Lally brennan biography of martin

The heiresses to New Orleans's most legendary restaurant dynasty, Lally Brennan and Ti Martin, discuss growing up amongst celebrity cocktail guests, being naughty at breakfast and reveling in the city's cocktail legacy.

Three untouched cocktails rest on the custom chef’s bar at SoBou in New Orleans as Ti Martin and Lally Brennan are telling stories that rapidly pinball between seemingly disparate topics. Ti is reminiscing about closing down The Dead Rabbit in New York City on a recent trip. It somehow ends in detailed directions for finding a local NOLA store selling vintage cocktail glassware.

“This is called ‘taking detours,’” says Lally of their whirlwind storytelling style. “We start one story and it leads into another…” She’s barely finished before Ti bursts in with a welcome, “Somebody try a drink, dammit!”

Ti, dressed in a chic black ensemble with a peplum top and Lally in a crisp white button-down and statement jewelry, pull off the rare art of being both outrageously glamorous and disarmingat the same time. They are exactly what I’d hoped New Orleans restaurant royalty would be like.

Along with being first cousins, the two are the co-proprietors of Commander’s Palace and Cafe Adelaide. SoBou, short for South of Bourbon, is Ti’s newest venture. Situated on the corner of Rue Chartres and Bienville, it’s an oasis two blocks from the spectacle of “big ass beers” and frozen “hand grenades” that is Bourbon Street.

In addition to their celebrated restaurants, the cousins are self-proclaimed “Sazerac evangelists” passionate about sharing their intimate knowledge of the city’s cocktail culture.

Having a cocktail with an indulgent breakfast, “created the feeling that you were being a little naughty and really experiencing New Orleans.” The cousins are continuing that “naughty” tradition at Commander’s Palace where balloon centerpieces let brunc

< Back to Oral History project: The Brennan Family of New Orleans

ORAL HISTORY

Commander's Palace

Ella and Dottie Brennan are sisters born to John Brennan and Nellie Valentine. They grew up in the Irish Channel neighborhood of New Orleans. After a brief stint in business school, Ella began managing her brother Owen Brennan’s bar, The Absinthe House, in 1943.  She was only seventeen years old. When he bought the Vieux Carré restaurant in 1946, she took an active leadership role, overseeing daily operations. Dottie Brennan, eight years Ella’s junior, would walk from school to the French Quarter, being handed from policeman to policeman until she reached her sister at the Vieux Carré.

When their brother Owen died in 1955, Ella stepped into the leadership role he left behind. With a loan from their brother John Brennan’s father-in-law, the Brennan family transformed the Vieux Carré. They moved the restaurant to Royal Street and renamed it Brennan’s on Royal. Dottie married and raised a family. At times, she would work the front of the house at Brennan’s, greeting customers.

In 1969, the Brennan siblings bought Commander’s Palace, a historic restaurant with a lackluster reputation. In 1974, they revitalized the restaurant. Throughout the years, Ella has toiled endlessly at the helm of what became an esteemed institution. In the 1980s, Dottie joined her siblings full time at Commander’s Palace.

Though Ella and Dottie officially retired, they still played an active role in Commander’s, listening and sharing their seasoned opinions with the second generation of Brennans running Commander’s. Ella Brennan passed away on May 31, 2018.

Date of interview:
2017-01-17

Restaurateur, entrepreneur, author and sought-after speaker Ti Adelaide Martin is an outspoken champion for true hospitality in business, for her city and for the many causes she devotes herself to.

Most recently, Martin devoted herself to celebrating the 125th anniversary of Commander's Palace, along with her family members, by hosting The American Cuisine and Hospitality Symposium. This day-long discussion about the future of food and hospitality in America featured provocative sessions led by industry experts and thought leaders at the New Orleans Orpheum Theater. Restaurateurs, chefs, CEOs, food writers and students all found something inspiring from the day that was attended by more than 400 people and furthered a cause dear to Martin's heart: creating hospitality heroes.

From co-founder in the 90s of the New Orleans Proud to Call It Home campaign, to a driving the force behind the new billion-dollar airport terminal as finance chair and 12-year member of the Aviation board, to being co-founder and chair of the board of NOCHI, a new 93,000 square-foot culinary and hospitality institute, Martin's energy appears boundless.

Martin credits her mother Ella Brennan with igniting her passion for restaurants. A lifelong dream came true when she returned the favor by releasing a book with her mother Miss Ella of Commanders Palace: I don't want a restaurant where a jazz band can't come marching through. On the heels of the book, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Leslie Iwerks released the documentary, Ella Brennan: Commanding the Table. The film tells the story of the birth of the modern American food movement and captures both women's philosophies on food, hospitality and business.

Co-proprietor of Commander's Palace since 1997 with her cousin Lally Brennan, Martin speaks with pride and excitement about the future. "We may hold the keys to Commander's, but the restaurant really belongs to New Orleans," she says. In September 2018, Martin opened Picnic Provis