Phillip Lopez is the Executive Chef, Creative Director and Owner Rebel Restaurant Group in New Orleans, Louisiana, which include Root, Square Root, P Petit Lion, Part & Parcel and Monkey Board atop the Troubadour Hotel. He landed his first culinary job in New Orleans with Chef John Besh. Being displaced to Washington, DC following Hurricane Katrina gave Lopez the opportunity to train under Chef Michel Richard, the highly celebrated culinarian behind Citronelle. Returning to New Orleans several months later, Phillip again joined Besh and eventually worked at five of his restaurants rising the ranks to become John Besh’s Project Chef, including Restaurant August, La Provence, LUKE and American Sector at the World War II Museum. In 2010 Lopez became Executive Chef of Restaurant Rambla, a modern-style restaurant with French and Spanish influences.
Lopez opened Root in November 2011 to much acclaim. Root was named one of Bon Appétit’s 50 Best New Restaurants; it was awarded “Best New Restaurant” by New Orleans Magazine; received the “So Hot Right Now” Eater Award for New Orleans; and earned a rare 4-bean review by The Times Picayune, all before the first anniversary.
Root and Lopez have been featured in Southern Living, Fodor’s Travel Intelligence, and Forbes magazine, as well as many local and regional publications. In February 2014, Square Root opened in the trendy, Lower Garden District neighborhood of New Orleans. Square Root centers on a reservation only contemporary Chef’s table kitchen design, in which modern, culinary techniques are the main attraction. Adjacent to Square Root on the second floor is The Test Kitchen. Square Root earned him a pre-opening mention in Condé Nast Traveler and another 4-bean review by the Times Picayune in 2015.
Lopez has also been honored with numerous awards—the 2012 Eater Awards for New Orleans named Chef Philip “Chef of the Year,” Star Chefs named him one of its “Rising Star Chefs” in 2012, Louisiana Cookin’ Magazine named him a “Chef to Watch” in 2011, and most recently he was name to Gambit Weekly’s “40 Under 40” List in 2015.
After 20 successful years in Detroit, Hanna moved to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and joined forces with co-partner Joel Dondis. Together, they opened Sucré in 2007, becoming a part of the Renaissance of post Katrina New Orleans.
Eight years later, Sucré boasts three store fronts, a Confection Studio, a growing online market, wholesale business with nationwide distribution, and Salon – Sucré’s first restaurant, tea room and cocktail lounge that opened in the French Quarter in spring 2015, and continues to innovate and grow under Chef Hanna’s culinary leadership.
Chef Hanna has made several appearances on national TV networks including The Food Network (Challenge, Paula Deen Show, Sugar Rush); TLC (Ultimate Cake Off); TBS (Dinner and a Movie) and recently, CBS This Morning (The Dish). He has also been featured in notable publications, including Bon Appétit, Saveur, O Magazine, Departures, Garden & Gun, Southern Living, Time Magazine, Dessert Professional, and American Cake Decorating among others.
Recent accolades for Chef Hanna include:
2004 Central Region Pastry Chef of the Year (ACF)
2004 Runner up National Pastry Chef of the Year (ACF)
2007 Pastry Chef of the Year (New Orleans Magazine)
2008 National Chef of the Year (Chef Magazine)
2010 Appointed as First Ever Group Commander of Louisiana Air National
Guard (159th Squadron)
2011 10 Best Pastry Chef in America (Dessert Professional Magazine)
2012 10 Best Chocolatiers in North America (Dessert Professional Magazine)
2012 Named as one US Department of State Diplomatic Culinary Ambassadors
2014 Named one of the 25 "Most Influential Pastry Chefs in America for the
Modern Era" BAKE Magazine
2015 Named "One of the 10 Best Eclairs in the World" (Food & Wine Magazine)
2015 Named Felchin Chocolate of Switzerland's first U.S. Ambassador
2016 Named "One of the 10 Best Eclairs in the World" (Food & Wine Magazine)
Kristin Diable has been exploring freedom and choice in her music ever since she picked up an open mic at a lounge in Baton Rouge and stunned the audience into silence. She rode that vibe, away to New York and then back to her native Louisiana like a storm front, one that shook New Orleans and cooled the air. And her newest album, Create Your Own Mythology, invokes her Louisiana and Americana roots, while firing a rock-and-roll shot across the bow of borrowed myths.
"Louisiana singer-songwriter Kristin Diable has already snagged spots at festivals like Austin City Limits and opening for greats like Lucinda Williams, but the announce of her latest album Create Your Own Mythology has us thinking that 2015 may be Diable’s biggest year yet." – Paste MagazineListen to Kristen on Spotify
