Gulf Coast Seafood Tour – New Orleans, LA to Biloxi, MS
We heard this same passion every place we visited during our trip. From the coffee roaster in Long Branch, to the shrimper in Biloxi, the processing plant next to the boat yard, and to a young chef who returned home to open a successful restaurant in Ocean Springs, there is a common theme; they love their Gulf Coast and want to share its history, bounty, and culture with others.
Coast Roast Coffee in Long Branch, MS
Shawn Montella – Coast Roast Coffee
Roasting the fresh beans
The final product
Chef Alex Perry of Vestige
No one speaks more to this than the chefs of the region who embrace this incredible seafood in their restaurants. They are inspired by the heritage and flavors of the region; the dark rouxs and traditional Creole and Cajun dishes, yet nothing is more delicious than a simple plate of freshly harvested steamed Gulf shrimp and plump briny oysters with a Mignonette sauce or a dish of beautifully blackened redfish or perfectly seared Gulf grouper.
Fresh shellfish selection at Lüke in New Orleans
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Gwen Pratesi
Gwen Pratesi is a James Beard Foundation Award Finalist in Journalism and an award-winning travel writer. She is the author and owner of PratesiLiving.com with her husband and a regular contributor to the Travel section of U.S. News & World Report. She also freelances for other publications including The Points Guy, USA TODAY, Cruise Critic, Travel + Leisure, Garden & Gun, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Reader's Digest, Forbes Travel Guide, Smarter Travel, TripAdvisor, Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles Magazine and World Travel Magazine. Her work has also been featured on MSN, Yahoo!, Business Insider, and SheKnows.
Gwen chronicles her love of international travel and experience as a professional home cook on PratesiLiving.com, where she shares the stories of some of the world's most sought-after destinations and cruise lines, highly regarded chefs, restaurateurs, farmers, wine and spirits producers and culinary artisans.
She and her husband are enjoying the coastal lifestyle in Florida with their Tibetan Terrier, Rhythm.
Such an informative article Gwen. No more imported shrimp for our family! Only local will do.
Hi Ronnie,
I’m glad you enjoyed the article. We stopped eating farm-raised shrimp years ago. I won’t even eat it when we’re out unless we know it’s local and from the U.S. It really brings it all home when you visit the region where it’s harvested and see how important it is to the survival of the communities, not just that farm-raised shrimp is less desirable to eat.
Gwen
It was a pleasure having you all join us and share in our love of (local) seafood. Hope to have you all back.
Hi Chef,
Thank you for your comment. We really enjoyed our visit and tour and of course, dinner at Cora’s. There’s nothing better than local fresh fish and seafood caught just hours before. We hope to see you again sometime soon!
Gwen
Thank you for visiting with us and for sharing your experience with the world. Hope we will be in your future travel plans, there is still so much more to see!
Hi Karen,
It was a pleasure to share what we saw and learned during our tour and of course, all the great seafood and food from the region speaks for itself. I look forward to seeing more of Louisiana in the near future!
Gwen