Fine dining is a family affair in Shreveport

In the third part of the “Couples in the Kitchen” article, which appeared in the summer edition of the Louisiana Restaurant Association’s A La Carte magazine, you’ll be introduced to Ernest and Tina Palmisano. While Ernest has been operating the restaurant for decades, Tina joined the business a few years ago, when the two were married.

With a large percentage of Louisiana restaurants being family owned and operated, the story of couples working together in the business had us thinking, “How do they balance their personal and professional lives?”  We’ve found they are sometimes one in the same, as running a business together is extremely personal. Meet Ernest and Tina of Ernest’s Orleans in Shreveport.   

Tina and Ernest Palmisano run Ernest's Orleans Restaurant
in Shreveport. They were featured in the LRA summer
edition of A La Carte magazine in the article, "Couples
in the Kitchen: Family at the core of many
Louisiana restaurants."

On the top of the hill on Spring Street in Shreveport sits Ernest’s Orleans Restaurant, where diners can nosh on prime steaks, fresh seafood and Italian cuisine in an intimate atmosphere. For years, the restaurant has been part of the fabric of Shreveport’s dining history and from the veranda, one can enjoy the scenic view of downtown.

Ernest Jr. has spent most of his life in the restaurant business. His father, Ernest Sr., owned Ernest’s Supper Club on the riverfront, which opened in the 1940s and fed many until it closed with Ernest Sr.’s passing in 1983. During Ernest Jr.’s career, he’s seen things change and knows that they will continue to do so.

“Back in the day, customers would come in to the restaurant and spend the whole evening with us, soaking up the atmosphere and enjoy a leisurely meal, wine and conversation,” he said. “These days, younger diners are in such a rush and they want to be in and out quickly, because they have so many other things going on.”

At 51 years old, Ernest is hardly a cynic but has noticed changes not only in dining habits, but also with technology, staffing and how willing people are to stick with you, particularly during the rough spots.

Ernest married his wife Tina in 2007 and she has brought a new energy to their restaurant. Her passion and dedication to attracting new patrons, younger ones to replace the older ones that have passed on, is evident in her approach to the business.

Born in Lafayette surrounded by family members who spoke broken Cajun French, Tina absorbed all she could about the ways of cooking Cajun cuisine. At 24, she attended Louisiana Vocational’s culinary program and has trained at the Culinary Institute of America. Her culinary spark was rekindled and she received a master certification in Foodservice Management from Cornell University and completed her first chef level with the American Culinary Federation.  Her diverse skills include being a master florist and holding an event planner certification.

Tina attributes her long-standing passion to many fine mentors along the way. Her husband is one of those mentors, sharing his love of the business and Italian cuisine with her.

Monroe Chef takes top prize on Food Network's "Chopped"

Many Louisianans, including us at the Louisiana Restaurant Association, were on the edge of their seats last night when owner of Restaurant Cotton, Chef Cory Bahr, appeared on the Food Network show Chopped. As the opening of Chopped unfolds, the rules are revealed, “Four chefs, three courses, only one chance to win.” What does the reigning chef win? A whopping $10,000 cash prize!

Bahr admitted that he had never seen an episode of the show before he was selected to compete. His unfamiliarity with its premise influenced his decision to prepare for the competition in a way that one might not expect.


"It seemed pointless to me," said Bahr. "I would never be able to guess the mystery basket ingredients, or recreate any dish I could come up with during any practice. I just decided to focus on technique and flavor and hope that it would be enough."


The challenge throughout the competition is to create an unforgettable meal using the items in a mystery basket and staples available in the show’s stocked pantry and fridge.  In last night’s episode, the appetizer round’s mystery basket included corned beef, black olives, baby corn and gummy fried eggs.


From those ingredients, Bahr prepared a corned beef steak with regular and sweet potato hash peppered with olives and baby corn that he and his competitors had to shuck.  The judges liked his hash but remarked that the corned beef was a little tough. Despite that small criticism, Bahr moved on.


In entree round, the mystery basket revealed striped bass, sour lemon candy, Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) and cream of mushroom soup. Bahr saw the fish and was really excited, although he said, “I can’t go back to North Louisiana if I don’t cook this fish right.”


The judges really liked Bahr’s preparation of the striped bass and the sunchoke puree, but didn’t think his treatment of the sour lemon candy was creative enough. Regardless, Bahr moved onto the final round.


The dessert mystery basket held raisins on the vine, spearmint leaf candy, knodel—a type of potato dumpling—and almond flour.


These ingredients inspired Bahr to call upon his grandmother’s recipe for bread pudding, which the judges loved but commented on it being a little undercooked.


His overly-confident competitor in the final round looked over at Bahr’s bread pudding and said, Yea, I got this.”


In each round, candy was one of the mystery ingredients. Did their inclusion throw Bahr off his game?


"I tried to use the candy's flavor profile to enhance each course," Bahr explained. "In the first round, I used the gummy fried eggs in the viniagrette because of its citrus and sweet flavor; the lemon candy in the second round was used as an acid to the fish and also for its textural component and the spearmint candies in the dessert round were used in the mint sauce for the bread pudding."


