2016 Small Town Chefs in Action

Where does the end of May find the 2016 Small Town Chefs? With one month till our Sunday supper at Tin Roof Brewery, Chef Holly Moore Schreiber is in the midst of wedding season at her swooningly picturesque venue Sainte Terre in Benton, Louisiana. And yet the French Culinary Institute graduate is still hunting down even more hours in the summer days to plan supper clubs and churn up ice cream too. “We are in the midst of planning our next Pineywoods Supper Club event in July, which is exciting!” said Chef Holly in a recent email. “Our first in April sold out, so we were really excited with the response. It will be taking place at a secluded lodge on Jeems Bayou, with a wild game menu and lots of bourbon and cigars.  What's not to love?”

Sainte Terre also joined in on the kick-off weekend of the Benton Farmer’s Market, where Chef Holly showcased her new line of housemade ice creams. In August, she’ll act as a chef-host for the Lieutenant Governor’s Tourism Summit in Shreveport. “I will be preparing a 'taste' of North Louisiana for all of the summit guests,” she enthused.

At Northshore’s Bacobar, Chef Carl Schaubhut and Chef Jean-Pierre Guidry have smartly extended their offerings to brunch and a happy hour too. When you’re letting the whole globe be your guide in crafting a menu, you need all the outlets you can get. 

“We’ve got dishes like ‘double decker’ braised pork tacos, fermented black beans, Seoul sauce, cotija ...” said Chef Carl, of the restaurant’s happy from 3 pm–6 pm on weekdays. “White bean, goat cheese, and brown butter hummus ... and smoked jalapeño queso. Also all eight [of our] local draft beers and fifteen wines by the glass half price.” Brunch demands your full attention (and appetite) with indulgences like banana-bacon cream cheese beignets (pictured) topped with miso-blueberry cane syrup, Louisiana strawberries, and a glimmer of powdered sugar.

We catch Chef Toby Rodriguez on the road with his Lâche Pas Boucherie. (“Lâche pas” means “don’t let go,” and it’s the perfect descriptor for Chef Toby’s ardent revival of the old Cajun tradition of butchering livestock.) After treating Nashville to this communal slice of real Louisiana culture, the team’s headed to St. Louis for Memorial Day Weekend and Boulder in early June. If you’d like to catch Chef Toby in Louisiana, you’ve got two options: wait ‘til the Runaway Boucherie in November … or get your tickets to our 2016 Small Town Chefs Awards Dinner on Sunday, June 26. 

Five courses • Four chefs 
• Paired beers • Live music from Minos the Saint
4:30 pm–7:30 pm
Tin Roof Brewery 
Baton Rouge, La.
$90 at Eventbrite.com