Chef Kevin Belton Lives the Sweet Life with His Dogs

Pets Cookie Monster and Mochi are the Icing on the Cake for the Celebrated Chef, Author, Educator and Television Personality

The glorious history of New Orleans and Louisiana’s food and its fabulous traditions have a proper steward in Chef Kevin Belton. Raised in New Orleans in a family that begin instilling the joy of the kitchen in him as a young boy, Belton acquired an appreciation for the bountiful and marvelous fresh ingredients available in his city and state and the way to prepare them to make each meal memorable. Belton’s knowledge of food and his savvy kitchen skills blossomed into a remarkable career that has allowed him to bring his passion—through various mediums of television, print and social media—into the homes of others to entice them to indulge in the pastime of cooking. When he’s not at the helm of a kitchen, Belton loves being in the company of his dogs Cookie Monster and Mochi.

“Cookie Monster and Mochi—or Cookie and Momo—have the life,” says Belton of his cute pups. “Since my wife Monica and I do so much cooking we came up with food names. We got Cookie first from the Louisiana SPCA when she was just old enough to be adopted. She was found as a young puppy along with her sister, and when the LASPCA first got her she had to be bottle fed. Cookie is making seven this year and Momo was around seven when we adopted her last year. Monica wanted Cookie to have a lap-sized friend to play with that she could snuggle with, although 60-pound Cookie thinks she’s a lap dog.”

A chef with plenty irons in the fire, Belton begins most days with Cookie and Momo at the top of his agenda. “When we start moving in the morning Cookie will start moving around like, ‘OK, what’s going on today?’” says Belton. “Momo’s the opposite. She’ll stay in bed, pop one eye open and look at you like, ‘Why are these people moving? Hopefully they won’t see me here and just ignore me!’ We take them for walks—or I should say they take us for walks. Cookie wants to go up and meet everybody to say, ‘Let me give you the opportunity to pet me!’ (Laughs.) Momo will stand there and watch Cookie. Momo might walk over to say Hi but she comes right back. Cookie’s a social butterfly and Momo’s more reserved.”

The sisters enjoy a terrific relationship with each other. “They get along great,” says Belton. “Cookie gets along with most dogs and really wanted to play with Momo when we first got her but had to get adjusted to her size. They really do mesh. They hop up on the big bed and lay together and they have their own beds. They have a bond. They’re both calm and have great personalities. Cookie is like a Border Collie–Lab–Pit mix. Momo is maybe a Shih Tzu–Doodle? There’s no telling! (Laughs.) I thought small dogs tended to be aggressive and loud to show their size—nope! People look at Cookie and think she’s aggressive because of her mix but it’s the total opposite. People can train any animal to be aggressive. It’s a shame they’ve gotten a bad reputation and there’s such an overpopulation; they have such sad eyes. Folks will tell me they’re looking for a specific breed of dog, and I tell them don’t go to a breeder, there are rescues for every breed. And during the holidays people are like, ‘Let’s get the kids a puppy or a rabbit’; afterwards shelters are flooded with puppies and rabbits. If we lived somewhere with a few acres I’m sure we’d have more dogs. So many of them need homes and they’re so sweet!”

Speaking of sweet, Belton gets a big reaction on social media with “Donut Hole Sunday,” a weekly event where he spoils Cookie and Momo with the breakfast world’s treasured treat. “I was traveling once and didn’t do Donut Hole Sunday, and everybody was like, ‘What happened? Where are the girls? Why they didn’t have their donuts?’ (Laughs.) Sometimes Momo will eat a donut hole and sometimes she won’t, but Cookie is always on it!” The Beltons also make homemade treats for Cookie and Momo, including frozen Antioxidant/Probiotic Dog Treats (see attached recipe).

Mochi might have missed out on being adopted by the Beltons had one day in their life gone a bit differently. “Monica had told me she had an appointment at the LASPCA but was thinking of changing her mind,” says Belton. “A few days later I upset her with something—I don’t know what I did—and she tells me, ‘I’ll be back!’ A few hours later she comes home and says, ‘I have to pick up something at 4:30 and I’d like you to come with me.’ I’m like, ‘Yes, dear.’ We got in the car and I said, ‘All right, you going to tell me where we’re going?’ She says, ‘You upset me so I went to the LASPCA, I visited with the dog and she was so cute and nice and she sat with me and fell asleep on my lap but this poor baby was so matted and her nails were so long that I drove straight to Petco to have her groomed.’ Momo was found in a dumpster and just looks like a little mochi! And she’s got the kindest eyes and a soulful look to her.”

