Louisiana's Festival Season is underway

Today marks the start of the 26^th Annual Festival International de Louisiane in Lafayette and the weather promises clear skies. Festival International was formed in 1986 to produce an annual visual and performing arts festival celebrating the French cultural heritage of Southern Louisiana—primarily a combination of French, African, Caribbean and Hispanic influences. The festival, unlike the competing New Orleans Jazz and HeritageFestival is free to attend.

A diverse array of culinary offerings is found throughout downtown Lafayette from April 25-29 in seven pavilions, named for festival sponsors Popeyes, Chevron and Malibu Rum among others.

Fezzo's Restaurant will serve 5,000 portions of it's signature
Festival International de Louisiane
fried catfish with seafod etouffee.

If you have a craving for traditional Cajun fare like crawfish etouffee, shrimp and tasso pasta, alligator sauce piquante, boudin and more, this five day feast is for you.

“We’ve been participating in Festival International for nine years,” said Phil Faul, Louisiana Restaurant Association member and owner of Fezzo’s. “We didn’t expect to make any money. We just wanted people to try our food when we were just starting out.”

During the five-day festival, Fezzo’s will serve more than 5,000 portions of its signature fried catfish topped with seafood etouffee. The response in the early years was so good, he had to add it to the menu at Fezzo’s due to the volume of requests for what he served at the festival.

Lafayette’s Middle Eastern restaurants will offer hummus, pitas, gyros, falafel, biryani and Indian samosas to name just a glimpse at what one can enjoy while taken in the sounds of more than 100 world music acts including Cajun and Zydeco.

A Louisiana Seafood Showdown at NOWFE

Marking its fifth year as part of the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience (NOWFE), the Louisiana Seafood Cook-off is back May 26 from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center.

Great American Seafood Cook-off. Photo by David Gallent.

With a slate of 12 chef contenders, each are determined to walk away with the title of King or Queen of Louisiana Seafood. Only one chef will rise to compete in the Great American Seafood Cook-Off at the Louisiana Foodservice and Hospitality EXPO August 11, also at the Convention Center, to vie for the King or Queen of American Seafood.

“We have steep competition every year at the Louisiana Seafood Cook-Off,” said Ewell Smith, Executive Director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. “But this year, the broader geographic diversity represented by the chefs will surely inspire their signature dishes.”

From New Orleans and New Roads to Shreveport, Thibodaux, Covington and Baton Rouge, the opportunity for these chefs to make their mark is huge. The chance to compete on an national stage provides rising chefs a platform to show, speak and serve some of their most inspired Louisiana seafood creations.

Alice Glenn named LRAEF Executive Director

As you can imagine, Alice Glenn is excited to be named the new Executive Director of the Louisiana Restaurant Association Education Foundation. Glenn joined the LRAEF April 23 with previous experience as the director of the office of alumni and development for Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. Previous political campaign fundraising experience has also shaped her career.

Alice Glenn joins the LRA
Education Foundation as its
new Executive Director.

"The LRAEF addresses key needs of our state, such as better training for our workforce, providing opportunities for higher education to our high school graduates and encouraging economic development through entrepreneurship and management training,” said Glenn.  “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead a foundation with such relevance and unlimited potential for growth and impact."

During her first two weeks, she will travel to the National ProStart Invitational in Baltimore, Maryland with Hammond and Rayne High Schools who will compete on behalf of Louisiana.

“I look forward to seeing our ProStart students in action,” she said. “Also to see how the students and teachers interact and how they feel about LRAEF training, tools and resources, and the mentors we seek out for their programs will be invaluable.”

Best Chefs of Louisiana benefits Children's Hospital

It’s known far and wide that chefs are a charitable group, and that fact was made loud and clear at the American Culinary Federation’s Best Chefs of Louisiana event, April 16. Generations Hall was packed with industry professionals and the public alike, sampling cuisine like Café Adelaide Chef Barbato’s seafood salad with lemon and parmesan short bread, Ye Olde College Inn Chef McGehee’s Boudin stuffed chicken breast  and 5 Fifty 5 Chef Quitney’s  Bananas Foster poboy with a scoop of ice cream.

“I need to take a picture of this to share on Facebook,” said Lauren Thom, owner of Fleurty Girl. “It was my favorite dessert of the whole event.”  

Bananas Foster Bread Pudding
Po Boy by Chef Mark Quitney.
Photo courtesy of Frank Stansbury.

Her Facebook status with the photo, “Bread Pudding po-boy. My favorite dessert at the American Culinary Federation’s ‘Best Chefs’ event tonight in NOLA was shared by 30 individuals, amassed 224 likes and 45 comments.

Event organizer Nina Camacho’s involvement stems from her industry connection as the National Events Director of Jazzmen Rice. She quickly realized that joining the industry’s trade associations was where she needed to be to help further the reputation and brand of her product.

 “Working with all these philanthropic chefs, restaurant owners and industry professionals to create a special event that benefits such a wonderful cause is truly rewarding,” said Camacho.


Event organizer Nina Camacho, Chefs Mark Quitney
and Paul Prudhomme, April 16.

Everyone was in great spirits given the specialty cocktails, one in an apple shaped sippy cup with a straw. Every step throughout the event offered one more bit of a chef’s specialty and also something just for the event.

Le Meritage Chef Farrell’s short ribs, Grill Room Chef Dzejak’s seared loin of Nimin Ranch lamb, St. Charles Hospital Chef Guillot’s crawfish enchiladas with tasso and crawfish cream sauce and Restaurant R’evolution Chef Lusk’s blue crab pho were hits of the event. K-Paul Louisiana Kitchen Chef Paul Prudhomme was roaming around the event and provided each guest with a signed copy of Kitchen Expedition.

