Dooky Chase's Restaurant named a James Beard America's Classic

The big picture: Dooky Chase's represents the foundation's winner for its South category, which includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Puerto Rico.

• New Orleans restaurants have only been tapped for the award a handful of times since it was introduced in 1998.
• Other local winners include Mosca's, Willie Mae's Scotch House, Hansen's Sno Bliz and Dong Phuong Bakery.

Flashback: Dooky Chase's opened in 1939 as a sandwich shop and convenience store.

• Edgar "Dooky" Chase Jr. and his wife, Leah Chase, transformed the shop into a full restaurant just two years later.
• With Leah in the kitchen, Dooky Chase's became became an icon of Creole New Orleans cooking thanks to her gumbo and fried chicken recipes.
• And the restaurant itself became one of the city's first galleries of Black art while the tables served as meeting grounds for Black civil rights activists.

Leah Chase died in 2019, but her family has carefully maintained her legacy.

What's next: The Chases will be honored in the James Beards Awards in Chicago in June.

Go deeper: James Beard names 13 New Orleans semifinalists for 2025 awards