Dooky Chase Receives ‘America’s Classic’ James Beard Award

The Chase family attended the ceremony.

Dooky Chase, the New Orleans landmark restaurant, was honored Thursday, June 18, at the 2025 James Beard Awards in Chicago.

The restaurant received the James Beard Award for America’s Classic. The Chase family attended the ceremony to receive the award and honor the restaurant’s founders, Emily and Dooky Chase Sr. At the ceremony, Stella Chase, the Chases’ daughter, spoke about the legacy of the New Orleans staple.

“To have this award means a lot for my entire family because we have been in business 84 years, and it was about my grandparents, parents, and now we’re the third, fourth generation, so we had a strong foundation and we just feel so blessed,” she said.

Dooky Chase’s Cultural Contributions

Just ahead of Juneteenth, the James Beard Awards sought to recognize the contributions of Dooky Chase in Black, Creole, and American culture. The restaurant received the award for the American Southern region.

In a statement, the James Beard Foundation acknowledged Dooky Chase’s contributions, its role during the Civil Rights Movement, and the restaurant’s commitment to preserving the legacy of Black people and the city of New Orleans.

During the 1960s, Dooky Chase became a haven for civil rights leaders, politicians, and activists. Figures such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Thurgood Marshall, and Jesse Jackson were known to dine at Dooky Chase, where the restaurant provided a venue for crucial strategy sessions and discussions.

Black Women Winners In Literature

The Chase family was not the only representation of Black talent at the awards. Lyndsay C. Green received an award for excellence in journalism. The Detroit Free Press writer explored the history of urban agriculture in “As Detroit sees a future in urban agriculture, some pushback harkens to a dark past,” examining the vacant landscapes of Detroit’s East Side.

Another standout author and chef, honored for their literary contribution, was Ashleigh Shanti. As a Black American, queer woman, raised in Appalachia, Shanti explored the “distinct flora and fauna, dialects, and traditions” of niche American communities in her 2024 cookbook, Our South: Black Food Through My Lens—A Cookbook.