Proceeds from the event benefited Children’s Hospital, the only full-service hospital in Louisiana exclusively for children.

Thirsty Thursday series celebrates the Sazerac

It’s only fitting that the first installment of the Louisiana Restaurant Association’s “Thirsty Thursday” series features the Sazerac. The three main ingredients of this cocktail—Sazerac Rye Whiskey, Herbsaint and Peychaud Bitters—have deep roots in the tradition and culture of New Orleans.

The Sazerac is a remarkably simple cocktail and was created in New Orleans. It has been credited to Antoine Peychaud, a Creole apothecary who hailed from the West Indies and lived in New Orleans in the 1800s.

According to legend, Peychaud served his drink in the large end of an egg cup that in French was a coquetier. The American pronunciation of coquetier is cocktail, however evidence indicates that the cocktail predates Peychaud’s creation.

Vintage Herbsaint Ad calls for Herbsaint when Absinthe
is called for following U.S. Government ban dues to
absinthe health concerns.

May 12 is the birthday of J. Marion Legendre, an apothecary-turned-entrepreneur and the creator of the anise-flavored liqueur brand Herbsaint—a staple in the Sazerac, but only by a rinse of the glass. Legendre learned about absinthe and pastis while stationed in France during WWI. Upon his return to New Orleans after the war, he secretly made absinthe in his Uptown home during Prohibition.

His launch of Legendre Absinthe was a dream come true for him. Sadly though, just months after launching his product, the U.S. Government forced him to remove the word absinthe from his brand name amid concerns that absinthe could have detrimental effects on people’s health. Legendre quickly re-named his product Herbsaint and launched an aggressive marketing campaign that called on people to “Drink Herbsaint Wherever Absinthe is Called For.”

The ingredients for a Sazerac cocktail are Sazerac Rye,
Herbsaint, Peychaud's bitters, simple syrup and lemon!

To commemorate Legendre’s birthday (a little early), we broke out the Sazerac and Herbsaint and invited a few friends for a tasting.

We referenced the Imbibe magazine recipe which calls for:

2 oz. rye whiskey
1/2 oz. simple syrup
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
Absinthe or Herbsaint
Ice cubes
Tools: mixing glass, barspoon, strainer
Glass: cocktail or rocks
Garnish: lemon twist

Give chilled glass an absinthe or Herbsaint rinse and set aside. Stir other ingredients in a mixing glass, strain into the chilled glass and garnish.

Louisiana's restaurant industry to add jobs in coming years

Food is big business in Louisiana. Restaurants in Louisiana are projected to top $6.5 billion in annual sales and that number has been on the upswing in the last three years. While we’ll see a modest increase of three percent over 2011 sales, the number of jobs, and careers for that matter, is expected to increase by 17,000 by the year 2022.

“The Louisiana Restaurant Association Education Foundation administers the ProStart program in 50 high schools statewide to help meet the demand,” said James Blanchard, ProStart Coordinator. “The two year dynamic curriculum focuses on culinary arts and restaurant management and gives young people an opportunity to see what the industry is all about.”

As the largest private sector employer in Louisiana with nearly 200,000 employees, there are many advantages to working in restaurants. Those advantages include upward mobility into management positions for those who want it and want to work for it, provides flexible schedules for students, working parents and those who have a passion for the industry and have made it their career choice.

Currently, there are nearly 17,000 restaurant locations in Louisiana and 80 percent of those establishments are small independently owned businesses. The restaurant business is enticing to many individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit and wish to be their own boss.

Queen of Creole Cuisine Leah Chase, receives national American Dream Award

Seeing Mrs. Leah Chase in action at Dooky Chase restaurant is quite amazing. Recently celebrating her 89^th birthday, Chase has an oral history of events unlike any you will find in text books. Often, when the Louisiana Restaurant Association staff stops by the restaurant, she’s either in the kitchen, hard at work preparing gumbos, crawfish etouffee, fried chicken and catfish and an array of traditional Creole delicacies she’s been soulfully preparing for some 70 years.

Chase was honored by the National Restaurant Association April 17 in DC as one to celebrate for achieving the American Dream in the restaurant industry.  Overcoming extreme obstacles through the Civil Rights Movement, many people of different ethnicities found solace, a hot meal and kind words at Leah’s Dooky Chase Restaurant.

Leah Chase and daughter Stella Reese
following Chase's American Dream
Award acceptance speech April 17.

“We’ve come such a long way in this country,” said Chase in her acceptance speech. “I have always followed my father’s advice, ‘Pray, work and do for others,’ in that order and it’s never failed me.”

During her career, she has fed U.S. Presidents, dignitaries and served her community on countless boards to further education, arts and the restaurant industry. She’s come to the aid of others during their time of need and the industry has rallied around her during her time of struggle.

“Katrina really did a number on the restaurant and the community that surrounds it,” she recalls. “The number of restaurateurs, chefs and companies that came to my aid was truly remarkable. There’s no way I’ll ever be able to repay them for their generosity and kindness.”

U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond presented Chase with the American Dream Award at the Gala during the 2012 NRA Public Affairs Conference. In addition to the award, a $2,500 scholarship was given to a student in her honor.

“Look at Cedric,” Chase said during her speech. “I’ve known him since he was a little boy and it’s amazing to see the success he’s had with helping the people of New Orleans be heard in Washington.”

Her tell it like it is style has only gotten more pointed as she’s gracefully aged. During a call with NRA Senior Director of Community Relations Alyssa Prince following the evening’s events, she laughed as she shared Chase’s comments during the Gala rehearsal.

“We were on stage and I asked her if she’d like a podium, a handheld or a lavaliere microphone,” said Prince. “She looked at me seriously and said, ‘what’s all the fuss? It’s not like I’m giving a sermon’.”