About us

Chef Frank has been named one of the Top Ten New Chefs in America by FOOD&WINE magazine (1988) and America’s Best Chef: Southeast by the James Beard Foundation Awards (1998). He has also been named Chef of the Year by New Orleans magazine and Restaurateur of the Year by the Louisiana Restaurant Association – N.O. Chapter. Brigtsen’s Restaurant has been voted Top Cajun Restaurant, Top Service, and Top Wine List in the annual Zagat Survey. In 2001, Brigtsen’s received the distinguished Ivy Award from Restaurant & Institutions magazine. In 2016, Brigtsen’s was named one of the Top Ten Restaurants in New Orleans by Brett Anderson, writing for The Times-Picayune newspaper. In 2012, Chef Frank received the Lafcadio Hearn Award from the John Folse Culinary Institute and was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Louisiana Restaurant Association. In 2016, Chef Frank received the inaugural Paul Prudhomme Award from the American Culinary Federation. Chef Frank’s passion is teaching and sharing through food. For 15 years, he taught public cooking classes at the New Orleans Cooking Experience, sharing his love for America’s greatest regional cuisine. He also teaches Contemporary Creole/Acadian cuisine as Adjunct Professor at the John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University and serves as the inaugural Chef-in-Residence for the Culinary Arts program at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA).