Chef Hardette Harris
As a private chef, Chef Harris has provided a number of services to private individuals, busy corporate VIPs and executives. “My love for home cooking and home cooks is my total inspiration,” said Chef Harris. She is the chef and owner of "Us Up North" Celebrating North Louisiana cuisine in Shreveport. Louisiana. Chef Hardette has also worked as a private chef in Houston, San Antonio and now back in her native Louisiana.
In 2015, Chef Hardette Harris was proud to announce her history making creation of North Louisiana’s official meal. Chef Harris worked with State Rep. Gene Reynolds to develop the State of Louisiana’s first official meal (one of only two official state meals in the United States) bringing recognition to the culinary uniqueness of North Louisiana. On April 29, 2015 House Concurrent Resolution No. 88 – was read on the House floor by title and concurred in by a vote of 33 yeas and 0 nays. On May 4, 2015 it was enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate.
She hopes to jump start an eternal love affair between North Louisiana dishes and the rest of the world by making sure every tourist and visitor to the state taste what we eat up north.
Chef Harris is originally from Minden, Louisiana and and in 2017 was named by Louisiana Life Magazine as a “Louisianian of the Year”, one of Country Roads Magazine’s 2017 Best Small Town Chefs and Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourism Bureau’s “Attraction of the Year” for 2018 and also received their 2019 Convention and Tourism Sales Department Award. She also has a recurring column called “Up North” in the beautiful Louisiana Kitchen & Culture magazine and is a recipe contributor to LOLA Magazine.
She can also be seen in the PBS Digital Series, Nourish, “The Great Cornbread Debate”.
Hardette is happy to announce that in late August 2019 she opened the “Us Up North” Kitchen in Shreveport, Louisiana where she will host cooking classes, Friday fish fry's, sunday dinners, culinary expereines and much more. All of her dishes celebrate the uniqueness of northern Louisiana cuisine. www.usupnorth.com
Past and Present Affilations
Chef Harris has an AAS Degree in Culinary Arts from The Art Institute of Houston (2001)
Certified Culinarian 2001 American Culinary Federation
City of Houston Certified Food Service Manager 2012
State of Texas ServSafe® Certified Food Service Manager -2012-2017
State of Louisiana ServSafe Certified Food Service Manager 2019-2023
ServeSafe Covid19 Food Handlers Training 2020
Member Domestic Estate Managers Association
American Culinary Federation
United States Personal Chef Association
Domestic Estate Managers Association
Minden Chamber of Commerce
Shreveport African American Chamber of Commerce
Board Member of Cultural Crossroads Minden, Louisiana
Board Member Shreveport Bossier Attractions Association
Member of Shreveport Mayor’s Women’s Commission
Shreveport Regional Arts Council
Food Writer-Louisiana Kitchen & Culture Magazine
Food Writer-64 Parishes
Food Writer-Times Picayune/The Weekly Gambit
Instructor Kid’s Thyme Cooking Camp – Minden, Louisiana
Instructor-Renzi Education & Art Center
Shreveport Petroleum Club Kids Cooking Camp 2017-2021
Mercy Chefs West Texas Explosion 2013
Mercy Chefs Hurricane Laura 2020
Featured Chef at Shreveport Regional Arts Council “Unscene “Food – Art – Film” Chef Artist Pairing Event
Featured Contributor for Hope for Women Magazine and Cuisine Noir
Featured Chef at Shreveport’s inaugural “Eat Here” event