Chef Sue Zemanick
Her restaurant Zasu has one MICHELIN Star
Graduating from the Culinary Institute of America with a fellowship in seafood/fish, Chef Sue came to New Orleans as a Yankee transplant (she hails from Pennsylvania and New York). Like so many talents before and after her, she started in the Commander’s Palace kitchen before moving to Gautreau’s in 2004. An advocate for Modern American cuisine, Chef Sue made certain Gautreau’s cooking respected the classic French-inspired and New Orleans flavors when she took over as executive chef in 2005.
The awards came quickly. In 2008, Food & Wine magazine named her a “Best New Chef” and she was a James Beard Award finalist for “Rising Star Chef” in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Zemanick was also on Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters” in 2011and ran the much-missed Ivy, an Uptown restaurant that closed in 2015.
Chef Sue left Gautreau's in 2016, and opened her own restaurant in 2019, Zasu. In 2025, Zasu earned one MICHELIN Star, signifying high-quality cooking worth a stop on any culinary journey. The restaurant is inspired by chef's Slovak heritage and features a mix of local and non-native ingredients in light dishes. It sits in a cottage in the Mid-City neighborhood.
Love to Eat - Zasu