Gautreau's chef finalist for Beard Award
Sue Zemanick, the 28-year-old executive chef at Gautreau’s, is one of six finalists for the 2009 James Beard Foundation’s Rising Star Chef of the Year Award. The Beard Foundation, which recognizes achievement in the food and beverage industry, will announce a winner in a May 4 ceremony in New York.

“Things are picking up here,” said Zemanick, noting an increase in reservations since her nomination was announced Monday.

Nominees for each category for the Beard awards were chosen earlier this year, and the finalists were named this week.

The Rising Star honor is given to a chef age 30 or younger. Zemanick has been with Gautreau’s for five years after spending her first two years in New Orleans with Commander's Palace. A native of Pennsylvania, she graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.

“I had planned on staying here a year, but New Orleans definitely grew on me,” she said. “People wake up here talking about food and where they’re going to have their next meal.”

In addition to Zemanick, the Beard Foundation named Ella Brennan, a partner in the Commander’s Palace family of restaurants, its 2009 Life Achievement Award winner. Brennan has owned and operated her 129-year Uptown landmark since 1969 and oversees a group of 11 restaurants

She got her start in the restaurant business in 1943 when her brother, Owen, bought the Old Absinthe House and needed her help running its office. Superstar chefs Emeril Lagasse and Paul Prudhomme got their start under Brennan at Commander’s Palace.

Lagasse’s namesake restaurant is also a Beard Foundation nominee for 2009 in the Outstanding Service Award category. In 1991, Lagasse was named top Southeast region chef.

John Harris, executive chef at Lilette, is one of five finalists for best chef in the South region. His resume
includes a stop at Gautreau’s as executive chef. He worked in Pittsburgh and Chicago before coming to New Orleans as a sous chef under Susan Spicer at Bayona. He later worked with Gerard Maras while working to open Lilette in December 2000.

"The important thing for restaurants like ours is not cutting corners," said Harris when asked about the economy's effects on the industry. "You don't cut your staff, you don't serve smaller portions. Your customers appreciate value and are willing to pay for quality."

Harris said he anticipated being named a Beard finalist will increase traffic at his Magazine Street establishment.

The Beard Foundation awards also cover the media, and two New Orleans efforts were among the finalists announced Monday.

“Cooking Up a Storm: Recipes Lost and Found from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans” is a nominee for a book award for American Cooking. Marcelle Bienvenu and Judy Walker edited the book.

“We Live to Eat: New Orleans’ Love Affair with Food,” a documentary produced by e/Prime Media and the Historic New Orleans College, is nominated for a broadcast award for Television Food Show, National and Local.