A favorite activity of the girls is visiting the beach. “When we go to the Gulf Coast we walk them on the beach in the morning,” says Belton. “Cookie likes to get in the water. Momo will walk around the water’s edge; recently she got her feet wet but she hasn’t gone in. Momo loves to walk and run along the beach and winds up in the back pack because she can only walk so far.” A sense of conservation and preservation of wildlife is not lost on Belton. “We grow up in Louisiana with such respect for animals, whether they’re pets or they’re in the wild because we do so much fishing and hunting,” says Belton. “We eat what we catch and nothing goes to waste.” Recently on a trip with the dogs to Waveland, Mississippi, the Beltons encountered the head honcho of Gulf Coast wildlife. “We were walking on the beach and I’m like, ‘Is that a log?’ We got closer and realized it was a gator! We didn’t want to take a chance and got away. Gators are afraid of you like you are of them but you never know how animals will react to other animals. They’ll look at Momo and Cookie like, ‘Oh, appetizers!’”

Belton grew up with pets, including a Great Dane named Pompeii and his first dog Duke, a German Shepard. “I’m an only child and Duke was my best friend,” says Belton. One day, his best friend bit someone. “We lived Uptown and my family and I were in the backyard and this lady next door was leaning her arm up on the wooden fence and we were talking. I looked at Duke and he was crawling towards the fence and I was like, 'What is he doing? Oh, he’s playing!’ I didn’t say anything and all of a sudden you hear ‘OWWW!’ He’d snuck up on her and took a nip on the back of her arm! I guess he thought she wasn’t supposed to be in that territory. Luckily he barely broke her skin and had all his shots but they made sure she went to the doctor.”

The kind-hearted, self-taught chef learned all about food—from seafood gumbo to pralines and everything in between—from his family. “My Dad’s mom came from Thibodaux from the Bayou area and I learned one set of cooking from her and my Mom’s mom lived with us and wasn’t cooking much, but was directing Mom,” says Belton. His mother’s family roots come from the French–Caribbean island of Martinique. “We grew up at the kitchen table; we sat there and did everything! That’s where you visited. Mom was a teacher and I’d do my homework there and it would be like, ‘Here, peel these shrimp with us,’ do this, do that.”

At Louisiana State University—where the 6′9″ gentle giant played defensive tackle —Belton’s innate cooking know-how rose to the occasion. “One student had an apartment and was going to make pork chops and he said what he was about to do and I’m like, ‘I don’t think that’s right,’” says Belton. “I said, ‘Let’s season them, dip them in flour and pan fry them,’ and it worked out! I just remembered from watching what Mom did and did it.”

In 1990, Belton’s culinary career took flight when Joe Cahn, founder of the New Orleans School of Cooking, invited Belton to manage the store. Later Belton began teaching cooking there. “Mom had always said anything you want to learn, pick up a book and read it, so I picked up The Professional Chef cookbook used in cooking schools and learned about terminology and equipment,” says Belton. “Next thing you know I started doing classes there.” Belton has taught thousands of cooking lessons to those curious about Louisiana’s and New Orleans’ delectable food.

It was a matter of time that Belton’s gregarious, welcoming, made-for-television persona was recognized and in 1992 he began reading auction boards live on air during pledge drives for WYES-TV, the PBS affiliate in New Orleans, and later he hosted their local Saturday morning cooking show. In 1999 he starred along with British celebrity chef Kevin Woodford—who stood in stark contrast at 5′7″ to Belton’s tall frame—in the series Big Kevin, Little Kevin on BBC, and a companion cookbook to the show was released. “Kevin took me around the UK and I took him around the USA and we compared cities and their traditional cooking.”

