Bayona
James
Beard award-winning chef is back on the line.
Chef Susan Spicer spent her pre-Katrina days collaborating with her Chef d'Cuisine, writing special menus, doing charity work and working on a cookbook. She is now back behind the line. The Chef d'Cuisine, sous chef and prep staff who had been with the lauded chef for 10 years decided not to return to New Orleans and Bayona.
Bayona opened on Thanksgiving Day with 50 percent of its pre-Katrina staff. Spicer promoted her best line cook, age 25, to sous chef and worries that she puts too much on his shoulders. She works on the line and says, "I'm cooking. It's what I do. It's not torture, but I am not just a line cook. I can't just worry about one station. I gotta make a menu, get the ordering done."
Doing it all, she's been able to put many of her signature dishes back on the menu.
Although the 200-year-old creole cottage which holds Bayona recieved only minimal damage from the storm, its 8,000 bottle wine collection -- worth a quarter-million dollars -- was completely destroyed. Shannon Skarda, Bayona's sommelier says it has been both challenging and exciting building a new collection from scratch.
430 Rue Dauphine • New Orleans, Louisiana 70112 • (504) 525-4455
Link: Bayona