Dooky Chase's Restaurant in Treme reopened today, for the first time since proprietor Leah Chase passed away Saturday. Patrons filled the restaurant to pay their respects to the late Queen of Creole Cuisine.
"Your strong support has meant the world to us," said Chase's daughter, Stella Reese. "Sometimes, we felt like we had to share our mother. But in this case, we're feeling the benefits of having to share our mother."
Reese says the outpouring of public sympathy has been "unbelievable."
Meanwhile, Reese, the manager of the restaurant, says they are about to make plans to expand the restaurant and its menu.
In addition to expanding the menu, the business will restore its second-floor dining room, as a tribute to the civil rights movement in New Orleans. Dooky Chase's was a meeting place for activists both black and white, as they planned ways to fight back against Jim Crow laws that segregated the South.
The family also announced today funeral plans for Leah Chase. Public viewing will begin Saturday at Xavier University with mass and burial on Monday.