This is an interview I did with the Hammond Daily Star while I was the Executive Chef at Speakeasy in Ponchatoula, LA. I was given the opportunity to run my first kitchen since Hurricane Katrina by one of the nicest men I have ever known, Dr. Robert Benson. As a lot of you will understand, I still had a lot of emotional baggage I was dealing with recovering from all I had lost, including a part of myself. Unfortunately, things did not work out. Leaving Speakeasy and the Bensons is still one of my biggest professional regrets. It is rare in this business to find that special someone who believes in your abilities and shares in your creative vision enough to put all of themselves and resources behind you. Looking back I think that I was still too immature and guarded to be able to allow someone like Dr. Benson to ultimately lead me to what now I can only dream of. I often think of contacting him to mend our relationship and express my deepest apologies for my part in our professional separation, but don't out of cowardice and regret. I think that we could do something really special in our area, but am afraid that bridge has been burned. I hope this gets to the Bensons so that they know that a day has not gone by that I wish I was still with them in Ponchatoula; with the friends I made, the customers I served, and with the family I had in the Bensons. If I had never said it before, "Thank you, Doc, for all of your help and for believing in me when I couldn't even believe in myself."
Chef returns after Katrina
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Daily Star Staff Writer PONCHATOULA - Few and far between are the Louisiana men who cannot cook, even if only the simplest dishes. Many Louisiana males have earned international reputations for their culinary talents. And, like Blake Acosta, the new executive chef at the Speakeasy in Ponchatoula, they frequently learn at home. In Acosta's case, it was from his grandmother, a "country raised Cajun lady" from New Iberia, as he describes her. Using his home training and natural talent for cooking as a calling card, Acosta apprenticed at several restaurants, learning the cooking and business skills necessary to become an executive chef. His journey through the culinary landscape of South Louisiana and the East Coast landed him in Ponchatoula, at the Speakeasy, one of the community's increasingly popular eating establishments. Here, he says he has the opportunity to create a menu that will offer customers some of the finest, and most original, cuisine in the area.A native of St. Bernard Parish, Acosta is a 1990 graduate of Chalmette High School who was displaced by Hurricane Katrina. He says he comes from a family of talented cooks. An aversion to yard work launched him on his cooking career. As a youngster of eight or nine, his grandfather would insist that he help with the yard work. Acosta said there were few activities he hated worse than yard work. So, when his grandfather would call, his grandmother would "cover" for him by saying he was helping her cook. And actually, he was. "She let me mix batters, showed me how to fry things and how to combine different flavors from different foods," Acosta said. "I was really too young then to realize what she was doing, but over the years, I learned a lot from her." By the time he was 13, he was cooking on his own. He attended Nunez Community College for a while and then enrolled at Loyola University of New Orleans, leaving with only three semesters needed to earn a music business degree. By this time he was married with a child, so cooking for his family was a logical parental duty. "I also cooked to calm myself down," Acosta said. "Even when I was young, when I would get mad or upset about something, I would head to the kitchen and start cooking. It would take my mind off my troubles." On an occasion when he was in the check out line of a large grocery store in the New Orleans area, he noticed that the man in front of him had a grocery cart half full of sour cream cartons. "I jokingly told him he must be planning to make a heck of a lot of dip," Acosta said. They got to talking. It turned out that the man was an executive chef at a large restaurant. Acosta inquired about a job, and was hired then and there. From there he worked at several well known New Orleans area restaurants. Then came Katrina. He and his family evacuated to Myrtle Beach, S.C., where his wife had some friends. They thought it would be only for a few days. They did not return to Louisiana until December. Acosta did some restaurant work in the Myrtle Beach area, but Louisiana was calling. They had lost everything to the hurricane, but when the opportunity arose for a job at a Covington restaurant, he accepted. He found no affordable housing in Covington, so he and his family moved to Pumpkin Center and he commuted to work. About mid-January, he was told by a friend about the Speakeasy, so he applied. Acosta worked as a line cook for the first three weeks, and was then asked to take charge of the kitchen as executive chef. He said he now has the opportunity to create a menu of good food at reasonable prices, along with promoting a good atmosphere with good service. Acosta said the Speakeasy is predominantly a steakhouse, but he also promotes gumbos, po boys and sauce dishes. He said he makes his own seasonings, which is the signature of his cuisine. Another feature that Speakeasy offers that few restaurants do is prepare the dishes from scratch. "We cook basically from scratch, including our sauces," he said. The dish for which he receives the most compliments is Eggplant Legnon, "Legnon" being his grandmother's maiden name. He said his grilled dishes have also been well received. Acosta feels the menu is going in the right direction. He said he would like to reach the point where he could offer extravagant desserts. "But for a while, the menu will probably be evolving because I want the customers to let me know what they like best," he said. Speakeasy offers a "Blues, Jam and Barbecue" night on Wednesdays in the courtyard at the rear of the restaurant. It is a laid back evening of music and barbecue in a relaxed atmosphere, Acosta says. Live entertainment is also offered inside on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and for the Sunday brunch. Located at 147 Northwest Railroad Ave. in downtown Ponchatoula, hours are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday for lunch, and 5 p.m. until for dinner. Saturday hours are from 11 a.m. until the restaurant closes. The Sunday brunch is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
