For Louise Lamensdorf, "Work" in the kitchen has never been a chore. Instead, this talented chef who has spent the past 43 years creating cuisine for Cafe Aspen, the now closed LaMaree, the Fort Worth Club, The French Apron School of Cooking and her own Bistro Louise Restaurant describes her kitchen time as nothing but FUN! Louise's enthusiasm shines through in the eclectic cuisine that has become a reflection of her personal experiences and upbeat attitude.

During her career, Louise has developed recipes and menus, supervised employees and product research, been responsible for food ordering and costing and has been a principal teacher of an internationally known cooking school. Throughout the years, she has enhanced her skills by studying under some of Europe's highly respected chefs.

Louise was born and raised in Monroe, La. She lived in New Orleans for 12 years before moving to Fort Worth in 1966. She came by her love of food as a child when her French grandmother who lived with the family ran the kitchen. Gumbo may have been considered fine fare by some in the neighborhood, but Louise's grandmother turned out stuffed breast of veal, poached fish and Alsatian baked potatoes for her family.

So, it is no surprise that when Louise found herself cooking for a family of six, she served Coq au Vin not KFC and boeuf bourginon not Big Macs. "As the kids would say, "All of that gourmet junk!", Louise says laughingly.

She apprenticed for eight years with Fort Worth's Charles Finance, the first chef to lead the U.S. Olympic team and has studied under Andre Daguin at the Michelin two star Hotel de France in Auch, France, Sabine de Mirebeck in Polgate, England, at Simone Beck's School of Cooking in Grasse, France and Alembique School of Cooking in Seville, Spain. Additional training was done at the Cordon Bleu in New York City, with popular French chef Jaques Pepin and with Florence Simon who ran Fort Worth's first cooking school. A stage at La Bastide St. Antoine, a michelin two star Chateau and Relais under the chef Jacques Chibois sharpened her French Riviera skills.

In 1979, Louise and two partners opened The French Apron School of Cooking in Fort Worth.where students were taught to prepare American regional, French, Italian, Chinese, Spanish, Eastern European and healthy cuisines as well as pastries. The school which remained open 10 years praised not only by students, but also by such visiting chefs as Stephen Pyles, Diana Kennedy, Anne Rosenzweig and Madelaine Kamman.