St. Charles Avenue Magazine Food Column, February, 2004
By Michael Depp

As we parade toward the apex of Mardi Gras profligacy this month, something of the abiding Catholic in me always needs a balm. Not that I'm a naysayer - I love king cakes, midafternoon drinking and parade-watching, even catching bits of the stuffy Rex ball on TV just as much as the next guy - but part of me also wonders just how much civic energy is expended on all this that might have otherwise helped some people out.

To recover my faith in the possibility of selflessness, I turn to the people I so enjoy writing about and spending time with - chefs. While I always marvel at their indefatigable energy, I'm equally impressed by the sense of civic duty that so many of them have. And their commitment to charity seems to grow proportionally with their success: The upstarts who began by hosting some gratis fundraising dinners or giving away gift certificates graduate to starting foundations or galvanizing their peers around the country to a cause. And equally impressive is that they don't broadcast their actions, which is why I'm now pleased to do it for them.

Café Giovanni's chef Duke LoCicero has been raising money for sick kids for years, largely for the Pediatric AIDS Foundation and for the Tulane Medical Center, where his wife has been a longtime pediatric cancer nurse. His friend Ron Canatella, a police officer, helped him to start the Chef Duke Foundation for Kids, which gave his efforts more of a structure. And when Canatella died from lung cancer, LoCicero also helped grant his last wish by hosting a fundraising dinner for the families of fellow Louisiana officer who died in the line of duty. LoCicero raised $16,000 for the cause.

Chef Susan Spicer of Bayona is one of the city's highest profile chefs and also one of its most generous ones. At the top of a very long list of her charitable involvements is Share Our Strength, a Washington, D.C.-based group that fights poverty and hunger for which she serves as co-chair. Spicer also gives significantly to Parkway Partners, the N.O. Library Foundation and Dollars for Scholars, and she has traveled around the country to benefits for Meals on Wheels, Taste of the NFL (which benefits hunger relief at the Super Bowl) and Nutcracker Sweets (which benefits the Center for Abused Women and Children in San Antonio, TX.).

The Emeril Lagasse Foundation had an impressive kickoff in December when the chef brought Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick into town for an exhibition tennis match, providing free tickets to 2,000 local students and raising $150,000 for the foundation in the process. The foundation concretizes charitable efforts Lagasse has been making for years, targeting organizations that help kids for donations and assistance. The Friends of NORD were an immediate beneficiary of the Agassi/Roddick match - they'll get funds to reach inner city kids through tennis. Lagasse has two more fundraisers on tap for late winter/early spring including a fundraising event for the foundation at his restaurant in February and a benefit for local students with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra on March 26-27. On the 26th, he'll again offer up 1,500 free tickets to local school kids for a live "cooking concert" with the orchestra at the Orpheum Theater.

Since 1985, Lagasse has also been a committed supporter of the St. Michael's Special School in Uptown, an organization that has become an informal fraternity of sorts for the many local chefs who support it. Chef Frank Brigsten of Brigsten's is another supporter/member, as is chef Mike Roussel of Brennan's and chef John Besh of Restaurant August and the Besh Steakhouse in Harrah's Casino and many others, who will kindly forgive their omission here for the sake of economy.

Besh has otherwise been a significant benefactor of the Make-a-Wish Foundation and a toward research for a disease that has struck close to home since a childhood friend was diagnosed with ALD, a debilitating disease affecting mobility. In the past he has hosted everything from pig roasts to cocktail parties in the penthouse at August to raise money for the cause, and he's now planning on a month-long prix fixe menu whose proceeds would be earmarked for ALD research. "It's something I thought was important because a lot of diseases don't affect a ton of people, so they don't get the publicity or the funds," he says. "Hopefully, we'll start something here."

Some restaurants partner with civic organizations for more focused charitable efforts, such as Muriel's has done with the LPO. "Muriel's has really been extraordinary," says Sharon Litwin, the LPO's executive director. "For three years in a row they've done a wine tasting for us that has been just really beautiful and become a tradition." Numerous other restaurants have also supported the LPO by hosting dinners for visiting artists and special guests. Rene Bistrot, Mr. B's Bistro, Dooky Chase's, Deanie's, Arnaud's, the Sazerac and Smith & Wollensky are among those whose meals have helped induce international musicians down to New Orleans for a fraction of their regular fees.

At The Court of Two Sisters, July becomes an annual Salute to Sisterhood to benefit the Little Sisters of the Poor. That month, for anyone who brings a sister (or someone like a sister) to brunch, the restaurant donates the proceeds from the sister's brunch to the charity, which all in adds up to a minimum of $5,000 each year.

Drago's in Metairie is a hefty supporter of the Louisiana Restaurant Association's School to Career program, as well as Children's Hospital, Covenant House and the Salvation Army, focusing their efforts on feeding the hungry. "Since we are in the restaurant business and since we make our money preparing and selling food, we want to help people who don't have food," says Klara Cvitanovich, who started the restaurant with her husband.

There are scores of others. Commander's Palace supports the annual Night of the Child to prevent child abuse in Louisiana as well as numerous other causes; Brennan's has helped to launch both Boys' Hope and Girls' Hope in New Orleans for troubled kids; Galatoire's has benefited the LPO, the March of Dimes, Catholic Charities and the Archdiocese of New Orleans, among others.

I've left out many other chefs and restaurants here for want of room to enumerate them, as it would take far more than the space of this column. But suffice it to say that a sense of civics is thriving in one New Orleans industry thanks to the personal tenacity of so many restaurateurs and chefs. Maybe it's something in their constitution or some fundamental sense of service that extends from their training or the unique culture of the kitchen. Regardless, may it ever be so.