Melvin Rodrigue | Brian Landry | David Gooch | Chris Ycaza | Brian Perkins

Chris Ycaza - General Manager, Galatoire’s Restaurant

Chris Ycaza was recruited as General Manager in September 2006 and brought with him a love of food and wine and over 15 years of experience in fine dining and restaurant management. An Uptown New Orleans native and former LSU student, Ycaza caught the restaurant bug while working under Chef Emeril Lagasse at Emeril’s in 1994. Since then his fine dining experience has included Bizou, the Red Room and six years at Cuvee where he served as General Manager and received a basic certification for the Court of Master Sommeliers.

Ycaza has dramatically expanded Galatoire’s wine program in an effort to offer patrons a much broader list of choices to compliment Galatoire’s famous French Creole cuisine. Galatoire’s wine list was honored in 2007 and 2008 with the “Award of Excellence” from Wine Spectator magazine. In 2008, New Orleans City Business awarded Ycaza the title of Best Sommelier in their first annual Culinary Connoisseurs Awards. Ycaza currently serves as a member of the board of directors for New Orleans Wine and Food Experience.