This chef is much bigger than her 'Lemonade' cameo, though that was pretty great too.
Where were you when Beyoncé made a tall glass of "Lemonade" and shared it with the world?
The superstar's highly anticipated visual album "Lemonade" debuted in mid-late April, but not before her film of the same name premiered on HBO. Through haunting imagery, the captivating poetry of Warsan Shire, and, of course, the music of Queen B herself, fans were gifted a cinematic love letter to black womanhood.
GIF from "Lemonade."
A sisterhood of women brought the film to life, as "Lemonade" featured cameos from some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
Zendaya, Amandla Stenberg, Quvenzhané Wallis, and even Serena Williams made appearances.
And while her cameo was brief, one star shone a little brighter than the rest — Leah Chase.
Chase is more than a world-renowned chef. She's American royalty, holding court in New Orleans.
At 93 years old, Chase is still a force of nature, cooking, inspiring, and changing lives for the better. Here are six reasons to celebrate this living legend.
1. Her gumbo fueled the leaders of the civil rights movement.
Dooky Chase, the restaurant Chase runs with her husband Edgar "Dooky" Chase Jr., has been a New Orleans staple since 1941. The restaurant was one of the few high-end establishments serving black clientele and quickly became a hot spot for mixed-race groups to make plans for advancing the civil rights movement. Meetings like this were illegal at the time, and someone even threw a bomb through the window of the restaurant. But it didn't stop Chase or the meetings. Hot bowls of gumbo were served to the likes of Thurgood Marshall, Oretha Castle Haley, the Rev. A.L. Davis, and even Martin Luther King Jr. in the restaurant's upstairs meeting room.
"I feel like in this restaurant we changed the course of the world over bowls of gumbo," Leah Chase told The Times-Picayune. "That's how we always did the planning — over gumbo."
GIF via ABC News.
2. The restaurant (and Chase) still draw crowds and have served many famous faces since then.
From Duke Ellington and James Baldwin to President George W. Bush and the entire cast of "Top Chef," Leah Chase has served the latest and greatest in her restaurant.
Oh, and — true story — she once admonished not-yet-President Barack Obama for adding hot sauce to her gumbo before trying it.
"He was campaigning. Dr. Norman Francis (Xavier University president) brought him to me. ... He was a very aggressive young man, I thought. I thought, 'You don't have a chance. No way in the world is this black man going to beat this white woman.'
But he was so good and so kind. But the only thing is, he put hot sauce in my gumbo. I said, 'Oh, Mr. Obama.' He said, 'But I like hot sauce.'"
Photo by Emmanuel Dunand/ /AFP/Getty Images.
3. When Hurricane Katrina left her with nothing, she didn't give up.
The storm flooded he restaurant with more than five feet of water. She lost everything. Her home was destroyed too. For many people, a devastating setback like that, especially in your 80s, would surely mean retirement. But not for Chase.
Just two years after Katrina, Chase and her husband were able to re-open the restaurant. See what I mean about a force of nature?
Chase stands with members of Women of the Storm in Washington, D.C., to bring attention to the need for rebuilding and preservation of the Gulf Coast. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.
4. Her restaurant doubles as a gallery for black artists.
Chase is a vocal advocate for African-American artists, and the walls of the family restaurant serve as a gallery of sorts, showcasing the work of world-renowned and lesser-known black artists. The large and stunning collection is considered by many to be one of the best private collections in New Orleans.
President George W. Bush dines with Chase and other honored guests. Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images.
Oh, and speaking of galleries, Chase has one named for her at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. Because of course she does.
5. Not to mention Chase is a queen and a princess.
For her prowess in the kitchen, Chase is often recognized as the Queen of Creole Cuisine, but it took a little help from Disney to make her a princess.
Yes, Chase was the inspiration for Tiana, the main character from Disney's 2009 animated feature "The Princess and the Frog."
Anika Noni Rose, the voice of Princess Tiana, arrives for the world premiere of Disney's "The Princess and the Frog." Photo by Robyn BeckAFP/Getty Images.
6. And at 93, she's not done yet. Not even close.
She still runs the kitchen at Dooky Chase. In fact, the family has limited the restaurant's operating hours to "protect Chase from her own work ethic."
For her hard work and masterful execution, she's taking home the James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award in the summer of 2016, a culinary honor bestowed to the only the very best.
And she's still a major philanthropist and inspiration in New Orleans.
Just at the end of April 2016, she served up some fine food and a dish of wisdom to a group of African-American boys as part of the Silverback Society's VIP luncheon.
Photo by Silverback Society, used with permission.
"Lemonade" could have been an hour of Chase making gumbo, and it still would've been overflowing with black girl magic.
Because she's a chef. She's an activist. She's just that good.
U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana) hugs Chase in 2014. Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images.
Beaver in water. Photo by 
An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Behold, the Rye Riptides miniboat. 
A man sweating in his car.via
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."