Poppy Tooker

Host of Louisiana Eats!

Poppy is the host and executive producer of the weekly show, Louisiana Eats! Food personality, culinary teacher and author, Poppy Tooker is passionate about food and the people who bring it to the table.

Poppy provides weekly restaurant commentary on, “Steppin’ Out” (WYES TV). Her book, The Crescent City Farmers Market Cookbook received a Tabasco cookbook award and was named “Cookbook of the Year” by New Orleans Magazine.She was recognized by the Times-Picayune as a “Hero of the Storm” for her work reviving New Orleans restaurants and food providers following Hurricane Katrina. The International Association of Cooking Professionals recognized Poppy’s rebuilding efforts at their annual conference in April 2008, with their first ever, Community Service Award.

For over 25 years, Poppy’s cooking classes have centered on history and tradition as well as the food science behind her preparation.

Ways to Connect

Grape Expectations

By Poppy Tooker • Nov 28, 2020

The holidays may look different this year, but one thing is certain: a little wine is sure to make them just a little brighter. On this week’s show, we dig deep into the proverbial wine cellar for some gems that will inform, advise, and get you ready to pop those corks.

Sicily, Louisiana Style

By Poppy Tooker • Nov 14, 2020

If you're a Louisiana native with a distinctly Italian last name, you've got lots of company here. Since the late nineteenth century, more families of Sicilian descent have called Louisiana home than anywhere else in the world except Sicily. This is a topic that has fascinated Loyola history professor, Justin Nystrom – enough to compel him to record their history and influence here in his 2018 book, Creole Italian: Sicilian Immigrants and the Shaping of New Orleans Food Culture.

10 Years Of Hauntings On Louisiana Eats

By Poppy Tooker • Oct 26, 2020

Here at Louisiana Eats, we love a good ghost story. And in the ten years we’ve been on the air, we’ve heard some really spooky ones! This week, we bring you some of our favorites from the past decade. We begin with Chef Greg Picolo, whom we spoke with for our very first Halloween show back in 2010 and then again in 2019. It seems like no matter where Greg goes, paranormal activity keeps following him!

I Remember Paris

By Poppy Tooker • Oct 20, 2020

None of us have been able to travel much this year, so to satisfy some wanderlust, we're traveling back in time this week on a magical trip Louisiana Eats took to France in the summer of 2015.

Louisiana Eats Explores The Northshore

By Poppy Tooker • Oct 10, 2020

Located just across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans, the area widely known as Louisiana's

Northshore is a mere 40 minute drive from the French Quarter. As close as the Northshore is geographically, in every other way it is a world apart. Made up of multiple small towns, each with its own identity, St. Tammany Parish is a wonder to wander – which is exactly what we’re doing on this week’s show.