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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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64:, 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
325:"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." -
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160:. In addition to receiving rave reviews from the local food critics, Chez Helene also caught the attention of national food writers such as
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322:"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
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neighborhood, starting out at Pampy's Creole
Kitchen and stopping along the way at the location of the original Chez Helene.
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316:"You couldn't fry a chicken better than Austin. You couldn't stuff a pepper better than Austin Leslie." -
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Bittersweet A culinary remembrance of New
Orleans before Katrina and a report on its uncertain fate now.
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Austin Leslie's Creole bread pudding with vanilla whiskey sauce, from the late Pampy's
Restaurant in
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after
Katrina on October 9, 2005, in the still largely-deserted city. The procession, led by the
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In 1964, his Aunt Helen opened Chez Helene and Leslie went to work full-time as the chef.
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as the executive chef of "N'Awlins". He appeared on Danish television and prepared
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restaurant. The Holmes department store catered primarily to relatively affluent
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The original location of the restaurant was on North
Robertson Street, near the
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neighborhood of New
Orleans. He introduced his signature Fried Chicken with
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40:(July 2, 1934 – September 29, 2005) was an internationally famous
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to prepare orders directly for customers, doing prep work instead.
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While still in high school, Leslie worked at Portia's
Fountain on
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In 1992, Chef Austin combined with Oakland, California-based
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garnished with a dill pickle to a new generation of eaters.
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After high school he worked as a chef's assistant at the
331:"He was considered by many to be the black analogue to
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Creole-Soul New Orleans Cooking with a Soulful Twist.
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NOLA.com - Austin Leslie's Jazz Funeral Photo Gallery
496:"Austin Leslie Obituary (2006) - The Times-Picayune"
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Austin Leslie at the late Pampy's Creole Kitchen in
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It Takes More Than Crayfish to Make a Cajun Wiggle.
243:After Chez Helene, Leslie worked for six months in
369:Austin Leslie, 71, Dies; Famed for Fried Chicken.
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582:Chez Helene : House of Good Food Cookbook
428:Austin Leslie: The Godfather of Fried Chicken
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598:De Simonin Publications, New Orleans 2000.
83:With his trademark captain's cap, lambchop
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584:De Simonin Publications, New Orleans.
522:Burton, Nathaniel and Lombard, Rudy.
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681:Natural disaster deaths in Louisiana
676:20th-century African-American people
558:The New Orleans Underground Gourmet.
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16:Chef from New Orleans, Louisiana, US
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482:Chef Austin Leslie is dead at 71.
393:Jazz funeral held for famous chef
567:Fried Chicken: An American Story
178:as well as down-home items like
68:. He was honored with the first
224:Denmark and back to New Orleans
283:Like many in the aftermath of
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622:Southern Foodways Alliance.
399:September 28, 2007, at the
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671:African-American Catholics
560:Simon and Schuster, 1970.
289:Morial Convention Center
257:Copenhagen Jazz Festival
617:The Gumbo Pages Tribute
198:and opened a branch in
651:Chefs from New Orleans
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546:William Morrow, 2006.
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307:Leslie was Catholic.
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220:all over California.
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686:American gastronomes
526:Random House, 1978.
211:Creole in California
52:whose work defined '
661:American male chefs
180:stuffed bell pepper
176:Oysters Rockefeller
162:R.W. "Johnny" Apple
460:Love That Chicken.
291:, then briefly to
263:restaurant in the
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167:The New York Times
158:Commander's Palace
56:Soul'. He died in
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666:Louisiana cuisine
556:Collin, Richard.
537:Brinkley, Douglas
295:, and finally to
285:Hurricane Katrina
66:Hurricane Katrina
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580:Leslie, Austin.
542:The Great Deluge
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503:. Retrieved
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78:Seventh Ward
70:jazz funeral
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646:2005 deaths
641:1934 births
505:December 3,
234:New Orleans
140:Chez Helene
106:Early years
42:New Orleans
33:, June 2005
27:New Orleans
635:Categories
517:References
480:NOLA.com.
458:NOLA.com.
440:NY Times.
367:NY Times.
318:Leah Chase
269:Persillade
265:Carrollton
349:Soul food
253:jambalaya
238:Louisiana
154:Antoine's
150:Brennan's
101:Biography
85:sideburns
46:Louisiana
31:Louisiana
397:Archived
343:See also
293:Arkansas
255:for the
297:Atlanta
245:Denmark
200:Chicago
62:Georgia
58:Atlanta
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391:KATC.
311:Quotes
186:, and
156:, and
54:Creole
355:Notes
335:." -
279:Death
249:gumbo
600:ISBN
586:ISBN
571:ISBN
548:ISBN
528:ISBN
507:2020
251:and
170:and
50:chef
164:of
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