Iconic Restaurant Unfailingly Features Gulf Seafood
Chef Tory (center) regularly meets with the kitchen and wait staff to discuss the menu, and is willing to walk into the dining room to personally answer guest questions.
by Veronica Del Bianco
Since the April 20th explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, questions about the possible contamination and safety of Gulf seafood have been on the tongues of many Americans … even more than the seafood itself.
And, while some restaurants across the nation have pulled Gulf seafood from the menu in order to avoid the fallout from a bad PR and an inaccurate perception, others like New Orleans icon Commander’s Palace have chosen to highlight the seafood that has made both the restaurant and the region famous.
“Any restauranteur or chef who is taking Louisiana seafood off their menu is misguided, misinformed and a little ignorant,” says Commander’s Palace’s Executive Chef Tory McPhail.
Crispy Louisiana soft-shell crab with Louisiana crispy oysters, crushed corn pudding, red pepper "paint," arugula and avocado.
He prominently features Breaux Bridge crawfish tails, Louisiana wild white shrimp, and pecan crusted Gulf fish on his award winning menu.
“People are much more relaxed and feel more confident in a restaurant when their wait staff can answer questions about the source of the food,” Chef Tory explains. He regularly meets with the kitchen and wait staff to discuss the menu, and is willing to walk into the dinning room to personally answer guests’ questions.
“This is not over. There needs to be long-term testing,” he says. “The important thing for me as a chef is to insure public safety for the years to come.”
Chef Tory hopes that BP agrees to fund some if not all of the the $457 million, 20-year testing program proposed by Louisiana’s governor Bobby Jindal.
“Your reputation is like your name. It’s what people know you by,” says Chef Tory McPhail who carries on his shoulders the weight of a kitchen once run by celebrated chefs Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse to name a few. “If your reputation goes, who can trust you?”
For 130 years, Commander’s Palace in New Orleans has served hundreds of pounds of fresh seafood from the nearby waters of the Gulf of Mexico to locals and visitors alike. That has not changed throughout the BP oil spill crisis because they have confidence in the continued safety, quality, and taste of Gulf seafood.
Category: Seafood Industry
