Anne Gooch
Anne Bradley Gooch passed away last Monday. She was 65. Although she was probably best known to most people as the wife of David Gooch--the most visible member of the Galatoire family in the management of the namesake restaurant--her own career in the hospitality business in New Orleans was substantial. She was one of the founders of the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience. The long-term success of that spring food festival is due in good part to her knowledge of the restaurant scene and the people in it. Although her health had been in decline for some time, she was still very much in action at this year's NOWFE.
She was otherwise involved in the community, too--a member of too many clubs to name. Because she and I knew each other personally, she often asked me to speak to her groups. She was a frequent caller on my radio talk show and a poster in my online forum. (Her pen name was "Clicquot," for her favorite Champagne.)
Dining out with her and David was always a full-tilt evening of fun. The restaurant scene was not just a business to her, but an essential part of living in New Orleans. She knew so many people that she was often the connection that joined folks who needed to get together, for a host of different reasons.
Although Anne was an unabashed lover of all things New Orleans, she would never hesitate to point a finger at anything she thought was less than it could be. She often told me, for example, that she was sick of eating the food at Galatoire's. All restaurateurs come to hate their own food, but few of them admit it. Anne always said what was on her mind.
I am among many New Orleanians who will have a hard time imagining our city without her.
