Chef Nathan Richard Crowned 2019 King of Louisiana Seafood

LAFAYETTE, La. – Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board crowned Chef Nathan Richard of Cavan Restaurant & Bar in New Orleans as the 2019 King of Louisiana Seafood after winning the 12th Annual Louisiana Seafood Cook-Off. For the third consecutive year, the event was held at the Cajundome Convention Center in conjunction with the Taste of EatLafayette.

To win the crown, Chef Richard prepared Crawfish and Goat Cheese King Cake with Cream Cheese Pepper Jelly, Crab Fat, Sugar, and Cajun Caviar to beat 13 of the state’s best seafood chefs by showcasing his creativity and highlighting the superior quality of the seafood that comes from Louisiana’s shorelines and vast waterways.

“What an amazing night as we name Chef Nathan Richard as the new King of Louisiana Seafood for 2019,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “I look forward to working with Chef Richard over the next year as he represents the state at events across the country, including the Great American Seafood Cook-Off. This is going to be an exciting year for Louisiana as we showcase our fresh, Gulf seafood to the country and world.”

“It’s awesome! It’s my third time competing and glad I got the chance to do it and bring home the crown to New Orleans. I’m going enjoy this tonight and start getting ready to defend Louisiana’s crown in the 2019 Great American Seafood Cook-Off in August,” said 2019 Louisiana King of Seafood Chef Nathan Richard of Cavan Restaurant and Bar in New Orleans. “We did a Crawfish King Cake. It’s not your mom’s King Cake but it’s a play on one where we took a little bit of cinnamon roll dough, a little crawfish, dehydrated crab fat, and finished it off with a pepper jelly cream cheese.”

The first duty for the 2019 King of Louisiana Seafood is to prepare to represent the state in the 16th Annual Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans on August 3. Chef Richard will be defending the title “King of American Seafood” currently held by Chef Ryan Trahan of the Blue Dog Café in Lafayette.

Chef Devan Giddix of Bourbon House in New Orleans was named second place winner, preparing Bronzed Snapper with Crab and Corn Risotto, Creole Tomato and Peach Relish with Smoked Tomato Butter. Closely behind was third place winner Chef Justin Componation of Parish Restaurant & Bar in Monroe with his Gulf Fish Kinilaw with Togarashi Popped Sorghum.

Each dish was scrutinized by some of Louisiana's most seasoned chefs and food lovers, including owner of Drago’s Seafood Restaurant Tommy Cvitanovich; Chef Jay Ducote of the Bite and Boozeradio show and Gov’t Taco; Jason “The Cajun Ninja” Derouen, Facebook and YouTube cooking sensation and president of Cajun Ninja Products; Tammi Arender, anchor of KNOE’s 5 o’clock news in Monroe and producer of a segment titled “Feed Your Soul”; and, Susan Ford who formed Our Kitchen & Culture, LLC, launching Louisiana Recipes magazine in 2011 and Louisiana Kitchen & Culture magazine in 2012. The 2015 King of Louisiana Seafood, Mike Brewer, served as “Chef Ref,” ensuring each of the competing chefs followed all cook-off rules and the dishes fulfilled all requirements.

The competitors for the 2019 Louisiana Seafood Cook-Off were:

• Chef Justin Componation; Parish Restaurant & Bar; Monroe, LA
• Chef Jeremy Conner; Spoonbill Watering Hole & Restaurant; Lafayette, LA
• Chef Wayne Cooper; The Panini Bistro; Hammond, LA
• Chef Willie Gaspard; Cypress Bayou Casino & Hotel; Charenton, LA
• Chef Devan Giddix; Dickie Brennan’s; New Orleans, LA
• Chef Marc Krampe; Social Southern Table & Bar; Lafayette, LA
• Chef Johnnie Landry; The Little Big Cup; Arnaudville, LA
• Chef Brody Leblanc; Borgne; New Orleans, LA
• Chef Larry Mannheimer; Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse; Lake Charles, LA
• Chef Jerry Mixon; Café Amelie; New Orleans, LA
• Chef Chris Motto; Mansurs on the Boulevard; Baton Rouge, LA
• Chef Nathan Richard; Cavan Restaurant & Bar; New Orleans, LA
• Chef Quintin Scrantz; Prejean’s Restaurant; Lafayette, LA
• Chef Amy Sins; Langlois; New Orleans, LA

Those inspired by the chefs’ culinary creativity and looking to bring the state’s best seafood dishes to their own kitchen can visit www.LouisianaSeafood.com for recipes of each competing dish. To keep up with Louisiana Seafood throughout the year, follow @LaSeafoodBoard on Instagram and Twitter and at www.facebook.com/louisianaseafood. 

*Photos courtesy of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, the Office of the Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board.