CAUSES — THE RUTH U. FERTEL FOUNDATION

About Ruth Fertel
She was legendary for her steaks – and her courage. Learn about her life and enjoy her recipe for Thanksgiving oyster dressing.
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Supporting Education in Louisiana
The Ruth U. Fertel Foundation – established in the will of the founder of the Ruth’s Chris Steak House fine dining chain - supports education in Louisiana, including public, private and parochial schools; special programs designed to serve students from kindergarten through college; and other high-impact educational initiatives. It gave away $1.2 million in 2006 after Katrina and $1.5 million this year, largely to institutions that establish models of success that can be replicated in urban areas across the country.
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The Ruth U. Fertel Culinary Arts Center
This center at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, under the guidance of Chef John Folse, will create the third great culinary training center in the country. The school’s graduates are now populating the best kitchens of New Orleans. It has grown in 10 years to 200 students and with the building of the Ruth U. Fertel Culinary Arts Center will swell to 600. A New Orleans campus is in the works.
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The Southern Foodways Keeper of the Flame Award
Each fall, the Southern Foodways Alliance (with support from the Fertel Foundation) honors an unsung hero or heroine, a foodways tradition bearer of note, with the Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame Award.
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“There are few heroines in American gastronomy — Julia Child and Alice Waters among them — but Ruth Fertel certainly belongs in that small group of people who serve as an inspiration both in and out of her profession.”
— John Mariani, Food Critic, Esquire