Chef Sal Impastato and Lucinda Roberts have been named as Lacombe Crab Festival’s King and Queen for 2009.

“The Crab Fest committee selected Chef Impastato and Lucinda because of the contributions they make to the betterment of the Lacombe community,” said committee member Mike Sevante.

Impastato and his restaurant, Sal and Judy’s, have been fixtures in Lacombe since 1974. He came to the United States as a teenager from Sicily, Italy in 1959.

The 2009 Lacombe Crab Fest royalty, Queen Lucinda Roberts and King Sal Impastato, are pictured in front of Sal & Judy's Restaurant. (Courtesy Photo)

“Every kid in Italy knew about and wanted to come to America,” said Impastato.

At the tender age of 17, Impastato arrived in New York with very little money and speaking very little English. After about five months of working in a New York bakery, he was convinced by his brother, Joe, and a cousin to come to New Orleans.

Cris Kerageorgiou, of La Provence fame, befriended the eager Italian and urged him to come work with him at the Royal Orleans where he began in the kitchen, then became a bus boy, then a waiter. From there, Kerageorgiou and Impastato traveled to Dallas to work at the Commonwealth Club. When the two returned to New Orleans, Impasto went to work for the Old Absinthe House and Kerageorgiou came to the Northshore to open La Provence.

The two remained friends and when a tiny bar called Bosco’s became available, Kerageorgiou persuaded Impastato to come to the tiny rural area of Lacombe and open his own restaurant.

Fast forward 35 years, and Sal and Judy’s is a four-star restaurant, distributes its pastas sauces and salad dressings in about a dozen states and enjoys a robust and loyal following.

Impastato is also known as much for his community activism as his great Creole Italian cuisine. Each year, he hosts a Christmas luncheon for about 150 Lacombe children, and along with volunteers and contributors, provides Christmas gifts for all the children attending. He shows his compassion for children and adults who are ill by organizing and hosting fundraisers to help defray their medical expenses.

Other organizations befriended by the chef include the Lacombe Fire Department, Men of Our Town, the Lacombe Chamber and many more.

“He’s been a mentor to so many youth who worked for him over the years,” said committee member Lisa Maddox. “Many come back to visit him after they’ve moved on in their life.”

Impastato met Roberts when she volunteered to help with his Christmas luncheon.

A lifelong Lacombe resident, she is one of 11 children of Leo and Norle Batiste, and attended Chahta-Ima Elementary School, Bayou Lacombe Middle School and graduated from Mandeville High in 1976. She followed her passion for baking and decorating cakes for 18 years until she headed back to Chahta-Ima, this time as a secretary.

Her love for her community shines year-round in helping children and needy families at Christmas, buying Easter clothes and attending to the sick elderly of Lacombe. She helps the Men of Our Town with their Back-to-School Rally, the senior citizens Thanksgiving dinner, Phenomenal Women’s Christmas dinner and the Knights of Columbus St. John of the Cross annual toy give away.

Roberts has four children and six grandchildren, has been married for 32 years, and enjoys cooking big Sunday dinners for her family.

“Lucinda has made a tremendous impact on so many young lives,” said Maddox. “She is a behind-the-scenes kind of person and knows how to get things done for her community.”

Impastato and Roberts will preside over and judge the Gumbo Competition contest on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The festival will be held Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday from 12 noon to 9 p.m. at John Davis Park in Lacombe. Admission is $3 before 5 p.m., $5 after 5 p.m., and free to all children age 10 and younger.

For more information, call 867-9490.