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Today in New Orleans History |
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November 27
Happy 89th Birthday, Ella Brennan A young Emeril Lagasse with his
boss, Ella Brennan. Born in New Orleans on November 27, 1925, restaurateurur Ella Brennan received the
Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southern Foodways Alliance in 2002. She began her culinary career working with her
brother Owen's Royal Street Brennan's restaurant. As owner of Commander's Palace, she hired young cooks Paul Prudhomme
(1975) and Emeril Lagasse (1983). From the
the New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Ella Brennan, matriarch of one of the most prominent restaurant
families in South, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on 27 November 1925. At the age of 19, Ella Brennan began working with
her brother, Owen Brennan, who had purchased a restaurant in the French Quarter. Instead of opting for college, Ella Brennan
went to Europe where she made a study of restaurant service, and New York, where she worked briefly at the 21 Club. Brennan’s, the seminal family restaurant,
specialized in French Creole dishes, served, contrary to expectations, by a family of Irish descent. It is still operated
by a branch of the family. In the interim, Brennan’s has birthed a number of inheritors including far-flung restaurants
in Houston, Texas, and, as operated by Dickie Brennan, as close as around the corner. At Commander’s Palace, the Victorian mansion in Uptown New Orleans,
operated by the family since 1974, Ella Brennan serves what she calls Haute Creole cuisine—the sophisticated cooking
of old Creole New Orleans, reinterpreted for the modern palate. Over the course of her career Brennan has exhibited a reputation for recognizing and developing
restaurant talent. Among the now famous graduates of her kitchen are Paul Prudhomme, who arrived in 1975, and Emeril Lagasse,
who began his service in 1983. What’s more, Brennan has worked with farmers and fishermen to cultivate local markets
for their goods and provide her restaurants with the best possible ingredients. In her role as restaurateur, she has
promoted the sociability of dining and the art of conversation. As the twentieth-first century dawned, a new generation of
the Brennan family, led by Ti Martin and Lally Brennan, has stepped into the spotlight at Commander’s, intent upon upholding
the standards Ella Brennan set. – Scott Simmons for the New
Encyclopedia of Southern Culture
 
 
 
 
 
Early Jazz trumpeter Frank Joseph Christian was born in the Bywater of New Orleans on September 3, 1887. He died on November 27, 1973.
Willie Pastrano
died n New Orleans on December 9, 1997 at the age of 62.
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Lenfant's was offering a Thanksgiving Day (all day) dinner menu in 1957 with Broiled Choice Prime Rib Steak with French fries,
an appetizer, soup, vegetable, and dessert being the most expensive choice at $2.25. The Shrimp Lenfant, and Crabmeat
a la Ritz sound devine. 
Then he got into the restaurant business. He opened several popular Rosedale Inn sit-down and drive-in restaurants around
town. Some locations including one at 1915 Canal Street, one at 5236 Canal Boulevard, one at 5205 Canal Boulevard, and another
at South Claiborne and Jackson Avenue. During the 1930s he owned Lenfant's on Metairie Road at the former location of
his Beverly Gardens gambling house. Leon Prima and his Orchestra (were playing there on October 17, 1930 (Louis played
there, too) and auto service via car-hops was available in the rear. When John Lenfant retired he left the businesses to his
sons.
