Tommy Centola

Tommy Centola, the Creole Cajun Chef, has been cooking since he was 8 years old. His first solo attempt was baking chocolate chip cookies. Under the watchful eye of his mom, Mona Centola, Tommy started to expand his culinary knowledge. While in high school, he took a job at the 5-star New Orleans restaurant, LeRuth’s. He was able to watch the running of a professional kitchen and learned about fine dining cooking and presentation from the talented Leruths.

Tommy spent the rest of his time working at various restaurants. He eventually switched over to the distributor side of the business. Here, he is able to help many restaurants with his experience.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina changed his life. He and his wife, Peggy, moved from New Orleans to Searcy, Arkansas. That’s when his writing began. He writes a weekly article for his hometown newspaper and has published two cookbooks. He publishes 2 recipes a week on his blog. He loves to cook every chance he gets and enjoys sharing his knowledge of food. If he can inspire one person to cook New Orleans style, his mission has been accomplished.

Creole & Cajun Comfort Food is his first book for the Ladero Press Living the Life (TM) imprint.

Photo Credit: Michelle Pugh