Abstract: In this interview, Ella Brennan (1925-2018) discusses many aspects of her long career in the restaurant business, but with particular focus on the years spent at Commander’s Palace, which became the anchor establishment for her side of the Brennan clan in 1974. Topics include the renovation of the Commander’s building, professionalization of its kitchen, the careers of notable chefs Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse, and the importance of developing and modernizing both the New Orleans restaurant and the flavors on its menu. The latter part of the interview deals more with Ella Brennan’s youth at Brennan’s and some of the key figures who were influential in shaping her understanding of fine dining and cultivating a successful restaurant.
Biography: Ella Brennan was born in the Irish Channel neighborhood of New Orleans to Owen and Nellie Brennan in 1925. The large family included siblings Owen, Adelaide, Dickie, John, and Dottie, all of whom would be involved in the restaurant business to different degrees after older brother Owen bought the Absinthe House bar in 1943 and soon after the Vieux Carré in the French Quarter. After high school, Ella Brennan began her career managing the kitchens and service of first the Vieux Carré, and later, after the unexpected death of brother Owen in 1955, took on a larger role at the Brennan’s flagship restaurant on Royal Street. After an acrimonious split with Owen Brennan’s widow and adult sons in 1974, Ella and siblings Adelaide, Dottie, Dick, and John moved their base of operations to Commander’s Palace in the Garden District, which they had bought in 1969. For the next forty years, they transformed Commander’s into a global culinary destination and opened other restaurants including Mr. B’s Bistro in the French Quarter. Ella Brennan has been widely recognized across the restaurant industry, including receiving one James Beard Foundation award for service and another for lifetime achievement. Two years before her death in 2018, Ella made a triumphant return to Brennan’s on Royal Street after her nephew Ralph Brennan and business partner Terry White purchased the establishment.
This interview is the topic of Season 1, Episode 5 of the Making Modern New Orleans Podcast
Citation (CMS): Brennan, Ella. Ella Brennan Interview. Interview by Jack Davis and Justin A. Nystrom. Videorecording, transcript, June 25, 2014. Making Modern New Orleans Collection. Documentary and Oral History Studio, Loyola University New Orleans. https://youtu.be/gANlPSpOTuY.
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