Turn Up the Heat for Tammany Taste of Summer!

Culinary celebration returns for fourth year.

by Christina Cooper

IN 2018, THE ST. TAMMANY PARISH Tourist Commission launched a month-long celebration of the culinary scene on the Northshore, Tammany Taste of Summer, to drive visitors to St. Tammany Parish and to encourage residents to support local restaurants during the traditionally sluggish month of August. Now returning for its fourth year, Tammany Taste of Summer has proven successful for participating tourism-related businesses, and its return is eagerly anticipated by Northshore visitors and residents.

Modeled after New Orleans & Company’s successful COOLinary campaign, Tammany Taste of Summer always offered delicious deals on great prix fixe meals and discounted room rates, but the program was expanded in 2020 to offer Northshore attractions the opportunity to participate with their own deals, creating a complete travel experience for visitors, and with the goal in mind of helping as many St. Tammany Parish tourism-supported small businesses as possible during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We look forward every year to this—and will ALWAYS participate and be so grateful for all you do to promote local business here in St. Tammany,” enthused Brandi Najolia, co-owner of Café Lynn Restaurant & Catering, when asked if she would participate in Tammany Taste of Summer again.

Donna O’Daniels, president and CEO of the St. Tammany Parish Tourist Commission, says, “Research has shown us that 25 percent of our St. Tammany Parish restaurant revenue comes from visitors, and we know that August is an extremely difficult month in the hospitality industry. Our ultimate goal is to help our tourism partners increase revenue. We’re dedicated to investing in our community and supporting our Northshore small businesses that contribute so much to our quality of life.”

Through Tammany Taste of Summer, both locals and regional travelers are encouraged to discover and support places to eat, stay and play on Louisiana’s Northshore. This is accomplished with significant advertising in an extensive multi-media campaign provided by the St. Tammany Tourist Commission to promote participating businesses and their deals.

In 2020, complimentary advertising via radio, television, Smart TV, Spotify, Pandora, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Google Banner Ads, Google Keyword Search, and local and regional print publications drove traffic to TammanyTaste.com, where potential visitors as well as locals could access delicious deals and discounts from participating tourism-related businesses. A similar plan is in the works for 2021.

Seventy-five tourism-related businesses participated in 2020, including many beloved establishments. “We loved trying new restaurants as well as new menu items from our favorite places. It was a nice bright spot in 2020!” remarked Covington resident Melissa Foster. Notable Northshore restaurants are already eager to welcome Tammany Taste of Summer patrons with inventive prix fixe menus in 2021, including Café Lynn, The Dakota, Restaurant Coté, The Lakehouse, Tchefuncte’s, Seiler Bar, Pyre Provisions, Impastato Cellars, Forks and Corks, Annadele’s Restaurant, Peck’s Seafood and Del Porto Ristorante. Fleur De Lis Winery, Little River Bluffs B&B, and Bella Cucina Design are also joining in the fun.

Also new for 2020 was the Tammany Taste of Summer Savings Pass. Enthusiastic patrons are now able to register for the program on TammanyTaste.com to access prix fixe menus and deals from participating businesses. Once a user signs up, a link to the Tammany Taste of Summer Savings Pass is emailed and texted to the user, who can then save it to the home screen on their mobile phone. Similar to using an app, pass users can easily scroll through prix fixe menus, special room rates and attraction offerings to plan their Northshore experiences. Best of all, they are able to check-in at the business when they redeem an offer.

Anna Strider, manager of marketing and PR for the St. Tammany Parish Tourist Commission, implemented the Tammany Taste of Summer Savings Pass through the digital platform Bandwango, and is excited about its capabilities to track the success of the program for participating businesses. “Choosing to incorporate the Bandwango Savings Pass as the digital backbone to our annual Tammany Taste of Summer campaign has proven to be tremendously beneficial. It allows for valuable, real-time economic impact to be easily accessed and communicated to our community stakeholders.”

