Ella Brennan
Commander’s Palace Founder Ella Brennan
is Honored at the 2022 New Orleans Wine and Food Experience (NOWFE)
By Elaine & Scott Harris
As a city known for parades, festivals, cocktails, and cuisine, New Orleans is the place to celebrate the best in life. One way to delve deep into the Southern Food scene and rub elbows with the movers, shakers, and thinkers behind Nola’s culinary brilliance is by attending NOWFE, the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience.
As avid advocates of Nola’s culinary history, we decided a recent post-Covid visit was long overdue. NOWFE was back to 100% capacity, and we were eager to see our beloved culinary city back in action at one of the 10 Best General Food Festivals and Best Wine Festivals deemed by USA Today. NOWFE raises over $1.5 million for local non-profit organizations. Each year a recipient is honored in the memory of local culinary grand dame Ella Brennan. Being the 30th-anniversary event, the annual Ella Brennan Lifetime Achievement in Hospitality Award Gala honored local Chef Frank Brigtsen as an outstanding chef whose contribution to leadership, personal, professional, and philanthropic contributions. Frank began his fifty-plus year career as a culinary apprenticeship under Paul Prudhomme at Commander’s Palace.
Commander’s Palace
Leading the culinary world for over 70 years, Ella Brennan was ahead of her time in overcoming a male-dominated business. She took the helm, and her spirit reigns the culinary world. Just as the ubiquitous blue and white striped awnings of the Commander’s wave against the hanging moss-covered trees, Ella’s hospitality essence elevates the very fabric and foundation of New Orleans and the foundation of this iconic restaurant. Ella exuded unparalleled exactness, giving her the accolade of the James Beard lifetime award in 2009.
New Orleans has many jewels in its crown. For an authentic NOLA experience, we jumped on the Green Trolly of the famed “St Charles Streetcar Line,” the oldest and most notable line. Our emotions swelled as we sat back, relaxed, rode past ancient tree-lined streets and Antebellum homes, and arrived at Commander’s Palace, a New Orleans landmark since 1893, nestled in the renowned tree-lined Garden District. It is known for the award-winning quality of its food and its classic southern atmosphere. The history of this famous restaurant offers a glimpse into New Orleans’ storied past. It is the go-to destination for Haute Creole cuisine and Louisiana charm, offering culinary lore and earning seven James Beard Foundation Awards.
Ella, Dottie, Dick, and John Brennan took over personal supervision of the restaurant in 1974; they began to give the splendid landmark a new look both inside and out, including painting the iconic “Commander’s Blue outside.”
Private Dining at Commander’s Palace
As always, Commanders Place and the Brennans do it right yearly, decade after decade. As a long-time friend and patron, Sheryl Thompson said, “New Orleanians enjoy and support Commander’s because it is unpretentious. Food quality and presentation are always consistent and of the highest level, and they focus on impeccable service. Family involvement is in every aspect of the restaurant. They greet you at the front door and find time to support foundations.”
Pan-Roasted Sheep’s Head at Commander’s Palace
“How did you fall in love with New Orleans? At once, madly. Looking back, sometimes I think it was predestined,” -Andrei Codrescu once mused.
Any visit to New Orleans should include an experience at this legendary landmark. Begin at Commander’s Palace, and you will fall in love with New Orleans through the glorious food, service, and the extraordinary people who make it all possible.
Alligator Sauce Piquant at Commander’s Palace