A few years ago, Anne Milneck did what few married mothers of young children make time for—she pursued a lifelong dream. Cooking had been her personal passion, but it had been eclipsed by a career in marketing and by taking care of kids then in first and third grades. That passion resurfaced one day when Anne’s husband Greg asked her what she most wanted to do. She answered without hesitation.
“I said I wanted to go to culinary school,” she recalls. “I’d always wanted to.” Her husband was on board, so Milneck immediately enrolled at the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University. She began commuting three days a week between Baton Rouge and Thibodaux, learning the fine points of cooking from Folse, his team of chef-instructors, and guest chefs and food personalities who included New Orleans Chef Frank Brigtsen and food writer and author Marcelle Bienvenu. Milneck graduated in 2010.
With her children still at home, Milneck launched a small catering business called the Lunch Lady. It specialized in gourmet boxed lunches that sales representatives could bring to clients. Then, earlier this year, the opportunity emerged to buy one of her favorite businesses, the Red Stick Spice Co., a purveyor of diverse, high-quality spices, teas and oils and vinegars. Milneck put the Lunch Lady on hold and is now using her culinary background to help the store’s customers integrate an endless list of spices and blends into their ?everyday culinary repertoires. She says one of the most appealing features of the store is its ability to provide the exact amount of a spice that a customer wants.
