With its Creole-Cajun-Deep-Southern roots, New Orleans sizzles with creative cuisines and larger-than-life chefs. You may have heard of a guy named Emeril who cooks here or Paul Prudhomme or the Brennan family who runs the famous Commander's Palace restaurant.

You may not have heard of Anne Kearney or her French Quarter bistro Peristyle if you live outside Louisiana or even the Big Easy.

But in the food world, the 32-year-old chef is making an impact. In the past year, Kearney -- a perky, blond-haired cooking whiz -- joined the ranks of Food & Wine magazine's best new chefs, won a Robert Mondavi Award of Culinary Excellence and was nominated for a prestigious James Beard award.

She and her charming 90-seat restaurant -- named after a gorgeous mural in the bar featuring a peristyle, an oval pavilion of columns -- have been praised in a number of publications and travel guides, including Southern Living and "Frommer's '99 New Orleans." She also has the blessing of Emeril Lagasse, the flamboyant chef, restaurateur and TV personality who has become a household name.

Not bad for an Ohio native who came to town for Mardi Gras in 1991 and never left. Kearney, who trained at the Cincinnati Culinary Arts Academy, settled right into the city's lively restaurant scene.

The down-to-earth chef with the engaging blue eyes eventually was hired as a cook at Lagasse's restaurant, Emeril's, after interviewing for the job three times. "There was a testosterone environment in the kitchen," she says with a laugh.

Soon, Kearney began assisting Lagasse in cooking demos, developing recipes for his cookbook, "Louisiana Real and Rustic" (William Morrow, 1996), and writing segments for his food show.

"He's wonderful. He's very charismatic," Kearney says. "He taught me how to network. I learned a lot."

Now, Lagasse is one of her biggest supporters. In a recent interview in Playboy, he called Kearney one of the country's up-and-coming chefs.

"Annie is going to make a significant contribution to the movement of American cuisine," he told the magazine. "It's classic Provencal cooking mixed with New Orleans."

Not long ago, Lagasse and Kearney cooked together at an Aspen, Colo., festival, wowing the audience.

"She's all things for all people," says Kate Krader, a senior editor at Food & Wine, which sponsored the event. "She is outstanding. She's lovely as well as being a great chef."

Kearney, a newlywed who traces her work ethic to her meat-and-potatoes Midwestern upbringing, has a simple strategy for success.

"I'm not in the business for the fame of it all," she says. "I'm very grateful for the attention. When I was nominated for the James Beard award, I cried. It's a flash-in-the-pan world. I just want to maintain a level of excellence."

A visit to Kearney's restaurant gives a glimpse into her jet-propelled life as a chef/restaurant owner trying to make a mark in a city filled with skilled chefs. The day usually starts at 8 a.m. and continues until after midnight. She sees her husband, Tom Sand, whom she met in high school, regularly only because he is her business manager.

This day, she's making desserts because her pastry chef quit unexpectedly. Despite interruptions, she hangs onto her sense of humor, mugging for a visitor and joking that her new short haircut makes her look like bombshell actress Jenny McCarthy.

But Kearney is all business when it comes to cooking. She relies on classical French techniques, local game and fish, and seasonal produce like Creole tomatoes, haricots verts and peppery arugula to turn out her brand of Southeastern American food. Even with a staff of 16, including brother Patrick, 25, she is very much involved in every dish, every utensil, every garnish, every nuance.

"I tend to cook from my heart," Kearney says. "The food I create is my food."

She puts her signature on such menu items as poached Louisiana oysters; fennel shrimp and celeriac; lump crab and roasted beets, pan-roasted squab; duck in a molasses-scented reduction; and seared striped bass with lemon and caper beurre noisette.

By 6:30 p.m. on a recent night, the restaurant on the fringes of the French Quarter is filling up -- and this is during the slow season, when the sultry heat melts the tourist trade.

Margrit Biever Mondavi, vice president of cultural affairs at Robert Mondavi, who sat on the panel that picked Kearney for the company's achievement award, explains the allure. "She is a hands-on chef who chooses her menus carefully and presents the dishes with style and grace," she says. "Whatever happens on her beautiful plate is a culinary adventure to remember."

While Peristyle's setting isn't fancy, the restaurant in the 19th-century building is subtly chic with a red-and-white tiled floor, romantic lights around the ceiling and mirrors everywhere. It has been compared to a Left Bank brasserie. It also has a past as a one-time swanky hangout for literati like Tennessee Williams.

But it is the mural stretched over the long wooden bar that inspired former owner John Neal to call the restaurant Peristyle.

Neal, an award-winning chef who died of complications from acquired immune deficiency syndrome in 1995, was Kearney's mentor when she arrived in town. She was his sous-chef.

After Neal's wake, his family approached her about buying the restaurant, an intimidating prospect for a 27-year-old. But Kearney managed to secure bank loans -- and opened the doors to re-establish her friend's legacy.

"I felt compelled to carry on the tradition," Kearney says. "This is a beautiful venue for a young chef. It turned me from being a cook into being a professional."

Pastis-Poached Louisiana Oyster

Serves 6

SAUCE OR POACHING LIQUID:

1 tablespoon oil

1/2 cup chopped onions

1 cup chopped fennel stems

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped garlic

1 tablespoon toasted fennel seeds

1 cup pastis (licorice-flavored liqueur)

1 1/2 cups reserved oyster liquor

2 cups heavy cream

salt and white pepper

1 1/2 cups packed spinach leaves

1/2 cup packed parsley leaves

OTHER INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons chopped shallots

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon oil

42 strained, large select oysters, liquor reserved for sauce

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons thinly shaved green onion tops

2 cups packed spinach leaves, wilted

In a 3-quart sauce pot, sweat the onions and fennel stems in the oil until tender; add the garlic and toasted fennel seeds and cook for 3-4 minutes. (Careful, no color.) Deglaze with the pastis, cook off the alcohol and then add the oyster liquor and cream. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Pull from the stove and cool for 20 minutes.

