Melissa M. Martin

Melissa M. Martin grew up on the Louisiana coast and has lived in New Orleans for 25 years. After graduating from Loyola University New Orleans, she worked as an adult literacy teacher before moving to California following Hurricane Katrina. Working in the Napa Valley, she honed her self-taught culinary skills to a professional level. Martin returned to New Orleans and opened Satsuma Cafe, a casual farm-to-table restaurant, and worked at Cafe Hope, a nonprofit restaurant, teaching at-risk youth to cook seasonal food. In 2014, she opened Mosquito Supper Club, a Cajun restaurant created to celebrate the bounty of the shrimpers, oystermen, crabbers, fin and crawfish fishermen, and farmers that define bayou cuisine. Her first book, Mosquito Supper Club: Cajun Recipes from a Disappearing Bayou, was named a Best New Cookbook by Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, NPR,The Splendid Table, Eater, Epicurious, and more. It was awarded Cookbook of the Year and Best American Cookbook by the IACP. Martin is a 2022 James Beard Award Finalist in two categories, Best Chef: South and Best Book in U.S. Foodways. Follow her on Instagram at @mosquitosupperclub and on Twitter at @mosquitosupper.