Local restaurants still struggle with spill

“My suppliers keep telling me everything is fine,” says Joe Caton, head chef at Louisiana Lagniappe, “but of course I know it isn’t.” The Deepwater Horizon oil spill—still gushing an estimated 25,000 barrels daily—is blackening more than coastal waters; it’s also blackening the reputation of Gulf Coast seafood. Local restaurant owners and chefs are feeling their mood darken as well, as shortages loom, prices rise and consumer confidence wanes. “Right now it’s all up in the air, but our supplies are already getting tight,” Caton admits. It’s been a banner June already for the local eatery, a fact Caton attributes to canceled beach vacations, but already orders for seafood dishes are dipping. “People are sticking to meat and poultry,” he says. Although the restaurant made its bones on seasonal gulf offerings, he worries that it will soon have to switch to North Atlantic seafood products—at least temporarily. For now, Louisiana Lagniappe is holding out, and refusing to raise prices or drop menu items.

Parrain’s is another local eatery that’s eating the increased cost of gulf seafood. “Oyster prices have gone up almost 50%,” says manager Jonathan Thiery. “We’re just holding on as long as we can. Supplies are limited, but we are still buying local.” Although neither prices nor menu has changed, the restaurant has made some adjustments to the specials offered. With shrimp scarce, the kitchen is devising more crawfish-based dishes these days in the hopes of continuing to tempt customers through the doors.

One restaurant that isn’t feeling the pinch yet is Mike Anderson’s. Seafood purchaser Gary Marino is confident that this area establishment will continue to lay hands on Gulf Coast seafood, even as oil continues to spread. “We bought about 10,000 pounds of shrimp back in May, when news of the spill first broke,” he says. This supply is getting them through the current lean time, but they don’t anticipate that shrimp will be hard to find, as they rely on Texan shrimpers, whose supplies haven’t yet dwindled, according to Marino. They’re also buying oysters from Texas farms, though Marino adds they’re still buying Louisiana oysters where they can. The spill has not affected owners’ plans to open a second Mike Anderson’s location in Central later this year.

Only time will tell how this unprecedented ecological disaster will continue to affect our eating habits—and which restaurants will be able to weather the coming storm.