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Doucet Honored, Wirtz moves to KATC and Acadiana Chefs Spotlighted

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS HONORS DOUCET

Michael Doucet, fiddler for BeauSoleil, has been awarded the country's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. Doucet is one of 12 recipients of the 2005 NEA National Heritage Fellowships, which include a one-time award of $20,000. Award recipients are judged by a panel on their continuing artistic accomplishments and contributions as practitioners or teachers.

Doucet and his fellow winners will be honored in Washington, D.C., with an awards presentation at Capitol Hill and a concert at George Washington University on Sept. 23. ' SJ

KQIS' WIRTZ JOINS KATC

Last week Tracy Wirtz left her five-year gig at KQIS 102.1 to take Candice Gale's morning show spot at KATC-TV3. The former host of "Fast and Tracy in the Morning," Wirtz also served as the adult contemporary radio station's news and programming director. "It'll be nice to have one major focus," she says.

Though her radio experience dates back to 1988, the 35-year-old mother of three has been on the tube as the commercial face of Courtesy Automotive Group for the past five years, a post she's also leaving for her new job.

Wirtz, who lives in Crowley, has a degree in mass communication and broadcast production and says she's always hoped to land in TV. She hits the morning airwaves mid-month, joining co-host Tom Voinche and meteorologist Dave Baker.

Gale and her husband, Lewis, relocated to Utah ("UL dean and his TV wife head west," May 18). ' LT

ACADIANA CHEFS SPOTLIGHTED

Louisiana Cookin' magazine features two Acadiana-born chefs on its August cover. Holly Goetting, a Lafayette native, rules the kitchen at Charley G's Seafood Grill. She studied under Chef John Folse at Nicholls State, interned at Goose Cove Lodge on the coast of Maine and cooked at Mirabelle in Colorado before returning to Lafayette, where she whipped the pastry station into order before rising to executive chef.

Chuck Subra, born and raised in New Iberia, stirs things up as executive chef of La Cote Brasserie in New Orleans. Subra got his start in cooking working for Peltier's Catering in New Iberia. After culinary school at Delgado Community College in New Orleans, he honed his chops at Versailles Restaurant, Windsor Court and Rene Bistro before being tapped for executive chef at La Cote Brasserie.

The pair, along with New Orleanians Anton Schulte of La Petite Grocery, Bob Iacavone of Cuvee and Kristen Essig (who runs The Savvy Gourmet School of Cooking), were dubbed Louisiana Cookin's "Chefs to Watch" for 2005.

Locals will get a chance to taste Subra and Goetting's creations at a series of guest chef dinners at Clementine in New Iberia. Subra will be cook on July 6, and Goetting makes her way down the Teche on July 20. For reservations, call Clementine at 560-1007. ' MT