LACOMBE La. Randy Lewis will soon be named executive chef at La Provence here, according to restaurant owners John Besh and Octavio Mantilla of the Besh Restaurant Group of New Orleans.
Lewis replaces René Bajeux, who the company said last week was leaving La Provence to explore the possibility of opening his own restaurant in New Orleans.
Bajeux joined the Besh Restaurant Group last August and emphasized locally grown produce and meats with the restaurant’s on-property pigs, chicken, garden and smokehouse.
In a statement, the company said: “Chef Besh and chef Bajeux have been colleagues for many years, and both say their long friendship is certain to continue despite their professional parting of ways.”
Lewis, who has been working in California, grew up on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, where La Provence is located, and acquired his first experience as a cook under chef Chris Kerageorgiou, La Provence’s original owner.
In the mid-1990s, Lewis had the Indigo restaurant in New Orleans.
The Besh Restaurant Group said Lewis has the expertise to maintain the company’s culinary vision for La Provence, which focuses on sustainable Louisiana products and country-French cuisine.
The Besh Restaurant Group also owns Restaurant August, Besh Steak and Lüke.