And, it’s brought a fun gaming aspect to Tammany Taste of Summer. In 2021, the first 150 people to redeem offers and check in five or more more times will receive a free gift, two original art coasters from Mandeville artist Christina Pappion, encouraging patrons to visit multiple businesses and take advantage of the offers.

By far, the discounted prix fixe meals motivated most of the 3,716 people who signed up for the Tammany Taste of Summer Savings Pass and the more than 40,000 users who visited TammanyTaste. com in 2020. Using the pass, patrons are able to easily scroll through menus, including 3-course dinners for $45 or less; 2- or 3-course lunches for $25 or less; and 3-course brunches for $45 or less. Said one St. Tammany resident, “Had a great time rediscovering restaurants I hadn’t been to in years.” Consistently, the St. Tammany Parish Tourist Commission has received feedback that visitors and residents would like to see “more restaurants!”

After Tammany Taste of Summer in 2020, more than 97 percent of the St. Tammany Parish visitors and residents surveyed who signed up for the Summer Savings Pass said they would eat, stay and play with the program again in 2021. Said one patron, Tammany Taste of Summer “Is an awesome idea that allows people to try new places at reasonable cost. After last year’s promotion, I went back to several restaurants with a group of friends for them to experience the food and atmosphere also. We have frequented many of them throughout the year since.” That’s exactly the idea.

If you have a restaurant, accommodation or attraction and would like to participate in Tammany Taste of Summer, please email Anna@LouisianaNorthshore. com. Sign up for the Tammany Taste of Summer Savings Pass, at TammanyTaste. com. Christina Cooper is the Vice President Communications, Marketing and PRº for St. Tammany Parish Tourist Commission

Restaurant Coté At Home on Carey Street

On quaint Carey Street in Olde Towne Slidell, Restaurant Coté has been welcoming guests into a comfortable, relaxing environment since 2013. Unique Southern Creole cuisine, with an ever-changing menu and daily lunch and dinner specials to spotlight what’s available and fresh locally and seasonally, keeps guests coming back for more.

“We’re a true scratch restaurant,” says Jeremy Reilly, chef/ owner of Restaurant Cote and The Maple Room. “We don’t have any freezers or microwaves; we grow a lot of vegetables in our garden, and everything comes from within 60 miles of our front door.” He’s just as passionate about growing vegetables and herbs for his restaurant as he is about using every bit of Mother Nature to create unforgettable comfort food—and that makes his patrons feel right at home.

The Coté Burger is legendary, made with a brioche bun from Don Phuong bakery, piled high with two thin patties and caramelized onions, Coté sauce, lettuce, tomato and hand-cut fries. Just as coveted is the Shrimp and Oyster Rustica, with Gulf shrimp, sweet peppers, cherry tomatoes, red onions, and garlic reduced in a creole cream sauce, served over scratch ragcut pasta topped with fried oysters.

The Maple Room, an adjacent cocktail lounge, is as comfortable as your living room for an after-work drink, and many of the ingredients for the craft cocktails are grown by Chef Jeremy in the garden out back, including fresh herbs, cucumbers and jalapeños. Six different liquors are infused in house and nine different simple syrups are made from scratch, in addition to the 20 beers on tap and 40 different wines The Maple Room carries.

Chef Reilly is looking forward to the annual Tammany Taste of Summer event in August. “Tammany Taste of Summer has been instrumental in my restaurant’s success through my slow season (the summer). I continue to participate as well as look forward to it because of the impact it has on my business. My patrons absolutely love it. I typically only get to show my creative side during wine pairings, special events, etc., so this allows my patrons (and myself) to have a month full of “not so typical” items.”

Restaurant Coté will be participating in Tammany Taste of Summer 2021.

Chef Robert Vasquez of Forks and Corks King of Louisiana Seafood

“You have to have passion in everything you do,” says Chef Robert Vasquez of Forks and Corks, the reigning King of Louisiana Seafood, a distinction that has earned him not only accolades, but new fans across the country. “It’s been a whirlwind, really overwhelming,” says Chef Vasquez, who remains humble and a bit in awe of his newfound fame as he cherishes every opportunity the title provides.

