Mrs. Leah Chase dies at age 96

11th June 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer

“The Queen of Creole Cuisine” Leah Chase, civil rights activist and co-owner/executive chef at the legendary Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in Treme, passed away on Saturday, June 1. She was 96.

“Mrs. Chase was a strong and selfless matriarch. Her daily joy was not simply cooking, but bringing people together. One of her most prized contributions was advocating for the civil rights movement through feeding those on the front lines of the struggle for human dignity. She saw her role and that of Dooky Chase’s Restaurant to serve as a vehicle for social change during a difficult time in our country’s history. Throughout her tenure, Leah treasured all of her customers and was honored to have the privilege to serve them,” said the Chase Family in a statement released to the public.

Chase, who was born Leah Lange in Madisonville in 1923, entered the restaurant business in 1946 when she married her husband Edgar “Dooky” Chase, Jr. Leah, one of 14 children in her family, helped turn what Edgar’s parents started as an Orleans Avenue sandwich stand into an elegant restaurant where African Americans were welcome.

Dooky Chase’s Restaurant served as a safe haven for civil rights dignitaries ranging from Thurgood Marshall to James Baldwin to A.P. Tureaud to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to the freedom riders in the 1960s.

“I was proud to feed them, but it was sad that they had no choices to go where they wanted to go,” Chase said in an interview with WDSU five years ago.

Chase’s work in the Civil Rights Movement was not limited to the restaurant. On the night before James Meredith became the first African-American student at the University of Mississippi, he stayed at the Chase’s home.

The restaurant continued to attract leaders and celebrities well after the Civil Rights Movement, serving presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush on visits to New Orleans. In an interview with WWL-TV to commemorate her 95th birthday, Chase memorably recounted the time when Obama ordered gumbo and immediately tried to put hot sauce in it.

“I had to slap him…I said ‘Mr. Obama, you don’t put hot sauce in my gumbo,’” Chase said to WWL.

Dooky Chase’s Restaurant survived both floodwaters and looting during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Leah and Edgar Chase lived for over a year in a FEMA trailer near the restaurant as they tirelessly worked to get it up and running again.

Chase’s iconic status led Disney to base its first African-American princess, Tiana, on Chase in the 2009 New Orleans-set animated fantasy The Princess and the Frog.

“I thought that was unbelievable,” Chase said in a 2018 interview on Disney’s YouTube channel. “I’m certainly not princess material. I don’t look like a princess. I certainly don’t act like a princess… It was amazing what they did with that movie…and I hope it inspires other little girls.”

A longtime patron of the arts, Chase displayed the works of local artists in her restaurant. She served on the boards of the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Arts Council of New Orleans, the Louisiana Children’s Museum, the Urban League of Greater New Orleans, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation.

Chase received countless accolades and awards during her storied career. In 2016, the James Beard Foundation honored Chase with a lifetime achievement award. In the news release announcing the award, John T. Edge, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance (which Chase helped start), spoke of the timeless nature of Chase and her cooking.

“In a moment when trends come and go, when restaurants come and go, when chefs come and go, she has proven the value of fidelity to place, to community, to purpose,” said Edge. “Through her restaurant and her long service to the community, she proved that to invest deeply in one place, by way of your restaurant, is a higher calling in our world.”

In all of her recent interviews, Chase still showed an easy smile and an infectious enthusiasm for cooking. She kept working in the kitchen at Dooky Chase’s even after she entered her 90s.

“I’m the luckiest woman in the world,” Chase said in the WWL interview.

Many local and national celebrities rushed to pay tribute to Chase on social media.

On his Instagram page, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees posted, “We mourn the loss of this beautiful soul, Leah Chase. She inspired so many and represented all that is great about New Orleans!”

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris also spoke of Chase on Twitter.

“Saddened to learn of the passing of Leah Chase. I was with her family earlier this year and I send them my deepest condolences. They spoke of her civil rights activism, love of family, and passion for food. The Queen of Creole Cuisine will be dearly missed,” Harris wrote.

Chase’s survivors include her son, Edgar III, and her two daughters, Leah and Stella, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the Chase family asked for donations to be made to the Edgar L. “Dooky” Jr. and Leah Chase Family Foundation at P.O. Box 791313 New Orleans, LA 70179. The foundation “seeks to cultivate and support organizations that engage in activities that support cultural arts, education, culinary arts, and social justice.”

A public viewing was held on Saturday, June 8 at 10 a.m. at Xavier University Convocation Center. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, June 10 at noon at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church (1923 St. Philip Street).

This article originally published in the June 10, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.