FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Charlotte Strode
charlotte@polishedpigmedia.com
617.877.2222

LA PETITE GROCERY HOSTS FUNDRAISING DINNER IN HONOR OF HURRICANE KATRINA'S 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Proceeds will benefit New Orleans non-profit, St. Bernard Project

   La Petite Grocery, located at 4238 Magazine Street in uptown New Orleans, will host a dinner on August 24 to honor Hurricane Katrina's 10-year anniversary, which made landfall in New Orleans on August 29, 2005. An opening reception will begin at 6:00 p.m., followed by a 4-course dinner at 7:00 p.m. prepared by Chef Justin Devillier of La Petite Grocery and guest chef Justin Girouard of The French Press (Lafayette, LA). Wine for the evening will be graciously sponsored by Dr. James Moises of Moises Wines and Bizou Wines distributor of New Orleans. Tickets are $200 a person; reservations can be made by calling the restaurant.

   "As residents of New Orleans who have seen the lasting effects of Hurricane Katrina and understand that our work to rebuild is not finished, we are humbled to host this dinner in honor of Katrina's 10-year anniversary," says Justin Devillier. "The St. Bernard Project has been working to help our community rebuild since 2006, and its efforts to get New Orleans back on its feet have not waned."

   Chefs Devillier and Girouard worked together at Restaurant Stella! (now closed) when Hurricane Katrina hit. They both returned soon after the storm to help open Stanley, originally located in the Hotel Provincial. As one of the only restaurants open in the area due to the hotel's generator, they worked with a small staff around the clock for the weeks following the storm to serve relief workers and others affected. Devillier and Girouard are proud to partner again for the 10-year anniversary dinner.

   Proceeds from the dinner will benefit St. Bernard Project (SBP), a New Orleans nonprofit which was founded in 2006 and has since been doing ongoing work to ensure that citizens and communities affected by the storm are able to recover. In the past nine years, SBP has rebuilt homes for over 600 families in New Orleans and continues to tackle the housing and community needs of the city.

   "Ten years ago, Hurricane Katrina changed the way thousands of New Orleans homeowners thought about their future, their identity and their citizenship. Many New Orleanians feel that the city has become a better place to live now than it was before the storm, but our clients who have been displaced from the homes they own are living a different reality," says Elizabeth Egle, Development Manager of SBP. "We are so grateful to Justin and Mia Devillier for recognizing the enduring need to rebuild for families who, due to no fault of their own, cannot afford to do so themselves. La Petite Grocery's dinner benefitting SBP will raise funds that will go directly toward rebuilding homes and lives for our neighbors in New Orleans."

   At the helm of La Petite Grocery since 2006, Devillier helped to rebuild the restaurant's infrastructure after Hurricane Katrina and was promoted to executive chef in 2007. Mia Devillier joined the team in 2009 as General Manager and in 2010, the Devillier's took over majority ownership of the restaurant, housed in a century-old building with a storied history. Devillier has since been named a James Beard finalist in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 for Best Chef: South. His new restaurant Balise, named after the first French settlement at the mouth of the Mississippi River, opened in the Central Business District of New Orleans in early 2015.

   For more information on the fundraising dinner or to schedule an interview, please email charlotte@polishedpigmedia.com.

ABOUT ST. BERNARD PROJECT: SBP's mission is to ensure that disaster-impacted citizens and communities recover in a prompt, efficient and predictable manner. Since its founding in 2006, SBP has rebuilt homes for over 600 families in New Orleans and continues to create innovative solutions to the housing and community needs of the city. With the tremendous support of donors, volunteers and corporate partners, SBP has grown from a three-person volunteer team into a nationally recognized leader in disaster resilience and recovery. Along with AmeriCorps and over 30,000 volunteers per year, SBP has led the rebuilding of other disaster-impacted communities like Joplin, MO; Staten Island, NY; Rockaway, NY; and Monmouth County, NJ. The entire country helped New Orleans recover from Katrina, and SBP believes that New Orleans can pay it forward by sharing its lessons learned with the rest of the country so that no other city will have to face another 10+ year recovery again.

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