Crowned King of Louisiana Seafood by the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board for the year 2020, Chef Vasquez won the title with his Red Snapper, Crawfish Sofrito, beating nine of the state’s best seafood chefs nominated in the virtual competition. Chef Vasquez will be representing the State of Louisiana during the 17th Annual Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans on August 7, 2021, in conjunction with the Louisiana Restaurant Association Showcase at the Morial Convention Center. (The Great American Seafood Cook-Off did not happen in 2020 because of Covid-19.) In addition to representing Louisiana, Chef Vasquez is eager to represent the Northshore community that loves him, Forks and Corks and the entire Tammany Taste culinary scene.

Chef Vasquez has been in the hospitality industry for decades and works side by side with Osman Rodas, owner and restaurateur for the Pardo’s Restaurant Group, which includes Forks and Corks, Pardo’s and Pepe’s Sonoran Cuisine. The 20-year resident of St. Tammany says of his home, “Being able to do what I love here is a blessing! The Northshore provides a small-town, community feeling while still offering the cultural elements of a larger city. Plus, it’s beautiful.”

In June, Vasquez returned to his hometown of Gilbert, Arizona, for a media event led by the Louisiana Office of Tourism and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. After the event, many members of the Vasquez family came to his cousin’s restaurant, Isabel’s Amor, to celebrate Chef Vasquez and his accomplishments, where he delighted all with a special four-course menu, featuring the Red Snapper, Crawfish Sofrito. “Wow! It was such a gift to be able to share what I do here in Louisiana with family and friends in my hometown,” muses Chef.

When he’s not traveling with Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, helping to promote Louisiana’s worldclass seafood industry, you can find Chef Vasquez at Forks and Corks in Terra Bella in Covington, where he has recently revitalized the menu to celebrate local ingredients and especially Louisiana’s fresh seafood. And, of course, you’ll find the award-winning dish.

Chef Vasquez and Forks and Corks will be participating in Tammany Taste of Summer 2021, with a prix fixe menu including the winning Red Snapper, Crawfish Sofrito.

Pyre Provisions Looking to the Future

Pyre Provisions has the distinction of being the first restaurant Louisiana culinary cultural ambassador Poppy Tooker dined inside, post-vaccine. After she arrived for lunch service with her traditional gusto and enthusiastically greeted Chef Jeff Mattia, she was pleasantly surprised to run into her friend, celebrity chef John Besh, who happened to be dining there, also. And, it was a stormy Tuesday in Covington, which should tell you something about the caliber of the food at Pyre Provisions. Pyre Provisions first opened its doors in November 2019 along LA-21 in Covington,

serving Southern-inspired dishes by chef-owner Jeff Mattia. Chef Mattia’s passion for primitive forms of cooking, especially using wood and fire, delivered approachable food made with serious technique. Months later, Mattia and his industry peers were struck by COVID and the resulting shutdowns.

Mattia, a veteran and longtime chef, turned to creative ways to keep Pyre Provisions’ doors open. Among other tactics, Mattia invested in a food truck, allowing Mattia and his team to take Pyre Provisions on the road, serving the same flavors food truck-style. Safely serving different areas of the community nearly every day, Mattia introduced a host of new guests (who are now faithful followers and dine-in guests) to Pyre Provisions. Today, Mattia is happy to start utilizing the bright blue truck as he always intended, as an option for Pyre Provisions’ catering.

The future looks bright for Mattia and his team, too. Later this year, after participating in Tammany Taste of Summer 2021, Chef Mattia will further spread his passion for food and family by opening another restaurant in Mandeville, a family-friendly BBQ place right across from the Tammany Trace Trailhead in Mandeville.

Pyre Provisions will be participating in Tammany Taste of Summer 2021.