From the keeper of one secret red sauce recipe to another, the 2026 Grace “Mama” Marino Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented posthumously by the Baton Rouge Epicurean Society to the late restaurateur Ruffin Rodrigue of Ruffino’s.

The organization’s leaders announced the selection at a luncheon on November 19 at Gino’s Restaurant, which Mama and her family launched in 1966 after arriving from Sicily during the previous decade. BRES created the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 and made Mama its first recipient. The award recognizes individuals who exemplify “outstanding leadership, hospitality and philanthropy in the Greater Baton Rouge community,” according to BRES.

“This is so special for me and my children,” said Rodrigue’s wife Alison Rodrigue at the announcement event. “We know how much this industry and all of you meant to him.”

Rodrigue, who died in November 2020 at age 53, was the owner of Ruffino’s restaurant locations in Baton Rouge and Lafayette as well as Ruffino’s Catering at De La Ronde Hall in downtown Baton Rouge. Before entering the hospitality business, he was an all-SEC football player at LSU in the 1980s. After his death, fellow restaurateurs told Business Report that Rodrigue was a tireless advocate for the industry, from helping them access COVID-related grants to his service within BRES’ community programs. He also supported a number of charitable organizations, including the American Cancer Society, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, Dreams Come True, No Kid Hungry and the Cypress Springs Mercedarian Prayer Center Foundation.

“He was like a brother to me,” reflected longtime friend and fellow restaurateur Kevin Kimball. “I’m thrilled to death that he’s getting this honor—and really and truthfully for Alison and the kids, because I remember when we lost him, my thought was, his kids need to know throughout their lives as they grow up what their father meant to so many other people.”

BRES will host the 19th annual Grace “Mama” Marino Lifetime Achievement Award Dinner in Rodrigue’s honor on June 25, 2026, at L’Auberge Casino & Hotel Baton Rouge. The evening will include a multi-course dinner with dishes by local chefs and wine pairings, along with a live auction. Proceeds will benefit BRES’s programs supporting childhood nutrition and health, education and scholarships. For details, email [email protected].

This article originally appeared in 225 Magazine’s 225 Daily newsletter.