Chef Austin’s Creole Kitchen:
A Tribute to Tradition

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Greater New Orleans area and scattered its residents.

Once the water dissipated from the area, local and non-local residents poured into the city to assess the damage and began the rebuilding process. And that is when Mike Jones decided it was finally time to move—not from New Orleans, but to it.

Jones left his hometown of Laguna Beach, and his job of 32 years running his family’s furniture manufacturing business to move to New Orleans with his wife.

“I always knew I would move to New Orleans at some point and I felt this would be the best time,” Jones says. “I want to help rebuild the community.”

Once here, Jones began looking for a place that would be great to open a restaurant or bar.

Jones, whose mother is a Crescent city native, visited New Orleans often and gained a serious admiration for the local culture. The more he visited, he realized the major influence Black chefs had on the local cuisine and the success of famous restaurants, he says.

“We thought bringing a great dining establishment into the area would be a good contribution to the city,” Jones says.

After a while of searching, Jones noticed a for sale sign in front of a vacant building on Broad near St. Bernard.

“I inquired about the building and the rest is history,” Jones says.

Once Jones purchased the building, he and his wife began searching for a name, chef and staff that would reflect the craft of Black chefs that created and perfected the art of Creole cooking.

Jones says that he has always had a great deal of love and fascination for the city and the Black chefs that kept the unique food culture thriving.

“We came up with the name Chef Austin’s Creole Kitchen to pay tribute to all the Black chefs in the city, especially Chef Austin Leslie,” Jones says. “We wanted to remember them by keeping their recipes and traditions alive.”

Honoring Austin Leslie, who died in Atlanta a few weeks after Katrina, was perhaps a no-brainer, but coming up with the name was much easier than hiring a chef and a staff he felt would be true to the traditions of the chefs he wanted to honor, Jones says.

“I knew I wanted people that worked under the guidance of a great chef, but it was difficult since everyone was scattered throughout the country after the hurricane,” he says.

After some searching, Jones contacted Sellers Johnson, a chef that actually studied under Austin Leslie for five years.

“When I first contacted him about being the head chef, he told me he wasn’t interested in cooking anymore. So for several weeks I kept calling him and asked him just to meet with me,” Jones says. “When we met, we realized that we had already met each other a few years back. And that was it. We clicked and now Sellers is the chef.”

Then, they managed to assemble an entire kitchen staff of individual who also worked under Leslie.

Though he had initial reservations, Sellers now says that taking the position as head chef was one of the best decisions he’s ever made.

“This job bought my spirit back. After Chef Austin died, I told myself I was done with cooking; but here I am,” he says. “I love my job. When I come to work, I feel like I’m around family.”

There is plenty of familiarity to help fuel that feeling.

“(We) serve unique popular dishes such as deep fried poboys and (Chef Austin Leslie’s) special, the Number 9—fried chicken, stuffed bell pepper and potato salad,” Jones says.

Not only does Jones stress the paying homage to the great chefs of the city and taking pride in presentation and service, Chef Sellers Johnson does as well.

“It’s important to keep the recipes and traditions alive because when most Black chefs die, their food dies with them,” Sellers says. “Austin Leslie always told me to never rush what you do and that presentation is everything. I make sure all the cooks present the food in the same way.”

Although Jones focuses on having great food, service and a positive atmosphere, he also realizes the urgency to maintain local culture, rebuild and boost the economy.

It is very important to Jones that the restaurant creates jobs and maintains a commitment to and involvement in the community.

“We are aware of the economy, so we base our prices and menu around chicken, seafood and po-boys, great service and good people,” Jones says “Anything we can do in this community to help, we will do.”

In the near future, Jones plans to add valet parking and new menu items.
“We are creating a menu that will have a dish from every great Black chef in the city,” Jones says. “It will be called our great Black chef series.”

Jones takes pride in serving the community with great food, presentation and service.

“I always wanted to have a small bar with good music and food in New Orleans where people could sit, talk and meet other people.” he says. “I love this city. It’s not a diamond in the rough, it’s perfectly cut just the way it is.”

For more information on business hours, catering services and party scheduling, call 940-5786.