Amy Sins

A Chef Who Loves Silk Blouses

Amy Sins may just be the most attractive female chef in New Orleans. She smiles easily and brushes her softly curled blonde hair from her face with ease as she takes over the kitchen at Langlois, a unique cooking school/restaurant operation at North Rampart and Pauger streets in the Marigny. No she isn’t wearing the standard chef’s whites, instead her dress is usually a colorful silk blouse, black jeans, and an apron. “I often need to quickly run to the store to pick up some last minute item before I begin my ‘show, tell and eat’ production for my next group of guests,” she says. “I consider each group, which is always 20 or less, my personal lunch or dinner guests and I want to look my best.”

Amy’s friendly operation allows guests to chop and slice along with her if they wish. “Dining in New Orleans should always be a pleasant experience,” she adds. “There isn’t any reason not to have fun cooking, eating and talking about food.” “I grew up on a cattle farm in Ascension Parish and always loved to cook. My mother was a great cook who had wonderful dinner parties and was eager to teach me everything she knew about cooking and making her guests happy around the dinner table.”

After an 18-year stint in pharmaceutical and technology sales, Amy now brings her own fresh style to her kitchen. “I don’t need to wear a white uniform in the kitchen. I love soft blouses in pretty colors of silk or silk-like fabrics,” she says. And when she takes off her apron after the meal is prepared. She is ready to sit down with her guests and share their dining experience. “It’s truly a hands on experience and I always say we have so many repeat customers and referrals because the food is great and we have fun.” To further validate Amy’s success, Travel + Leisure Magazine included Langlois as one its “Best Cooking Schools Around the World,” USA Today listed it as one of its “10 Best Cooking School Vacations” and the Toronto Sun included it in its article entitled “Best Food in Louisiana.”

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Another interesting aspect of Amy’s operation is her urban “farm” in the Ninth Ward. “Much of what we prepare and serve comes from the farm,” she says before providing a long list of her current crops. “We are especially proud of our mulberry tree that just came up on its own after the area was flooded by Hurricane Katrina.” She also loves to talk about the orchard she had planted after she made a deal to rent the property from the city. “There is something exciting about picking oranges and lemons from your own trees.”

Offering lunch and dinner Monday through Friday, Langlois isn’t a one-woman show. “I have a wonderful staff of 10, including our employees who take care of the farm,” she says. Amy also has talented chefs working with her who are available to cook for private parties or do catered cooking demonstration on or off site for parties as small as six or as large as 100 or more.

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Amy is also the managing partner of New Orleans Jazz Quarters, a bed and breakfast located in a group of historic cottages at 1128 St. Philip Street, just steps from the French Quarter and across from Armstrong Park. “I usually begin my day at the bed and breakfast where we serve a terrific hot breakfast every morning,” she says. “This is definitely not a microwave your muffin and makes your own coffee operation.”

Amy and George, her husband, live in the French Quarter just blocks from Langlois and New Orleans Jazz Quarters. “It is divine to live in the French Quarter where there are so many great restaurants and there is always a festival or something else exciting going on. I am pleased to be a part of such a interesting, historic city. Life is sweet here and why not take it all in? I do.”

 

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