Origin Story Part 3

Finding My Love for Hospitality (And My Love for New Orleans)

For those in the midst of the story, remember when we left off I had just resigned from working at Emeril’s Homebase in New Orleans and found myself ready to set out on another adventure that would ultimately lead to my Charleston move!

(Warning: this chapter does end with a brief discussion of Hurricane Katrina. I realize it is nearly the anniversary of that horrific event and understand it might be a trigger for some.)

I started at Elizabeth’s, a sort of New Orleans diner, located in the then remote Bywater neighborhood, in 2004. As I mentioned, I knew Chef/Owner Heidi Trull as she was also an Emeril’s alumni, and she also shared my rebellious streak – leaving the security of a successful restaurant group to open her tiny, breakfast/lunch spot in a neighborhood off the tourist path. She was a gambler, and that drew me to her like a moth to a flame!

I believe the original plan was for me to help out with her down home desserts, but something shifted and she seemed to think I would be a perfect fit for being out front in the middle of the action. As I mentioned this was a diner of sorts, so while you had a server, you actually paid at the register. I manned the register. Sounds simple, but this was a high volume, fast paced, machine of a restaurant. So I checked folks out, answered the phone, helped plate desserts, rolled silverware – all at the same time. Interestingly, this was the job that really taught me to be quick on my feet and the magical restaurant art of multitasking. I loved it.

We had regulars who dined with us several times a week as the menu changed daily. And I got to know the eclectic, artistic mix of folks very well – from musicians to record producers to famous painters – you name it. Elizabeth’s had also received some national recognition at this point so the tourists found us too – showing up in cabs on Saturday mornings for Heidi’s decadent brunch and especially her famed praline bacon! All of this was a sort of hospitality training ground for me – discovering that what I loved most about restaurants might not be the food but rather the relationships. Thus, I learned the other bit of restaurant magic – making folks feel at home and welcomed.

While working there I picked back up my freelance food writing and started my own cake business – Sweet Sarah’s Pound Cakes. I also had begun volunteering for a local adult literacy non-profit, and they eventually offered to hire me as an instructor. As much as I loved Elizabeth’s it seemed like this might be the perfect opportunity to really pursue my writing (alongside teaching and baking). So once again, I brazenly set off in a  new direction. 

I taught adult literacy in the evenings, baked my cakes for a couple of small restaurants, and I wrote about food for some local publications. I had business cards made that said “Sweet Sarah’s Pound Cakes” on the front with a yellow gingham background and a 1950s, housewifey character in a chef’s hat and apron. On the back I listed my seasonal flavors: Lemongrass Vanilla, Chocolate Strawberry, Louisiana Citrus, Café au Lait, and more… (Please click here for last week’s newsletter and one of my all time favorite pound cake recipes – Lemongrass Vanilla.)

At this time, I also rekindled a friendship with another Emeril’s alumni and started a small, underground catering business. To be totally honest, I was 29, freshly divorced from a short and sorry marriage, and I was what we now call a hot mess! But I was also bold and somewhat fearless. My catering partner (and eventual significant other) and I began looking at property to open a gourmet market. We started an LLC, and we even went and scoped out other cities like Atlantic Beach (Florida) and Charleston. New Orleans felt ultra-competitive and saturated so perhaps it would be easier elsewhere??? 

Shortly after returning from our southeastern road trip/market research, we awoke on a Saturday to the news that a hurricane had New Orleans in its projected path. This was our second major hurricane scare in two years. The previous year’s storm had incited a massive evacuation effort, and the hurricane completely missed New Orleans. Thus, a sense of complacency. Also Katrina did not seem to be a threat to Louisiana and Mississippi until it was. Businesses did not even begin to shut down until Saturday night. 

Ultimately, we decided to wake up at dawn on Sunday and drive to the “North Shore” of Lake Pontchartrain to stay with family (40 miles north of New Orleans). We packed enough clothes for a few days, loaded up my dogs, and arrived in Covington with enough time to sit around all day on Sunday playing cards, drinking beer, and watching the news. We had made jambalaya the night before, and we ate that as if it were just another dinner. We went to bed as the rain bands started. Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the early morning of Monday, August 29, over southeastern Louisiana and Mississippi as a category 3. The storm caused more than 20 breaches in the levees/flood walls protecting New Orleans and by August 31 nearly 80% of the city was flooded. 

I don’t intend to rehash my entire post Katrina happenings at this time. It’s a long story and better for another day (perhaps not in hurricane season). But clearly this was a time of change and upheaval. Many people lost everything (including loved ones). I was lucky and did not lose any physical belongings, but I did feel as if I was thrown off my axis. I felt the need for drastic action, and thus a move to Charleston in late 2005. 

Postscript…

Honestly, part of me will always belong to New Orleans. In this post, I’ve focused mostly on my career. But I was madly in love with this city. I ate po boys and saw live music as if it were a religion. I walked my dogs on Esplanade Avenue’s neutral ground (New Orleans for median) every morning. I created elaborate costumes and danced in the streets. I felt as if I found myself in New Orleans, and indeed I found a tribe of like minded friends. Thankfully, I would take that with me. But as the famed song denotes – I DO know what it means to miss New Orleans. 

(Big thanks to my good friend Katherine Slingluff who took this portrait of me just a month or two before Katrina. So lucky that Katherine set out on this environmental portraiture project in the summer of 2005 and grateful to have this beautiful documentation of a special time in my life. You can see more of Katherine’s work by clicking here.)