Belton’s first series for PBS, New Orleans Cooking with Kevin Belton, debuted in 2016 and a companion cookbook, Big Flavors of New Orleans, was released. Several more cooking series for PBS came about; in 2018 Kevin Belton’s New Orleans Kitchen aired and was followed in 2019 by Kevin Belton’s New Orleans Celebrations, both accompanied by companion cookbooks of the same names. Since 2021, Kevin Belton’s Cookin’ Louisiana delights viewers nationwide including on WYES-TV in New Orleans, and its counterpart cookbook is a must-have in kitchens around the state. Belton also has a monthly recipe column in The Times Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.

Belton was a fan of cooking shows, including those from Louisiana chefs Justin Wilson and Paul Prudhomme, long before becoming a culinary star himself. “I loved watching Julia Child as a kid,” says Belton. “Julia did fancy French dishes but she cooked like people cook at home. Once she pulled out a soufflé from the oven and only half of it rose! It was at an angle! (Laughs.) She said, ‘Oh well! But it tastes good and this happens to people at home.’ On film I take things out of the oven and plate in real time because that’s how it’ll look at home.” Belton is driven to share his talent and make cooking accessible to everyone, with a humble message that cooking is simple. “Chefs have egos and can be like ‘Let me show you what I can make that you can’t,’ and I don’t want to make cooking seem intimidating.”

As the resident chef since 2014 on WWL-TV, the CBS affiliate in New Orleans, Belton does cooking segments on Tuesday mornings and does reporting segments. “I get to go do fun stories,” says Belton. “People see some of the news guys pull up and it’s like, ‘OK, who’s getting indicted?’ (Laughs.) When they see me it’s like, ‘OK, we’re going to have a good time!’ I wake up at 3:30 a.m. to go to the station on Tuesdays; I get up, try to be quiet and by the time I’ve brushed my teeth and gotten dressed, Cookie will have gotten off her bed and she’ll be laying on my side of the bed. (Laughs.) She’s like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s Tuesday; he’s gone!’”

The New Orleans community is graciously supported by Belton; he’s on the Board of Directors for both the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience and for the Louisiana Hospitality Foundation and he mentors the Culinary Crusaders at his alma mater, Brother Martin High School. And homeless animals are included in his charitable endeavors. The Louisiana SPCA sits close to the Beltons’ hearts, having adopted both Cookie and Momo there, and they support many local animal organizations. “At ARNO [Animal Rescue New Orleans] we’ll walk the dogs, help mop and bring towels, sheets and blankets. We’ll bring dog food to the Louisiana SPCA. We try to help shelters all around. They are so appreciative!”

Belton feels blessed to be beloved, especially in his hometown. “There are such decent people in New Orleans,” says Belton. “And what makes our food so great is that everyone does it different and it’s all good!” He’s been honored along the way, including being named a Top 20 Louisiana Chef and a Louisiana Culinary Legend by the American Culinary Foundation, and receiving a Telly Award, a Suncoast Regional Emmy, and the WYES President’s Award, which is bestowed upon businesses, organization and individuals that have demonstrated exemplary support of public television. “What was so special about that one is Mom said all the time to give back whenever you can.”

Just as he advocates for home cooking, Belton rallies about the benefits of having dogs in every home. “That unconditional love you get from dogs really helps you,” says Belton. “You come home after a stressful day and see those tails wag and everything is all right! And dogs must go for a walk everyday so you get your 30 minutes of exercise in. You spend time with them and they get as much from you as you get from them. Even if you can’t adopt a pet you can volunteer at the shelters even for an hour on the weekend walking them. It makes a difference.”

For more information please see kevinbelton.com, @chefkevinbelton, @ChefKevinBelton, kevinbelton.wyes.org, wwltv.com, nola.com, louisianaspca.org, @laspca, animalrescueneworleans.org

Antioxidant/Probiotic Dog Treats
Ingredients:
½ cup blueberries
½ cup strawberries
One whole ripe banana
¾ cup plain yogurt

Method:
1) Blend all three fruits in a blender or food processor.
2) Pour fruit mixture into molds and freeze for about 3 hours.
3) Remove from freezer and add thin layer of yogurt on top of frozen fruit and freeze for about 2 hours.*
4) Remove from molds and let pups enjoy!
*Alternatively, fruit mixture and yogurt can be combined and frozen for about 5 hours; freezing fruit and yogurt separately makes contrasting layers.