2013 Chefs to Watch – Chef Michael Gulotta

CHEF MICHAEL GULOTTA

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Michael Gulotta is the embodiment of the person who always knew what he was going to do with his life. “I grew up in Lakeview in New Orleans, and as long as I can remember, I wanted to cook,” he says. Fortunately, his mother encouraged him, took him on trips to the grocery store, and supported his idea to attend the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University. “As far back as I can remember, even at about age 9 or 10, my mom would do the cutting and chopping, and I would cook.”

Ultimately, Michael found himself working in fine kitchens at Emeril’s Delmonico Restaurant, and for Chef John Folse at Bittersweet Plantation. But it was Chef John Besh for whom he truly wanted to work. “I wanted to work for him because at August he was doing the best in the city keeping true to
classical techniques,” Michael says. “Nothing is pre-packaged, and everything is butchered in house. I was working in the Black Forest in Germany, but after Hurricane Katrina, I came back here as sous chef and then later chef de cuisine. I liked the idea of keeping local farmers on their feet by investing in their produce, and making great food from their products.”

Michael says cooking in New Orleans offers an opportunity to draw from the various cultures that exist here. “When I first took over the restaurant, I was trying to do everything in a classical French style,” he says. “But New Orleans is a melting pot, and here I can take all of these cultures and assimilate them into the menu.”

Recipe

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Meet the 2013 Chefs to Watch

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