New Orleans Saints: Allison Vines-Rushing

Allison Vines-Rushing, co-chef at MiLa, is a national leading star chef, and the recipient of the 2004 James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year. Allison is one half of the Allison Vines and Slade-Rushing married chef team, well known for their cultivated Southern cuisine.

Allison has been making headlines with her unique interpretation of classic New Orleans cuisine for the past several years, starting with her tenure as co-chef of Jack’s Luxury Oyster Bar. After being open only two months she received a glowing two-star review from William Grimes of the New York Times, who referred to Jack’s as one of the most distinctive restaurants to come along in years. Other critics followed suit in publications such as the New York Observer, Gourmet, and New York magazine, who honored her with Best Tasting Menu of 2004.

A Northern Delta Louisianan, Allison not always envisioned herself as a chef. Working in the restaurant industry while pursuing a biology degree at Florida State University, she began cooking and entertaining friends. Upon graduation, Allison decided to pursue her newfound passion for food at the Institute for Culinary Education in Manhattan. Energized by the city and the intensity of working in a kitchen, a chef career presented the perfect fit.

After completing the program at ICE, Allison returned to Louisiana to familiarize herself with her own culinary heritage. She began working in the kitchen of Brennan’s, a classic New Orleans institution and from there moved to Gerard’s Downtown, working under Chef Gerard Maras. Not only was she inspired by his farm driven cuisine and his love of classic interpretation, she also met her future husband Slade Rushing as well. Together they decided to return to New York City and work in some of the country’s most competitive restaurants. Allison began working at the three-star Picholine and then moved to the four-star Alain Ducasse at the Essex House. The discipline of a French kitchen instilled in her a refined eye for detail and a religious approach to food.

In June of 2003 with her wedding to Slade rapidly approaching, Allison gave her resume to Jack and Grace Lamb, owners of a New York City top rated sushi spot Jewel Bako. The cutting-edge restaurateur pair hired her immediately as the chef for their new venture, Jack’s Luxury Oyster Bar, an intimate oyster bar in their East Village carriage house. The restaurant opened three months later on Allison’s 28th birthday. On Valentine's Day of 2004, Allison and her husband Slade joined forces to become co-chefs of the Oyster Bar. Recognition of their “marriage” of chef talent and cultivated Southern cuisine was immediate.

In May of 2005, Allison and Slade returned south to open their own restaurant in an 1880 Acadian home, Longbranch, in Abita Springs, Louisiana. The couple’s new restaurant was named one of the “Top Ten Restaurants” in the New Orleans’ Times Picayune Dining Guide. They were the cover feature in Food and Wine’s 2005 Thanksgiving issue. Longbranch and the Rushing’s were also featured in Bon Appetit, Robb Report, and Art Culinare among others. Both chefs received “Chefs to Watch” by Louisiana Cookin’ magazine in 2006.

With MiLa, the first and last letter of each of their homes states – MississippI & LouisianA – Allison and Slade are striving to excite, surprise, and lure taste buds to cultivated Southern cuisine as they’ve never been before. The restaurant, a fusion and evolution of Mississippi and Northern Louisiana Delta fare, with heavy emphasis on provisions sourced from regional farmers, is located in a relaxed yet serious custom-designed interior space in downtown New Orleans. As Southern natives, Allison and Slade are looking forward to be engaged in the city’s cuisine, tradition, and resurgence efforts.