About Pain Perdu’s LA2LA Chef

I was born in New Orleans, LA, a fact which has continued to inform every bit of my life. My family moved to Los Angeles when I was a child, joining the mass migration from the Louisiana, and the rest of the South, in the 1950’s. AS a family we continued to make regular visits back to New Orleans throughout my childhood.

Fall of 1969, that turbulent time – I left L.A. (for good, I thought) and headed to the Bay Area where I attended Mills College in Oakland, CA. I couldn’t wait to get to Berkeley. Surprise for me – there were National Guard with bayonets on every corner, and the streets were filled with dog poop and panhandlers. Back at Mills, we had sit down dinners served by waitresses every night in our fancy dining room (we had to wear dresses for Sunday dinners). I managed to graduate with a B.A. in Design for Theater and Dance, and lived in Berkeley for a couple of years after that.

Next, it was on to the “Big Apple” (New York City – here I come!), where I pursued my passion for modern dance and theater – and got the chance to dine and work in the hospitality  industry in one of the world’s greatest food cities. I spent almost 18 years there. Everyone should live in New York for a while when they are young, but it can start wearing thin when you begin reaching your middle years.

I returned to the San Francisco Bay Area (yippee!) to attend the California Culinary Academy where I specialized in Baking and Pastry Arts, and graduated with honors. I lived in Berkeley- right next door to where I lived all those years earlier. 1997- it was back to L.A.- (geez! who would have thought) where I opened Small Pleasures Catering, after over 20 years of working in many aspects of food preparation and service in New York City, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area (you know- the starving artist thing).

In  the 1990’s I once again began regular visits to New Orleans, and in 2014, I shut the doors of the catering company, and returned to New Orleans where I bought a beautiful 135+ year old home. It was great soaking up the history and indulging in the vibrant  post-Katrina culinary scene. I stayed for 6 years, but really, I had become too much of a Californian by this stage in my life, and have just returned in So Cal.

I began writing life stories about 16 years ago, and then Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005. The first incarnation of this blog was a way of coping with my pain at the devastation it wrought on the city of New Orleans.

As a result of blogging, I have met wonderful friends, interviewed great chefs, and visited some pretty cool places. I have also had the wonderful opportunity to develop recipes for Jarlsberg Cheese, Honey Ridge Farms and Lindsay Olives.  I enjoy sharing my varied thoughts, observances and recipes.

What’s next – stay tuned…

Ciao!

Oh- you can contact me at : Gisele@smallpleasurescatering.com