Flashback: 1997

THE YEAR: 1997

In this 1997 cover package, Business Report profiles legendary Louisiana chef John Folse and details his empire, which at the time included the now-closed Lafitte’s Landing in Donaldsonville. Folse, while launching several companies over the course of the ‘80s and early ’90s, is credited for masterminding a one-man marketing campaign focusing on Louisiana, its food and its culture. After the story was published, Folse went on to open Bittersweet Plantation Dairy in Gonzales, which has since closed, as well as a restaurant in the French Quarter. Inducted into the Business Report Hall of Fame in 2021, Folse has authored more than a half-dozen cookbooks that have become staples of cookbook collections.

“Last year, Nicholls State University paid Folse the ultimate compliment by naming its new cooking school after him. Last month, the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute became the nation’s only such school qualified to offer a bachelor of science degree. Between crafting cookbooks, designing a new set of china for the Governor’s Mansion, traveling out of state for catering events, and maneuvering among his properties in Donaldsonville, Gonzales, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Folse is teaching courses in Cajun and Creole cooking at the school. ‘I saw that there was a lot of excitement about Louisiana cooking. The people were in awe of it,’ remembers Folse (regarding the beginning of his career). ‘It didn’t take me long to realize there’s a whole world out there just for the taking. If you want it, it’s there!’”

—From the March 4, 1997, issue of Business Report

+ ALSO FROM THAT ISSUE ...

ISTOCK GOT MILK?: Farmers say lower wholesale prices being paid to them are not being passed on to consumers.

WISHING WELL: Louisiana’s capital outlay budget has become a grab bag for fundraising local projects, but Gov. Mike Foster’s administration promises to end that.