In batches, if necessary, puree the sauce in a blender with the spinach and parsley. Be sure to puree the sauce for at least 3-4 minutes to allow everything to properly mix. The sauce base needs to be slightly warm while pureeing in order to get a good green color from the spinach and parsley, but not so hot as to cook them and cause them to turn brownish.

Strain through a fine sieve and cool completely until needed. This will be pourable.

In a large sauce pot, briefly sweat the shallots and garlic in oil. Add sauce to the pan, bring to a boil and reduce the sauce for 5 minutes. Add the oysters. This will cook very quickly. You will want the plates hot before the oysters are started. Remove the oysters as soon as the lips of the oysters begin to curl and the oysters plump. Finish the sauce by whisking in the butter and green onions. Season.

Place wilted spinach (see note) in the center of each plate and top with oysters in a star pattern around the spinach; garnish with the sauce.

Note: To wilt spinach, rinse leaves well; discard large stems. Add spinach to a saute pan with the water clinging to its leaves. Cover and cook over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring often, for 1 to 2 minutes or until wilted.

-- From Anne Kearney

Arugula Salad With Apples, Ricotta Salata and Poppy Seeds

Serves 6-8

2 Granny Smith apples, washed and cut vertically in 1/2 -inch slices

1 tablespoon light olive oil

1 pound arugula, picked free of stems, washed and dried

1 tablespoon small diced shallots

Poppy-Seed Dressing (recipe follows)

salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

1 ounce grated ricotta salata (firm Italian table cheese)

Toss apple slices in olive oil and roast for 10 minutes on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees. Cool and julienne into 1/4 -inch strips, discarding seeds and core as you slice.

In a large salad bowl, gently toss arugula, shallots and apples with 1/3 cup dressing. Season with salt and white pepper. Place arugula in the middle of chilled salad plates, slightly mounding arugula in the center of each plate. Sprinkle each salad with cheese.

-- From Anne Kearney

Poppy-Seed Dressing

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 teaspoon white wine

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1 1/2 teaspoons diced shallots

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup peanut oil

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

In a medium stainless-steel mixing bowl, using a whisk, combine all ingredients, except the oils and salt and pepper. Mix well to break down the sugar. While whisking, slowly add the oils in a thin stream and whisk until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. This will keep for up to 1 week, refrigerated.

-- From Anne Kearney

Preserved-Lemon-and-Garlic-Stuffed Chicken Breasts With Stewed Flageolets

Serves 4

15 large garlic cloves, peeled

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons coarse bread crumbs

2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 tablespoon finely chopped preserved lemon rind (see note)

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

salt and freshly ground white pepper

1 quart chicken stock

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons champagne vinegar

4 8-ounce boneless chicken breasts, with skin

Stewed Flageolets With Thyme (recipe follows)

In a small saucepan, cook the garlic in the vegetable oil over low heat, turning the cloves, until golden and softened, about 10 minutes. Let the garlic cool in the oil, then drain. Finely chop the garlic; reserve the oil.

In a bowl, combine 3 tablespoons of the chopped roasted garlic with the bread crumbs, 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, preserved lemon rind, parsley and a pinch of salt and pepper. Chill the filling until firm.

Boil chicken stock over high heat until reduced to 1 cup. Add wine, vinegar and 2 tablespoons of the chopped garlic, and boil until reduced to 3/4 cup. Season with salt and white pepper. Strain the sauce in a fine sieve, pressing through as much garlic as possible; whisk to incorporate.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using your fingers, loosen the skin from the chicken breasts. Shape the preserved lemon filling into 4 short ropes and stuff one under the skin of each breast, pressing gently to flatten it. Season the chicken with salt and white pepper.

Heat 2 tablespoons reserved garlic oil in a large oven-proof skillet. Add the chicken breasts, skin side down, and cook over high heat until crisp and golden, 5 to 6 minutes. Turn the chicken, transfer the skillet to the oven and roast for about 10 minutes, or until cooked through.

Spoon Stewed Flageolets With Thyme onto 4 warmed dinner plates and top with chicken. Pour any accumulated pan juices into the sauce and rewarm. Whisk in the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Spoon the sauce over and around the chicken and serve.

Note: Preserved lemons are available in specialty food stores.

-- From Anne Kearney

Stewed Flageolets With Thyme

Serves 4

1 cup dried flageolets (see note) or dried baby lima beans (about 6 ounces), picked over and rinsed

4 cups water

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium tomato, peeled, seeded and finely chopped

4 cups chicken stock

salt and freshly ground white pepper

1 small Idaho potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 -inch dice

2 teaspoons minced thyme

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Soak flageolets in 4 cups of water for 24 hours. Discard any beans that float; drain the beans.

In a medium saucepan, cook the onion and garlic in the oil over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato and cook just until it starts to break down, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and beans and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to moderately low, cover partially and cook until the beans are tender and the liquid is slightly thickened, about 1 1/2 hours; add water if the beans are dry. Season with salt and white pepper.

Add the potato and thyme and cook until the potato is tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in the butter and season with salt and white pepper.

Note: If you're not familiar with flageolets, they are tiny, tender French kidney beans.

-- From Anne Kearney

Pub Date: 07/07/99