NEW ORLEANS- Willie Mae Seaton, whose neighborhood restaurant helped put fried chicken on the culinary map, has died.
    
Family friends on Monday confirmed Seaton died Saturday. She was 99.
    
Seaton managed Willie Mae's Scotch House for decades before her health declined and her great-granddaughter, Kerry Seaton-Stewart, took over. Oxford, Mississippi-based City Grocery Chef John Currence, who helped Seaton rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, said Seaton had severe respiratory issues over the last couple of months and finally succumbed.
    
Currence says he was deeply saddened by her death. He says her food was uncomplicated and recalled whenever he ate at the restaurant, it always felt like he was sitting at his grandmother's kitchen table.
    
Currence says they're blessed that her legacy continues and he's proud to have played a part in continuing it.