History Commander's Palace was established in 1893 in the Garden District of Uptown New Orleans at 1403 Washington Ave. Emile Commander established a small saloon ...

. In addition to receiving rave reviews from the local food critics, Chez Helene also caught the attention of national food writers such as R.W. "Johnny" Apple of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and

Calvin Trillin Calvin Marshall Trillin (born 5 December 1935) is an American journalist, humorist, food writer, poet, memoirist and novelist. He is a winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor (2012) and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts an ...

.NOLA.com. ''Love That Chicken.'' Brett Anderson.
/ref> The restaurant served haute creole dishes like

Oysters Rockefeller Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...

as well as down-home items like stuffed bell pepper, smothered cabbage with pig tails, fried chicken livers, and

mustard greens ''Brassica juncea'', commonly brown mustard, Chinese mustard, Indian mustard, leaf mustard, Oriental mustard and vegetable mustard, is a species of mustard plant. Cultivar ''Brassica juncea'' cultivars can be divided into four major subgroups ...

. His aunt retired in 1975 and sold the restaurant to Leslie. Despite its commercial and culinary success, the North Robertson neighborhood became unsafe. Cab drivers would not travel to the area, and hotel concierges would no longer recommend the restaurant. Leslie moved his business to the

and opened a branch in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He also tried his hand at running a number of

fried chicken Fried chicken, also known as Southern fried chicken, is a dish consisting of chicken pieces that have been coated with seasoned flour or batter and pan-fried, deep fried, pressure fried, or air fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or ...

outlets. But the new location did not have the same charm as the original and Leslie eventually closed Chez Helene in 1995 after thirty years of operation. After closing the Chez Helene he wrote and published the cookbook Creole-Soul.

Creole in California

In 1992, Chef Austin combined with Oakland, California-base
New Orleans Bill
Creole Potato Salads/Food wholesale co. to manufacture and distribute Austin's legendary Creole cooking to New Orleans Bill's supermarket customer base all over California. Austin and "New Orleans Bill", a native New Orleanian himself, started by doing Festivals and Supermarket cooking demonstrations all over California.

Denmark and back to New Orleans

After Chez Helene, Leslie worked for six months in

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as the executive chef of "N'Awlins". He appeared on Danish television and prepared

gumbo Gumbo (Louisiana Creole: Gombo) is a soup popular in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the official state cuisine. Gumbo consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish (or sometimes both), a thickener, and the Creole ...

and

jambalaya Jambalaya ( , ) is an American Creole and Cajun rice dish of French (especially Provençal cuisine), African, and Spanish influence, consisting mainly of meat and vegetables mixed with rice. Ingredients Traditionally, the meat includes sau ...

for the

Copenhagen Jazz Festival Copenhagen Jazz Festival is a jazz event every July in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. Copenhagen Jazz Festival was established in 1979, but beginning in 1964 Tivoli Gardens presented a series of concerts under the name Copenhagen Jazz Festiva ...

. After he returned to New Orleans, Leslie met Jacques Leonardi and joined on as the fry-cook of the newly opene
Jacques-Imo's
restaurant in the Carrollton neighborhood of New Orleans. He introduced his signature Fried Chicken with

Persillade Persillade () is a sauce or seasoning mixture of parsley (french: persil) chopped together with seasonings including garlic, herbs, oil, and vinegar. In its simplest form, just parsley and garlic, it is a common ingredient in many dishes, part ...

garnished with a dill pickle to a new generation of eaters. In October 2004, he left Jacques-Imo's and joined Stan "Pampy" Barre at Pampy's Creole Kitchen in the Seventh Ward. When asked why he left, Leslie said, "I didn't move away from Jack because of money. I moved away from Jacques-Imo's because I wanted to get away from frying. I'm going to die. But I'm not going to die over that fryer." At Pampy's he worked as both a mentor to the kitchen staff, sharing his formidable knowledge of Creole cooking, and as a good-will ambassador in the front of the house, greeting and chatting with guests. Like many in the aftermath of

, Leslie fled up to the attic of his house to escape rising flood waters. He was rescued from his rooftop after two days and evacuated first to the

Morial Convention Center The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is located in Downtown New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The lower end of building one is located upriver from Canal Street on the banks of the Mississippi River. It is named after former Mayor of ...

, then briefly to

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, and finally to

. He was admitted to an Atlanta hospital on September 28, 2005, with a high fever and died the next day from a heart attack.NOLA.com. ''Chef Austin Leslie is dead at 71.'' Brett Anderson.
/ref>

Personal life

Leslie was Catholic.

Quotes

* "You couldn't fry a chicken better than Austin. You couldn't stuff a pepper better than Austin Leslie." -

Leah Chase Leyah (Leah) Chase (née Lange; January 6, 1923 – June 1, 2019) was an American chef based in New Orleans, Louisiana. An author and television personality, she was known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine, advocating both African-American art an ...

* "You think you lose big when you lose your house, but here we lose a person, a person that could help us uplift everything." - Leah Chase * ustin Leslie's fried chicken"tasted as if it were "made from chickens that have spent their entire pampered lives strolling around the barnyard pecking contentedly at huge cloves of garlic." -

* "He was considered by many to be the black analogue to

Paul Prudhomme Paul Prudhomme (July 13, 1940 – October 8, 2015), also known as Gene Autry Prudhomme, was an American celebrity chef whose specialties were Creole and Cajun cuisines, which he was also credited with popularizing. He was the chef propriet ...

." -

John T. Edge John T. Edge (born December 22, 1962) is a writer, commentator, and, since its founding in 1999, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. He has wr ...

Notes

References

* Burton, Nathaniel and Lombard, Rudy. ''Creole Feast.'' Random House, 1978. * Brinkley, Douglas. '' The Great Deluge.'' William Morrow, 2006. * Collin, Richard. ''The New Orleans Underground Gourmet.'' Simon and Schuster, 1970. * Edge, John T. ''Fried Chicken: An American Story''. Putnam Adult, 2004. . * Leslie, Austin. ''Chez Helene : House of Good Food Cookbook'' De Simonin Publications, New Orleans. * Leslie, Austin. ''Creole-Soul New Orleans Cooking with a Soulful Twist.'' De Simonin Publications, New Orleans 2000. .

External links

The Gumbo Pages TributeSouthern Foodways Alliance. ''Bittersweet A culinary remembrance of New Orleans before Katrina and a report on its uncertain fate now.'' Bill Addison.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leslie, Austin 1934 births 2005 deaths Chefs from New Orleans American chefs American male chefs Louisiana cuisine African-American Catholics 20th-century African-American people Natural disaster deaths in Louisiana American gastronomes