Chef-Owner, Mosquito Supper Club; New Orleands, LA

Melissa M. Martin is chef-owner of Mosquito Supper Club. She grew up on the Louisiana coast and has lived in New Orleans for 20 years. After graduating from Loyola University in New Orleans, she worked as an adult literacy teacher until she evacuated to Northern California during Hurricane Katrina. While living there, she worked at some of the top Napa Valley vineyards and restaurants and this is where she honed her self-taught culinary skills to a professional level. Martin returned to New Orleans three years later and opened Satsuma Café, a casual farm-to-table restaurant, and worked at Café Hope, a nonprofit restaurant, teaching at-risk youth to cook seasonal food. In 2014, she opened Mosquito Supper Club, where she serves family-style meals to small groups of guests who reserve a place at her table months in advance. Her first book, Mosquito Supper Club: Cajun Recipes from a Disappearing Bayou, has been named a Best New Cookbook by Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, NPR’s The Splendid Table, and more. (New Orleans, LA) @mosquitosupperclub