Chef Donn Gueniot

"One of the best Cajun Cooking books of all time" - BookAuthority

Chef Donn Gueniot's deep appreciation for Cajun and International cuisine was developed at a young age growing up in Houma, Louisiana where he was exposed to a variety of foods that would fuel his life-long passion for cooking. He began his culinary career at the age of 14 working in the butcher shop / grocery store / catering business that belonged to his family. He attributes his passion for cooking to his older sister, Karen and his Uncle, Chef Louis Gueniot, who also had a cooking show on the local television station.

At age 17, Donn enlisted in the military and started to develop his passion for traveling and learning about International cuisines while serving his country in various parts of the World. After the military, Chef Donn spent time honing his culinary skills in various culinary and management positions around the globe, to include such establishments as Harrah’s Casino and Hyatt Regency. He provided food service contract management in various corporations to include: NASA Aeronautics, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Union Planters Bank, Bryan Foods, Birmingham Southern College, Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center and Co-Lin Community College. In 2008, with the blessing of his Uncle, Donn took over the family business, Gueniot’s Cajun Cuisine. Shortly after, he was able to re-create family recipes for their homemade sausages and started selling in grocery stores. After about 4 years, Chef Donn finally decided to go to culinary school and fulfill a life-long dream. While working a full time job and running a family business, Chef Donn graduated from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts with perfect attendance and full honors.

In 2014, after competing in the Bite of Oregon in Portland, Chef Donn took advice from renowned Chef, Gordon Ramsay and decided to travel the World strictly as a chef and hone his skills even farther. He traveled to Asia Pacific and worked for establishments such as LeoPalace Resort, Paradise Resort and Hyatt Regency. He competed in various competitions. He was the 2014 Gourmet Cheese Champion, the 2015 Taste of India Runner-Up, the 2016 Eat-The-Heat Chili Cook-Off winner and he was the 2016 Guam Burger Fest Champion.

In 2016, Chef Donn completed his requirements to become a Certified Executive Chef and then about a little over 2 years later in 2018, he completed his requirements to become a Certified Master Chef.

Chef Donn now spends time traveling the world with his wife, but he always keeps an eye on his Cajun heritage. He resides with his wife in Pensacola, Florida, but he still calls South Louisiana home; the place where he came to master Creole Cuisine, which is now his trademark.