This image is the cover for the book Miss Ella of Commander's Palace

Miss Ella of Commander's Palace

In this culinary memoir, readers get a personal tour of the storied New Orleans restaurant with the woman who put it—and Creole cuisine—on the map.

Meet Ella Brennan: mother, mentor, blunt-talking fireball, and matriarch of a New Orleans restaurant empire. Ella is famous for bringing national attention to Creole cuisine, and her unique vision is best summed up in her own words: "I don’t want a restaurant where a jazz band can’t come marching through."

In this candid autobiography, Ella shares her life story from childhood in the Great Depression to opening acclaimed eateries. When the Brennans launched Commander’s Palace, it became the city’s most popular restaurant. Many of the city’s most famous chefs such as Paul Prudhomme, Emeril Lagasse, Troy McPhail, and many others, got their start there.

Miss Ella of Commander’s Palace describes the drama, the disasters, and the abundance of love, sweat, and grit it takes to become the matriarch of New Orleans’ finest restaurant empire.

Ella Brennan, Ti Martin

James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award winner Ella Brennan was born in 1925 in New Orleans, Louisiana. From her first job at the age of 18 working in her brother’s bar, she has spent her entire professional life in the restaurant business, with her crowning achievement being the Commander’s Palace restaurant. She has two children, Ti and Alex, and still lives in New Orleans.Ti Adelaide Martin is the daughter of Ella Brennan. Raised in New Orleans, she has followed in her mother’s footsteps and is now co-proprietor of Commander’s Palace. She remembers her mother “always hosting these lavish parties at our house,” she recalls. “There were always lots of interesting people there from around the country, many from the culinary world.”

Gibbs Smith