New Beginnings at Brennan's

Chef Kris Padalino takes up the mantle at Brennan's

One of New Orleans’s most emblematic culinary hotspots has a new executive chef. Following in the footsteps of chefs Ryan Hacker, Slade Rushing, Lazone Randolph, Michael Roussel, and Paul Blangé, Kris Padalino has accepted the mantle of culinary tastemaking signature to Owen Brennan’s legacy. Educated at Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, California, she honed her approach at restaurants in Los Angeles and Denver before making her way to New Orleans. 

[Read this: "Well-Fostered—In the 1950s, Ralph Brennan's family that brought us Bananas Foster. Before that, his ancestors also helped bring bananas to the United States."]

After eight years as part of the Brennan's team as executive sous chef and pastry chef, Padalino has already made her mark on the Brennan's menu, although she has plans to further develop dishes as she leads the classic Creole restaurant into the future—pulling from an interest in Vietnamese flavors and her own Sicilian background. brennansneworleans.com.