NEW ORLEANS –  Southern Food and Beverage Museum (SOFAB) President and CEO,  Brent Rosen, announced that he has launched a petition to rename Lee Circle, “Leah Circle.”

Leah Chase, the much-loved chef of Dooky Chase’s restaurant, passed away last Saturday (June 1) at the age of 96.

Since then, numerous tributes to Chase have hailed her influence far beyond the kitchen, as an icon of local culture and civil rights.  Former President Barack Obama tweeted this week that Chase was a “visionary,” who served “progress, one bowl of gumbo at a time.”

Now, Rosen says a statue of Chase in the “empty space” where General Robert E. Lee’s  statue once stood on a pedestal “would bring all New Orleanians together in honor of one of our greatest culture bearers.”

Rosen also says that SOFAB would pay for a new statue and its installation–without any taxpayer funding.  He’s asking supporters to sign a change.org petition to “let our city government know that we’ve found the right person to represent New Orleans in one of the city’s most prominent locations.”

The petition can be found here.

No comment yet from the city– or from Chase’s many relatives.