~About Bistro Louise~

 

For Louise Lamensdorf, work in the kitchen has always been fun! In 1996, Louise opened her restaurant, Bistro Louise with American cuisine highly influenced by cooking in France, Italy and Spain.

 

Bistro Louise is well known for its quality ingredients such as prime cuts of beef, lamb and fish flown in from world seaports.  Louise’s cuisine is based on bold flavors, special seasonings and specially selected produce. Her creative combinations and universal flavors have received extraordinary ratings being named to America’s Top Tables by Gourmet Magazine, being voted "#1 most popular restaurant in a county of one million people” for four consecutive years by Zagat, receiving four stars from the Dallas Morning News, and being winner of Best Restaurant, Chef of the year, and Best Dessert by local publications.

Louise was born and raised in Monroe, Louisiana, and lived in New Orleans for twelve years before moving to Fort Worth in 1966.  She came by her love of food as a child when her French grandmother lived with her family and ran the kitchen, so, it’s no surprise that when Louise found herself cooking for a family of six, she served Coq au Vin and Boeuf Bourguignon, not fast food. Louise says, laughingly, "As the kids would say--all that gourmet junk!”

In 1979, Louise and two partners opened The French Apron School of Cooking in Fort Worth, where students were taught to prepare American regional, French, Italian, Chinese, Spanish, Eastern European and low-fat cuisines as well as pastries. The school, which remained open ten years, was praised not only by students, but also by such visiting chefs as Stephen Pyles, Diana Kennedy, Anne Rosenzweig and Madeleine Kamman.

During the school years, she apprenticed for eight years with Fort Worth’s Charles Finance, the first chef to lead the U.S. Culinary Olympic team. Louise also has studied under Andre Dagain at the Michelin two-star Hotel de France in Auch, France; Sabine de Mirebeck in Polgate, England; Simone Beck’s School of Cooking in Grasse; prestigious restaurants in Bordeaux and Alembique School of Cooking in Seville.  Additional training was done at the Cordon Bleu in New York City with popular French Chef Jacques Pepin and Florence Simon, who ran Fort Worth’s first cooking school.

~ Louise Lamensdorf~