Lola Pokorny, Chef/owner, Lola’s: A Louisiana Kitchen (241 W Charleston Blvd.)

“My mom and my granny taught me to cook. Neither takes credit or knew they did. You learn a lot when your mom ask you to pull this or that off the stove, add a little of this, turn that, dredge this, cut that or go out a pick a bunch of this. When someone asks me advice for learning to cook I tell them: Start simple and cook with the flavors you like. Don’t get discouraged. … What you’re cooking won’t come out perfect every time … but this is when you figure out how to tweak your recipe. Learn to cook with layers of flavor and don’t be in a hurry.”