Move over, Joe Burrow.
As in, literally, move to the other side of the room — at least that’s the case at Jubans. On Thursday, the Perkins Road restaurant unveiled its newest regal-style portrait of an LSU great in its Tigre Lounge — Coach Kim Mulkey.
Designed by Simone Broussard at X Designs, the Mulkey portrait anchors the room, with Shaquille O’Neal to her left and the oldest tackle in NFL history, Andrew Whitworth, on her right.
Coach Kim Mulkey unveiled a new portrait in the Tigre Room at Juban’s Thursday, commemorating the 2023 national championship basketball team.
In the portrait, Mulkey is styled as a Victorian queen, dressed in the Victorian equivalent of a sparkly jacket — a tiger-centric dress. She is holding the NCAA National Championship trophy and wearing a National Championship ring. The words, “Dream big. Work hard” are barely visible across the top of the painting.
Hunter Territo, president of X Design, said that during the championship game he and the Jubans team knew they had to do a Mulkey portrait for the room that some refer to as the library.
“Then someone said, it’s got to have the trophy — and the ring,” Territo said.
Mulkey said she likes the artwork and immediately pointed out the championship ring after unveiling the portrait.
“It makes me feel important,” Mulkey said while clapping for her latest likeness. “I feel like royalty.”
Throughout lunch, the chef, the restaurant owner, the marketing team and various waitstaff stopped by to offer Mulkey congratulations on leading the LSU Tigers basketball team to a national championship.
By the end of lunch, Mulkey’s friends were texting her photos of social media posts about the new portrait.
“I keep telling my friends that they need to start treating me better,” Mulkey said, with a chuckle. “I’m special.”
Jasaan Lee, a waiter at Juban’s, usually works nights as a waiter at Juban’s. On Thursday, he was thrilled, he took a morning shift and waited on LSU basketball coach Kim Mulkey.
Mulkey is one of two women featured in the library-like back room at Jubans. Coach D-D Breaux, retired LSU gymnastics coach, is the other.
Mulkey heard through the grapevine that Breaux had mentioned the fact that she wished her portrait featured her wearing more lipstick and with a championship ring on her hand.
“You tell D-D the rings are reserved for national champions,” Mulkey said with a smile.
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