Chef Frank Brigtsen
Brigtsen's
New Orleans, Louisiana
September 10 - 12, 2010

We complete 2010 with a nationally acclaimed chef from our favorite food city. Chef Frank Brigtsen is at the forefront of a new generation of New Orleans chefs who are revitalizing Creole/Acadian cooking. In 1979, he apprenticed at Commander’s Palace Restaurant under the guidance of internationally acclaimed Chef Paul Prudhomme and later became the first Night Chef at K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen when the restaurant began dinner service. During his seven-year tenure with Chef Prudhomme at K-Paul’s, Frank attained the position of Executive Chef. Paul and the late Kay Prudhomme were instrumental in helping Frank and his wife Marna open Brigtsen’s in 1986. At Brigtsen’s he utilizes his native New Orleans palate to create dishes that pay tribute to the traditions of Louisiana cuisine. A restaurant critic for The Times-Picayune described Frank’s interpretation of Creole/Acadian food as a “reaffirmation that Louisiana cooking is America’s most durable and satisfying. Brigtsen’s is now the place against which all other restaurants serving South Louisiana cuisine have to be measured.” Over the years Frank has been named a Food & Wine “Best New Chef,” New Orleans magazine “Chef of the Year,” and Best Chef Southeast by the James Beard Foundation. In the 2009 Zagat survey, Brigtsen’s Restaurant was voted “top food,” “top service,” and “top wine list” in New Orleans. Frank has also received the James Beard Humanitarian award for his supports of numerous charitable endeavors, including Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation and the Chefs’ Charity for St. Michael’s School. Frank also teaches Contemporary Creole and Acadian Cuisine at The John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University.

For more information on culinary weekends, please call 866.451.6750 or 662.451.6750.