When host Ted Allen lifted the cloche to reveal his competitors dish, Bahr exclaimed, “Yes! My grandmother is going to lose it!”


Not only did he flex his culinary chops, he represented Louisiana and his native Monroe extremely well. Throughout the show, Bahr maintained a positive and friendly attitude and steered clear of any trash talking that some competitors on Chopped partake in. Those watching at the restaurant’s viewing party were ecstatic and so are we!


"I really agreed to do the show, in part, to show the country that there is great food, great restaurants and great chefs in North Louisiana," said Bahr. "I want people to know that you can get an awesome meal anywhere in our state."


Bahr, of course, has known that he was the winner of his episode since February. He found it extremely difficult to keep the secret, especially because every day, someone would ask him how he did.


"I only told my wife and my grandmother," Bahr confessed. "It was hard, though, because everyone was so nice and sincere in wishing me good luck. I just told them I tried my best and that I hoped it carried me through the competition."


Congratulations Chef!

Louisiana celebrates 200 Years of Taste

By the time 1812 rolled around and Louisiana was granted statehood, we had already gained a reputation for a land where you could really enjoy an exotic and truly unique meal. Unlike anywhere in the United States, the last 200 hundreds years has seen an evolution in its culinary landscape and a return to agriculture that waned at times.

The Louisiana Bicentennial Commission’s Foodways Committee felt sharing the history of our cuisine throughout the year was extremely important. As life gets faster, humans try to keep up with technology, population shifts and relocation and the availability of foods, sharing the history and ethnic influences of this cultural aspect is a priority of food historians and industry stakeholders.

The people that have settled in Louisiana during its history have shaped the cuisine of the regions of the state. Those people have come from France, Canada, Ireland, England, Croatia, Basque, Spain, Africa, Caribbean, South America, Vietnam, Hungary, Germany, the Middle East and many others.  That’s a lot of flavor.

The Foodways Committee set forth to further its historical and culinary educational intent by producing a series of pop up banners that will travel to state libraries this year. Eight panels which will be exhibited for several weeks at each stop gives an overview of the geographic differences in types of cuisine, ethnic influences and produce availability.

“As a French Creole from Southwest Louisiana, my food memories include boudin from Abe’s on Saturdays, when my mom grocery shopped and sweet dough pies at the cash register,” said Erica Papillion, Louisiana Restaurant Association Director of Communications. “Since I moved to New Orleans in 2004, those delicacies are not readily available, but I enjoy snoballs, which are a uniquely New Orleans treat and the variety of Gulf fish that is much more pronounced on menus.”

As it appears on the introduction panel produced in partnership with the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, statehood cemented the relationship between the people of Louisiana and their fondness for all things edible.

The people of Louisiana—the Native Americans, the Europeans and the Africans—together melded their raw materials, their techniques, their labor and their spirit into a unique cuisine. The food of Louisiana is arguably the only true cuisine that has developed in the U.S. Statehood clarified and defined Louisiana so that the foods and foodways were identified with the state and at the same time became part of our identity.

An important point of the panels is the fact that the cuisine is no doubt regional and based on the bounty of those areas and the peoples that settle there.

From the white tablecloth restaurants and urban street food of New Orleans, the seafood of the coast, the game of the north and the pork of the plains, the food is connected by a certain attitude, but greatly influenced by the availability of the ingredients that geography presents.

“I grew up in LaPlace, the Andouille Capitol of the World and was always within influence of the famed New Orleans restaurants,” said Wendy Waren, LRA VP of Communications. “My husband is a Cajun from Eunice and grew up on a rice and crawfish farm. Pair that with my position at the LRA and there’s a lot I’ve tried and a lot I love.”

In the Northern part of Louisiana, the cuisine reflects that of the Caddo Indians, original residents of the southern Plains, particularly Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. The influence of the Caddo is great here. It was they who created the plains that allowed bison to wander the state and it was their influence carried along by the Spanish who established the corn flour tamál, formed around minced and spiced beef. The Spanish left hogs in the area which became feral and proliferated. Cattle and hog farms occupy an important aspect of the region.

This area looks to Texas and the Spanish, as well as to the French in the south, to find its identity. Shreveport, the Red River and the Texas Trail were created to encourage trade with Texas and Mexico and allowed the food of these regions a spot on the Louisiana table. 

Along the coast of which Louisiana has 7,700 tidal miles, oysters, shrimp, crabs and countless varieties of fish are harvested from the Gulf of Mexico, bays, bayous and estuaries and have found their way to the restaurant tables as a the star of the entrée.

“I grew up in Houma where the freshest seafood is served daily in restaurants and in homes,” said Alice Glenn, LRA Education Foundation Executive Director. “Crabbing and fishing with my dad was something I always looked forward to and just this morning I received an email from him stating ‘Red snapper season opens this Friday! Who’s in’?”

What part of Louisiana are you from, have you traveled to or have gone on business where the geographic and ethnic differences were prevalent?