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Leah Chase on the cover of a book by Carol Allen.

Leah Chase (1923 - ) is a New Orleans chef, author and television personality. A daughter of the same name is a professional singer; see Leah Chase (singer).

Known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine, Chase promoted African American art and Creole cooking. Her restaurant, Dooky Chase, was known as gathering place during the 1960s among many of who participated in the Civil Rights movement, and her restaurant was known as gallery of its extensive African American Art collection.

Leah Chase was born on January 6, 1923 to Creole parents in Madisonville, Louisiana. When Chase was 14 years old, she moved to New Orleans to live with relatives and attend St. Mary's Academy. After high school, Chase worked in the Colonial Restaurant in the French Quarter in New Orleans. In 1945, she married musician Edgar "Dooky" Chase II, whose parents owned the Dooky Chase Restaurant. Chase began working at the restaurant during the 1950s and, over time, she eventually converted the menu to reflect her own family's Creole recipes. She also developed an interest in African American art and began to display dozens of paintings by local African American artists.

In 2005, Chase's restaurant flooded during Hurricane Katrina with four feet of water, with the roof collapsing over the takeout kitchen. To save Chase's African-American art collection from damage, her grandson placed the art collection in storage. As of September 2006, work for gutting and repairs continues in the building that houses Chase's restaurant.

Dooky Chase restaurant is scheduled to open April 5, 2007 after undergoing monumental repairs due to Hurricane Katrina.

Leah Chase hosts a cooking show devoted to Creole cooking, and she is the author of several cookbooks.

• The Dooky Chase Cookbook (1990) ISBN 0-88289-661-X
• And I Still Cook (2003) ISBN 1-56554-823-X
• Down Home Healthy : Family Recipes of Black American Chefs (1994) ISBN 0-16-045166-3

• Louisiana Creole cuisine
• Cajun cuisine

• Leah Chase New Orleans Online
• Lifetime Achievement Award - Leah Chase Southern Foodways Alliance (2000)
• Allen, Carol Listen, I Say This (biography of Leah Chase) (2002)ISBN 1-58980-048-6
• Leah Chase of Dooky Chase Restaurant St. Mary's Academy Newsletter
• Can New Orleans Get Cooking Again? Los Angeles Daily News (November 8, 2005)
• Leah Chase biography and video interview excerpts by The National Visionary Leadership Project
• Audio interview with Leah Chase New Orleans PodCasting (November 21, 2006)