Hosted by Robin Sussingham
She’s a James Beard Award winner, protégé of Emeril Lagasse and the culinary innovator behind one of Tampa’s most talked-about new restaurants, the Oak & Ola. In Episode 11, we have a conversation with Chef Anne Kearney.
Anne Kearney had plenty of cooking cred before she ever set foot in Florida. As a teenager in Dayton, Ohio, while her friends were flipping burgers at fast food joints, Anne was already making family dinners and catering parties. She earned her culinary degree and went on to work under the renowned chef John Neal in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she honed her classic French cooking techniques. When John died in 1995, Anne bought his restaurant, Peristyle, and added her own touches to the menu.
In 2002, the James Beard Foundation christened her Best Chef in the Southeast. Soon after, Anne returned to her native Dayton to open Rue Dumaine, a New Orleans-style eatery that put her back in the national spotlight. Now, Anne brings her self-described “food of love” to Tampa Heights. In February, she and her partners opened Oak and Ola, a sit-down restaurant at the Armature Works food hall.
Recently, Anne left the lunchtime rush in the hands of her chef de cuisine, Nate Hammond, and sous chef, Brian Cook, to share with me how she came to Florida and tips on how to enjoy a restaurant’s menu with friends.
“You think about food and I think about all those things playing on somebody’s palate.” – Chef Anne Kearney