The Chef John Folse Institute hosted their fourth Empowered Women Chef Series on August 29 starring guest chefs, Anne Kearney and Felicia Suzanne Willett.

Amelie Zeringue, assistant professor of Culinary, was given a grant to fund events that benefited non-traditional occupations in culinary. She decided to organize this series because women only occupy about twenty-one percent of high-end positions in this field. Zeringue wanted to encourage women to pursue careers in the male-dominated restaurant industry.

“About sixty-five percent of our students are female, so I feel it’s really important for them to see successful female chefs, hear about what obstacles they went through and know what it takes to be a successful chef,” Zeringue said.

Kearney and Willett lectured about their own cooking preferences and techniques as they prepared four samples for their guests to taste. These tastings included deviled gorgeres, horseradish dressed Louisiana crabmeat salad, smoked pork tenderloin over grits with wilted greens and sweet potato relish and butter rolls.

Morgan Leger, a senior culinary arts major, said, “As a woman, you have to prove yourself in this industry, so seeing these two women lead such successful careers in this profession is so incredibly inspiring to me.”

Kearney worked for Chef Emeril Lagasse as his assistant testing recipes for his cookbooks and television program, “Essence of Emeril.”

After working with Lagasse, Kearney owned a restaurant called Peristyle in New Orleans for nine years. Kearney sold the restaurant in 2004, and now she resides in Dayton, Ohio, where she is head chef and owner of another restaurant, Rue Dumaine.

“In my eyes, men and women are both equal in the kitchen. So don’t tell me I can’t do something, until I prove that I can’t,” Kearney said.

Willett started her career working as Lagasse’s intern and later became his assistant. She is credited for being the co-author of his cookbooks and for producing his “Good Morning America” segments. Willett is now the head chef of her fourteen-year-old restaurant, Felicia Suzanne’s Restaurant, in downtown Memphis and is the founder of Flo’s Homemade Goodness product line.

“We are seeing more and more women in this industry who are able to find a balance and have it all, their own business, a husband and children. So it is possible,” Willett said.
The two chefs reminisced about how they met in 1993 when Kearney was Lagasse’s assistant and Willett was his intern. “She [Kearney] took me under her wing and told me, ‘Oh honey, your southern accent, lip gloss, and mascara is not going to work in this male-dominated kitchen’,” Willett said.

Previously, the Empowered Women Chef Series starred two Nicholls alumni, Jacqueline Blanchard and Holly Goetting, and Nina Compton, runner up of the Top Chef Program.

For the last two editions of the series, Meg Bickford, Executive Chef for Cafe Adelaide, will give a demonstration in September, while Susan Spicer, a New Orleans chef, will speak in October.

Zeringue hopes that her students leave these demonstrations more prepared for the tough industry of hard work and long hours.