Cafe Adelaide & The Swizzle Stick Bar Appoints New Executive Chef, Chris Lusk

FOR: CAF� ADELAIDE & THE SWIZZLE STICK BAR
Loews New Orleans Hotel
300 Poydras St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
504) 595-3305
www.cafeadelaide.com

CONTACT:WAGSTAFF WORLDWIDE, INC.
Melany Mullens/Beth Flintoft
540) 314-8089/(312) 943-6900
melany@wagstaffworldwide.com
beth@wagstaffworldwide.com


CAF� ADELAIDE & THE SWIZZLE STICK BAR APPOINTS NEW EXECUTIVE CHEF, CHRIS LUSK

Chef Danny Trace Sets Sail to Commander's Palace Destin

NEW ORLEANS (May 14, 2008) - Caf� Adelaide & the Swizzle Stick Bar, a member of the Commander's Palace Family of Restaurants, is pleased to appoint Chris Lusk as executive chef.
Chris Lusk most recently served as executive chef at Vin Bistro in Austin, Texas. Prior to Vin Bistro, Chris served as a sous chef at Mario Batali's Otto Enoteca in New York City, Commander's Palace in New Orleans, La. and Star Canyon in Dallas, Texas.

Danny Trace, Caf� Adelaide's executive chef for nearly three years, has been appointed executive chef of the group's newest restaurant, Commander's Palace & the On The Rocks Bar at HarborWalk Village in Destin, Fla., opening July 2008.

"We have the great good fortune of going back to the well," says managing partner Ti Adelaide Martin, in reference to Chris's prior experience with the restaurant group. "Chris was a key part of our team in the first half of this decade and his talent was apparent from the first day. He has something we call 'intellectual curiosity.' It's an endless interest in learning - particularly about food. This is combined with one of the most exceptional palates I have ever encountered. He's a heck of a smart guy with some serious taste buds."

Along with intellectual curiosity, Chris also brings an interest in sharing the "foodie" experience with patrons at Caf� Adelaide. "I want people to eat the way we eat," explains Chris, "to order more dishes and share - take a bite and pass it to the left." This desire inspired Chris to tinker with the format of Caf� Adelaide's menu, which has been reorganized into Little Tastes, Taste and Share, Soups and Salads and Entr�e sections. Chris created an instant classic for the Little Tastes section with his Tea Smoked Duck "BLT" (Luzianne tea smoked duck bacon, fried green tomatoes and baby arugula with Evangeline goat cheese aioli). His Spinach & Absinthe dip for the Taste and Share section has also been well received.

Danny Trace was the first to suggest Chris Lusk to be his replacement. Danny and Chris are good friends with similar food philosophies and a shared love of the outdoors (Ti and Lally speculate it was the deep sea fishing that tipped the scales for Danny to make the move to Destin).

Danny Trace, born and raised in New Orleans, has been an integral part of the Commander's Palace Family of Restaurants for over ten years. After losing his home to Hurricane Katrina, Danny's performance day in and day out has never missed a beat, eventually earning him the job as executive chef of Caf� Adelaide in November 2005. "This was Danny's opportunity to take or to leave and believe me, he had a hard time deciding to leave Caf� Adelaide and his hometown of New Orleans," says Ti.

Chef Trace has been consistently noted for his innovative renditions of traditional Creole cuisine. Noting that harmonious balance between old and new in Chef Trace's contemporary Creole menu, New Orleans food critic Tom Fitzmorris beamed in his May 2006 re-review, "I can't name many chefs who are doing a better job of that balancing act right now" and called Chef Trace "one of the great ones of the coming decade." Chef Trace has been featured in a number of loc