|
In Leah Chase's words, "We started in 1939, right across the street, the Globe Sandwich Shop. We opened
when segregation was still in the South, and we always had big crowds here. It was a meeting place, and if a person needed
to see someone in the black community, they'd come here, because this was where everyone met...we had Count Basie, Sarah
Vaughn, Lena Horne ...There was no other place to go, really. And I'm so grateful to the ones like Lena, and our dear
Sarah who passed away a few years ago, because they always remembered us, even after segregation. Sarah used to order our
stuffed crabs, and Lena, she likes our fried chicken...Duke Ellington got us selling Heineken beer, because that's what
he liked to drink. Cab Calloway, John F. Kennedy, the Jackson Five - everybody comes here to see what its all about. We make
Creole food. And this city has so much good food. You know there's White Creole and then there's "Creole de Colour"
- don't ask me where it came from - I don't know, it's just been that way, and I guess I'm just in the thick
of it all. But the food here is all so unique." (from http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/egg/egg0197/chase.html) The
restaurant at 2301 Orleans Ave was first opened in 1939 by Edgar "Dooky" and Emily Chase. When daughter-in-law
Leah began working there, she introduced hot meals, redecorated, hung African American art on the walls, and generally re-invented
the place. Her civic activism, along with her culinary accomplishments made Leah Chase a beloved citizen of the city.
|
