Eric Cook, a former U.S. Marine, discovered his passion for cooking after returning home from combat missions. He now runs successful New Orleans restaurants, Gris-Gris and Saint John, and has authored a cookbook, 'Modern Creole,' showcasing the rich culinary traditions of his hometown.
Eric Cook of New Orleans said he never gave much thought to cooking — despite his last name — for his first 24 years. But once he returned home from U.S. Marine combat missions, he found his second calling by running the kitchens at Gris-Gris and Saint John restaurants, he told Fox News Digital in an interview. He's now an author, too, with a debut cookbook, 'Modern Creole: A Taste of New Orleans Culture and Cuisine,' published last fall.
Luckily for him, Cook's 'oldest sister's husband's best friend' happened to have gone to school with 'a member of a very prominent restaurant family' in New Orleans — which helped Cook land his first civilian job at Brennan's. But he had a lot to learn, he said. He had never been in a professional kitchen and had only eaten at a restaurant maybe once or twice at that point with family on special occasions, he said.
Another New Orleans fixture is the Super Bowl, which returns Feb. 9 to the Big Easy for a record-setting 11th time. Cook said the restaurant scene in New Orleans has changed quite a bit since the last Super Bowl in 2013. 'You get those younger chefs who maybe were not able to break away from those storied traditional recipes that these restaurants have been using for generations,' Cook said. 'And you get to bring your families into the fold.
You're going to see a whole different landscape within the next 10 years of how New Orleans restaurants are perceived,' Cook said. 'The little bistro cafés and smaller restaurants are finding their niche among the long-standing legends of New Orleans.'
CREOLE CUISINE NEW ORLEANS RESTAURANTS COOKBOOKS MILITARY VETERANS CULINARY CAREER
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