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Like foodies do everywhere, writers Ian McNulty and Chelsea Shannon take photos of the table full of dishes at Fury's Restaurant in Metairie. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)

Between lunch and dinner service, when the kitchen was preparing for the evening, a small group would convene, usually on the patio, to talk food. Maybe it was the specifics of new dishes in development or what they wanted to try next.

This was at Commander’s Palace in the 1970s. It was early days for the now-landmark Garden District restaurant. Ella Brennan and her siblings were proprietors and Paul Prudhomme, the future global ambassador of Louisiana flavor, was executive chef.

Timeline: Ella Brennan changed how New Orleans and America eats

Breaking with the tradition of hiring European chefs for fine dining restaurants, Ella and her brother Dick appointed Paul Prudhomme as the executive chef at Commander's Palace. (Photo from The Times-Picayune archive)

Marcelle Bienvenu worked in catering for the Brennan family back then and often saw these meetings in action.

“They called it the food meeting, and said only foodies were invited,” Bienvenu said.

Could this be the origin of the now pervasive term foodie?

Bienvenu thinks so and so does Ti Martin, the daughter of the late Ella Brennan, who runs Commander’s Palace today with her cousin Lally Brennan.

The Oxford English Dictionary first cites the use of the term foodie in a 1980 story by New York Magazine restaurant critic Gael Greene, drawing a quote that resonates today.

“She ... slips into the small Art Deco dining room of Restaurant d'Olympe ... to graze cheeks with her devotees, serious foodies,” Greene wrote.

These food meetings of foodies at Commander’s Palace were happening before the 1980s though. So perhaps Bienvenu and Martin have a point.

“Who’s Your Mama…”

Bienvenu is an authority on all things food in Louisiana, and the topic of foodies came up at a reception at Commander’s Palace celebrating the return of her seminal cookbook.

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At Commander's Palace (from left) co-proprietors Lally Brennan and Ti Martin, chef Meg Bickford and author Marcelle Bienvenu celebrate Bienvenu's re-released cookbook. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

In addition to working for the Brennan family in those formative years for Commander’s Palace, she went on to run a restaurant, teach culinary arts at Nicholls State University and for 30 years, wrote a food column for The Times-Picayune.

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Marcelle Bienvenu's 1991 cookbook "Who's Your Mama, Are You Catholic, and Can You Make a Roux," in a new edition for 2024.

Among her many works is a cookbook first published in 1991 with the epic title “Who’s Your Mama, Are You Catholic, and Can You Make a Roux?” The title spells out the criteria for an acceptable romantic suitor in the Cajun culture of Bienvenu’s own Acadiana upbringing, and the thick tome is filled with recipes she curated from her family.

It was sadly out of print, but no more.

A fifth edition of the book has been released by a new publisher, Susan Schadt Press, with the same recipes and stories, and a beautiful new design with fresh art by photographer Randy Krause Schmidt.

Coining foodie and usage

In 1999, the Commander’s Palace family opened a market and deli concept in Metairie called Foodies Kitchen. Martin said back then she had no trouble securing the trade name Foodies, as it still wasn’t in much use.

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Writer Ian McNulty at Crazy Hot Pot restaurant in Metairie on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. (Photo by Chris Granger | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

That has certainly changed, as, sometimes, the connotation. It can have a derisive context, implying that someone is perhaps annoyingly obsessed with trends and fads. But mostly, to self-identify as a foodie means owning one’s passion for culinary pursuits and the pleasures they bring.

Today, Bienvenu and Martin both point to the late Betty Hoffman as the originator of the foodie term around Commander’s Palace. She handled public relations for the restaurant and worked with management closely. She was impressed by the restaurant’s food meetings and started calling the people who participated foodies.

It entered the restaurant’s own in-house lexicon, and proved a helpful handle for managers and staff to assess a full dining room, Martin says today.

Commander's Palace owners celebrate James Beard honor by staying close to ailing Ella Brennan

The staff of Commander's Palace raised a toast Monday, May 7, 2018, in the restaurant's main dining room. (Photo by David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

“It was easy to relate that someone was serious about food, they weren’t just here on a business meeting,” she said. "You'd say 'they're foodies, they get it.'"

“Mom really hated the word gourmet. She wanted Commander’s Palace to be more approachable, so foodie suited her just fine,” Martin said.

Louisiana Saturday Night

Commander's Palace chefs meeting in New Orleans, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. (Staff photo by David Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com)

The tradition of the food meeting still continues at Commander’s Palace, Martin confirms.

“You’re not allowed to talk about the oven that’s broken, or anything else, you can just talk about food,” she said.

The new edition of “Who's Your Mama, Are You Catholic, and Can You Make A Roux?” is now available at local stores. See upcoming book event details at marcellebienvenu.com.

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Email Ian McNulty at imcnulty@theadvocate.com.

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