New Orleans chef Susan Spicer, at 73, is gradually stepping back from her Rosedale restaurant through a collaborative handover to executive chef Allison Birdsall. Birdsall, who became a partner last fall, is blending her style with Spicer's renowned approach. The transition reflects Spicer's methodical navigation of her career's later chapter.
Susan Spicer has been a leading figure in New Orleans cuisine for decades, opening her first restaurant, Bayona, in 1990 with business partner Regina Keever. There, she pioneered a modern style incorporating global influences. Since the pandemic, Spicer has shifted her focus to Rosedale, selling her share in Bayona and devoting time to this neighborhood spot at 801 Rosedale Drive.
Rosedale, once a police precinct house, features quirky elements like a restroom resembling a holding cell and walls adorned with Spicer's career memorabilia. The casual restaurant offers affordable meals, including sandwiches like the meatloaf sandwich and cochon de lait po-boy, alongside a lengthy specials list with bistro-quality dishes such as shrimp Creole with panéed eggplant and a vegan curry with tofu and green Hatch peppers.
Last fall, Allison Birdsall, who grew up in Cut Off, Louisiana, and trained at the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University, became executive chef and partner. Birdsall joined Rosedale as chef de cuisine in 2018 after approaching Spicer at an industry event, briefly left for a catering business, and returned due to the restaurant's appeal. "This restaurant pulled me back in," Birdsall said. "The type of food, the local customers, it’s the perfect restaurant to me."
The handover involves collaboration, evident in monthly wine dinners led by sommelier Michelle Gueydan. A January event with White Rock Vineyards featured Spicer's oyster stew and Birdsall's trumpet mushrooms with bone marrow butter. "Collaboration has always been my favorite part of working with past chefs and sous chefs," Spicer said. "Too many cooks can spoil the broth, but two chefs, the right chefs working together, can make it better."
Managing partner Jonas Owens, a former Bayona colleague, notes Spicer's protective nature shaped by early challenges as a woman in the industry. Spicer, who began cooking in the 1970s with an apprenticeship under Daniel Bonnot at Louis XVI, lacks a firm retirement timeline but avoids most nights, focusing on lunch shifts. "My favorite part of it is still being a line cook," she said. "Cooking food, and knowing people are enjoying it, and getting to see that in your restaurant. I love that. That’s why I’m still here."
