Culinary icons to lead conversations at the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University

At a festival devoted to books and ideas, food has carved out a place of its own.

This year's New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University, continuing through Sunday, March 15, includes an impressive lineup of chefs and restaurateurs who will explore how cuisine intersects with storytelling, heritage and community.

Throughout the weekend, nationally recognized culinary figures - including Emeril Lagasse, E.J. Lagasse, Alon Shaya and Edgar "Dook" Chase IV - will join journalists, authors, scholars and fellow chefs in conversations that address food as both craft and cultural narrative.

"Including a culinary track at a book festival makes perfect sense, especially in New Orleans," said Chase, executive chef of Dooky Chase's Restaurant and proprietor of several other eateries including Leah's Kitchen and Chapter IV on Tulane's downtown campus.

"Food is one of the most powerful forms of storytelling we have. When you bring chefs into a literary space, you're acknowledging that stories aren't only written on the page - they're told around the table."

Chase is one of the featured panelists in "Culinary Heritage: Memory, Place & the Responsibility to Preserve," along with John Stubbs, managing partner of Jewel of the South. The session, which will be moderated by Ti Martin of Commander's Palace, will explore how chefs serve not only as creators but also as stewards of culinary history, preserving recipes and traditions that define communities.

"For me, preservation is about honoring those who came before us, who paved the way," said Chase, grandson of the late legendary chef Leah Chase. "My grandparents and generations to follow understood that Dooky Chase's wasn't just a restaurant. It was a space for people who didn't always have access or opportunity. The food created comfort, but the space created possibility."

Another of the festival's featured culinary sessions, "NEW New Orleans Cuisine,' Then & Now," brings Emeril Lagasse together with his son, E.J. Lagasse, for a multigenerational discussion moderated by Ian McNulty, food writer for The Times-Picayune. The conversation will examine how New Orleans cuisine has evolved over the past several decades - and how the next generation of chefs is shaping its future.

Lagasse, whose restaurants and television career helped elevate New Orleans cuisine on a national stage, represents a pivotal chapter in the city's culinary rise. Appearing alongside his son underscores a theme that runs through much of the festival's food programming: the balance between tradition and innovation.

The literary dimension of food takes center stage in "When a Cookbook Becomes a Book: Rescuing Recipes, Preserving Stories," featuring Alon Shaya and Mara Baumgarten Force, director of the Schwartz Family Center for Experiential Business Learning at Tulane. Force will share the story behind the Rescued Recipes project, which brings to life the handwritten Holocaust-era cookbook preserved by Holocaust survivor Steven Fenves. The session will be moderated by Golan Moskowitz, a Jewish Studies professor and Holocaust expert.

Another panel, "Balancing Craft & Community: Restaurants with a Purpose," brings together Shaya and chefs Kelly Jacques, Arvinder Vilkhu and Cathy Whims, moderated by Nini Nguyen. The discussion will focus on how today's restaurants are navigating economic realities while also embracing broader responsibilities to their staff, neighborhoods and the environment.

Other culinary-related sessions include "From Cellar to Shaker," which examines the culture, craft and storytelling behind what we drink, and "The Baker's Table," which invites the audience to consider baking as an expressive art form that connects people, tells stories and marks life's special moments.

In addition to an expanded culinary track, food offerings at the Book Fest are growing as well, with local favorites including Barracuda Taco Stand, Coop's Burgers, Crepes a la Cart, Francolini's, French Truck Coffee, PJ's Coffee and Saba, helping to contribute to a lively and welcoming festival atmosphere. The food court at the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life also will be open to guests.

Chase said the culinary sessions reflect the broader spirit of the New Orleans Book Festival.

"It honors tradition while it embraces new voices. The chefs participating represent different generations and perspectives. What stands out to me is that food isn't being treated as just entertainment. It's being treated as culture and craft. In a city like ours, that feels exactly right."