About me
Executive Chef-owner Susan Spicer began her classical French training in 1979 in New Orleans as an apprentice to Chef Daniel Bonnot at the Louis XVI Restaurant. After a four-month stint with chef Roland Durand (Meilleur Ouvrier de France) at the Hotel Sofitel in Paris in 1982, she returned to New Orleans to open the 60-seat bistro Savoir Faire in the St. Charles Hotel as Chef de Cuisine.
In 1985, she traveled extensively in California and Europe for six months, returning to work in the kitchen at the New Orleans Meridien Hotel's Henri (Consulting Chef, Marc Haeberlin of l'Auberge de l'Ill). In 1986, she left to open the tiny Bistro at Maison de Ville in the Hotel Maison de Ville. After nearly four years as Chef, she formed a partnership with Regina Keever, and in the spring of 1990 opened Bayona in a beautiful, 200-year-old Creole cottage in the French Quarter.
With solid support from local diners and critics, Bayona soon earned national attention and has been featured in numerous publications, such as Food and Wine, Gourmet, Food Arts, Bon Appétit, Travel and Leisure, and many more.
Spicer has been guest chef at the James Beard House, on Cunard's Sea Goddess II, the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, on local and national television, and for countless charity events in New Orleans and around the country. In May 1993 she was the recipient of the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Southeast Region, and in 1995 was chosen for the Mondavi Culinary Excellence Award. Bayona was featured as one of Restaurants and Institutions magazine's 1996 Ivy Award winners and received "5 beans," the highest rating, from the New Orleans Times-Picayune. The 1997, 1998 and 1999 "Top Tables" readers' polls in Gourmet magazine listed Bayona among the top five restaurants in New Orleans. While remaining Chef-partner of Bayona, in December of 1997, Spicer opened Spice, Inc., a specialty food market with takeout food and cooking classes. More recently Spicer opened the award-winning restaurant Herbsaint and the specialty food market Wild Flour Breads. Spicer also has been invited to participate in prestigious food festivals such as South Beach Food & Wine and Pebble Beach.
In the 2007 Zagat Guide for New Orleans, Bayona is listed as one of the top restaurants in the city, receiving a rating of 28 points out of 30. Spicer's first cookbook, titled Crescent City Cooking: Unforgettable Recipes from Susan Spicer�s New Orleans, was released nationwide by Knopf in late October 2007.
Awards, Honors and Societies
1993 recipient of the James Beard Award for Best Chef in Southwest Region
1995 Mondavi Culinary Excellence Award
1996 Ivy Award Winner
1997, 1998, 1999 "Top Tables" readers' polls in Gourmet Magazine (Bayona)
Top Restaurants in New Orleans in 2007 Zagat Guide
United States Chef
Follow her
January 5, 2012Hi, Susan - you've done so much more since you signed on to CookEatShare, and I imagine you don't have much time for 'cooking sites' these days. I will have to look you up when I am in NO. You are an inspiration. - best regards - Amos
