Photo by Abby Sands
Meet the husband-and-wife team who took home a Small Town Chefs Award.
When Keith and Nealy Frentz were working as sous chefs at the New Orleans landmark (and now-lamented) Brennan’s Restaurant back in 2005, their lives were different. They were in their twenties. They were single and dating. Both had graduated from the prestigious Johnson & Wales University with degrees in culinary arts before finding themselves in Brennan’s exalted kitchen in the world-famous French Quarter. The future was bright, careers as big-city chefs virtually assured.
Hurricane Katrina altered their trajectory. Post-storm, the couple moved in with Keith’s family on the Northshore and hunkered down, waiting for Brennan’s to reinstate their jobs. When months had passed and the restaurant still hadn’t reopened, they realized it was time to consider Plan B. Keith was twenty-eight and Nealy twenty-three when they opened the doors to LOLA in Keith’s hometown of Covington, population 8,765.
Now, both recipients of Country Roads magazine’s inaugural Best Small Town Chefs Award, the Frentzes see that honor as yet one more affirmation that the decision in January 2006 to become chef-restaurateurs was not premature. LOLA was one of three culinary lights to be recognized in June at an awards dinner at the Louisiana Culinary Institute in Baton Rouge. The awards were established to showcase the culinary passion displayed in Louisiana towns of fewer than 25,000 residents.
The honor is only the latest recognition for the couple, named Chefs to Watch in 2009 by Louisiana Cookin’ magazine and crowned King and Queen of Louisiana Seafood in 2012. That win moved them forward to represent Louisiana nationally in the Great American Seafood Cook-off, where they placed second. They’ve learned that cooking in a small town doesn’t mean your talent goes unrecognized. Nealy competed on the Food Network’s popular Chopped show (coming in as runner-up), and the Frentzes will be showcased in an upcoming episode of the Cooking Channel’s Eat Street.
The LOLA chefs won the Louisiana Seafood title with a dish they called Friday Lunch Special, featuring Des Allemands catfish, Camellia red bean and local crawfish succotash, along with braised collards and house-made tartar sauce. The dish, which takes common local and seasonal ingredients and elevates them to something special, is typical of the couple’s style of cooking. LOLA showcases that style beautifully despite the fact that the restaurant has two very distinct personalities. Casual by day, feeding waves of courthouse workers and other downtown types, the restaurant features daily specials, lovely soups, and creative salads and sandwiches. If that sound basic, it isn’t. Everything is house-made, including the bread, the salad dressings, and the memorable chicken salad (so good it should have its own fan club). Nealy, a talented baker known for red velvet cupcakes and ooey-gooey cakes, has been known to whip the clientele into a frenzy bringing out trays of still-warm cinnamon buns, redolent of spice and mama love.
On Friday and Saturday evenings, the two chefs lean a little harder on their fine-dining backgrounds to offer a menu that is both sophisticated and comforting. There are three oyster appetizers, including Oysters 517 with flash-fried oysters, spinach, and brie; a memorable veal lasagna with house-made pasta, Parmesan béchamel, provolone, and San Marzano tomatoes; risotto with Louisiana sweet potatoes, crisp prosciutto, and a poached yard egg; and Gulf shrimp with impossibly creamy grits. The dining room, recently renovated, is bathed in candlelight; there’s a serious buzz coming from the bar; and conversation is lively with anticipation of a great meal.
LOLA makes its home in old Covington’s historic train station; the chefs’ kitchen is literally a caboose, a tiny space almost requiring mutual fondness among the chefs who work there.
The couple, married two years after opening LOLA, has settled into the Northshore fabric seamlessly. They now live in Abita Springs, minutes from the restaurant, with their two children—Ella, five and a half, and Holden, sixteen months.
Sheri Sable Campbell is a fan. As director of public and intergovernmental relations for the St. Tammany Parish Assessor’s Office, located just a block from the restaurant, Campbell finds herself at LOLA for lunch often. Her favorite dish, offered without hesitation, is the red beans: “Hands down the best red beans and rice I have ever had in my life.”
Campbell says she admires the Frentzes for more than their skill with the humble red bean, calling them super-talented chefs who shine as a team. “They play on each other’s strengths and continue to grow—nurturing their business, perfecting their talent, and finding just the right rhythm to juggle work, marriage, and parenthood. They are dedicated and hard-working, and I admire them for it.”
The Frentzes also are known for their willingness to serve the community. On the second Tuesday of each month, they donate pots of the red beans and rice Campbell likes so much to Faith Bible Church’s “413” program, which assists men with substance addictions. The couple also participates in Chef Soirée each year (which benefits the area’s Youth Service Bureau) and in the Jazz-n-Roll fundraiser for St. Paul’s Catholic School, where Keith attended high school.
The pair operates the Northshore’s only food truck, the big red kitchen on wheels known as Lola Deux, a familiar sight at the farmers market and at Covington’s Rockin’ the Rails concerts. Nealy and a staffer work the truck, handing a lot of great flavors through its window—wild catfish taco, pig sandwich, white truffle Parmesan fries, the Mother Trucker sandwich with brisket, pulled pork, fries, slaw, provolone, pickle relish, and Creole mayo.
“Our food is simple and clean,” said Nealy. “We do food we’d like when we go out to eat. It’s food that makes sense. We’re not going to just keep layering and layering.”
The Brennan’s days seem like ancient history. “There’s a satisfaction in running my own restaurant,” said Keith. “I answer to myself. We do stuff we like.”
They do enjoy going into the city to eat out and bring ideas back, and they’ve found a receptive audience in Covington. “The people here trust us and expect us to try new things on them,” said Nealy. “We’ve been doing grilled octopus with white bean purée, and we’re selling out of it at nighttime. We have to keep it interesting for them and for us.”
And how do small town audiences differ from big city ones?
Nealy smiles. “People expect bigger portions.”
Details. Details. Details.
LOLA
517 North New Hampshire
Covington, La.
(985) 892-4992 • lolacovington.com
Chefs Keith and Nealy teamed up to showcase their rabidly popular cuisine at our 2014 Small Town Chefs Awards Dinner on June 26, 2014, at the Louisiana Culinary Institute.
You can visit LOLA with the Frentzes in this behind-the-scenes video of the chefs whipping up their delicious bruschetta for the award dinner!
