Colleen Allerton-Hollier and Camille Staub
Luncheon | New Orleans
SEPTEMBER 2022
Colleen Allerton-Hollier and Camille Staub are Louisiana girls, through and through. After growing up in New Orleans, Allerton-Hollier moved to Baton Rouge to study at Louisiana State University. Back in New Orleans, she spent a couple years working a desk job before deciding to pursue her lifelong passion: desserts. She became a pastry cook at Domenica, and one year later, Rising Stars alum Kelly Fields recruited Allerton-Hollier to lead the dessert menu creation and production at Johnny Sánchez and Borgne. She was then hired as pastry sous chef of Willa Jean, where she met her future business partner, Camille Staub.
Staub hails from Baton Rouge, where she attended the Louisiana Culinary Institute while boiling crawfish at Sammy’s Grill. After graduating in 2012, she joined Link Restaurant Group’s catering and event company, Calcasieu. Staub was hired as sous chef of Willa Jean in 2015 and bonded with Allerton-Hollier over their love of dive bars and disdain for brunch service. But by 2017, they went their own ways—Allerton-Hollier traveled around Europe then returned to New Orleans, joining Levee Baking Co. under the tutelage of Christina Balzebre. Meanwhile, Staub spent a year in Germany, cooking at the Romantik Hotel Spielweg. She came home, and worked as a butcher’s assistant at Cochon, until Allerton-Hollier begged Staub to join her at Simone’s Market.
When the store closed in 2019, the two ran pop-ups, farmers market stalls, and catered events under the name, Luncheon. After a long search for a commercial kitchen, they found a home at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum (SFAB), becoming its chefs-in-residence. Through SFAB and catering, Allerton-Hollier and Staub serve flawlessly executed Cajun and Creole-inspired dishes while sparking open conversations about the layered history of New Orleans and its cuisine.
