NEW ORLEANS – This year’s Louisiana Seafood Festival will be home to 27 food vendors showcasing 56 seafood dishes, as well as 11 non-seafood dishes and 5 dessert items. All of the six indigenous Louisiana seafood species will be represented in the food vendor menus, with dishes including alligator, fish, crab, shrimp, crawfish and oysters.
Complete menus are available here
New food vendors for 2016 include Ajun Cajun, Dat Dog, Dirty Dishes, Praline Connection, Quintin’s Ice Cream and Voleo’s Seafood. There are also a couple of new items from long-time festival vendors including Seafood Lasagna from Andrea’s Restaurant and Fried Crawfish Caesar Salad from Mr. Mudbug & 12 Seasons Catering.
Long-time favorites will include Drago's Original Charbroiled Oysters and Galatoire's Shrimp Remoulade.
“Our food vendors have put a lot of effort and creativity into their menus for the festival,” said Glen Armantrout, Foundation 1st Vice President and Event Co-Chair. “If you are a foodie, this is your seafood paradise. These menus will blow your mind!”
In addition to the food items available from featured restaurants and caterers, there will be daily cooking demonstrations featuring fresh seafood recipes from Louisiana chefs in the WWL-TV Cooking Pavilion. The 2016 cooking demo lineup includes local culinary stars such as Chef Tory McPhail from Commander’s Palace, Chef Todd Pulsinelli from Restaurant August and Chef Susan Spicer from Bayona.
The daily cooking demo schedule includes:
Friday, September 2, 2016
4:00 p.m. Chris Lusk, Caribbean Room
5:00 p.m. Trey Herty, Brown Butter Restaurant
6:00 p.m. Susan Spicer, Bayona
Saturday, September 3, 2016
12:00 p.m. Tory McPhail, Commander’s Palace
1:00 p.m. Julie Barreda, Simply Julie & Destination Kitchen
2:00 p.m. Michael Nelson, GW Fins
3:00 p.m. Todd Pulsinelli, Restaurant August
4:00 p.m. Michael Gulotta, Mopho
5:00 p.m. Wilfredo Avelar, Meril – an Emeril Lagasse Restaurant
6:00 p.m. Austin Kirzner, Red Fish Grill
Sunday, September 4, 2016
12:00 p.m. Kid Chef Eliana
1:00 p.m. Kevin Belton, New Orleans School of Cooking
2:00 p.m. Brendan Cahill, Bar Frances
3:00 p.m. Erick Loos, Pigeon & Prince, La Provence
4:00 p.m. Andrea Apuzzo, Andrea’s Restaurant
5:00 p.m. Chris Montero, Napoleon House
Funds raised from the Louisiana Seafood Festival in past years have been distributed in the form of grants to educational and children-focused organizations, as well as to individuals who work in the hospitality industry who had come across some type of financial crisis.
This year, the Louisiana Hospitality Foundation acknowledges the growing need to help flood victims and plans to distribute proceeds from the festival to help members of Louisiana’s hospitality industry impacted by flooding.
There are many ways that both companies and individuals can help:
• Buy tickets to attend the festival
Advance tickets are on sale now for $8 per day, advance weekend ticket packages are $22, and children 55 inches and under will be admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult. Ticket prices will increase beginning Friday, September 2, 2016, to $10 per day and $25 weekend ticket package. The festival is rain or shine; all ticket sales are final.
Louisiana Seafood Festival sponsors include Bud Light and Shock Top (distributed locally by Southern Eagle Sales and Service,) First NBC Bank, New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, Bergeron Automotive, Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board, PJ’s Coffee & Tea, New Orleans Tourism and Marketing Corporation, United Rentals, Louisiana Lottery, Kel Kat Equipment & Materials, State Machinery & Equipment Sales, Malibu Rum, Camarena Reposado, Barefoot Wine, Hilton New Orleans Riverside, Coca-Cola, The New Orleans Advocate, WWL-TV, OffBeat Magazine, Where Y’At Magazine, Cox Communications, Entercom Radio, Gambit Weekly, Yelp New Orleans, Louisiana Kitchen & Culture Magazine, New Orleans Magazine and Crescent Butte Designs.
Founded in 2006, the Louisiana Hospitality Foundation’s mission is to strengthen Louisiana’s hospitality industry through support of individuals within the community by supporting workforce development programs directly related to the industry; providing access to culinary and hospitality education; working to ensure a positive perception of Louisiana’s hospitality industry; and providing financial assistance and/ or guidance to people in the hospitality industry during times of crisis.
Since its inception, the Foundation has distributed more than $1.5 million in support of its mission. The Foundation produces a slate of annual signature fundraising events including the Louisiana Seafood Festival, Gold Medal Chefs Gala, Red Stick Food Festival, Champions Club at Zurich Classic, and Horses Hops & Cops.
