Antoine's 175th Anniversary Makes News.
Unlike its 150th birthday, which passed with hardly a mention even from the management, the celebration of Antoine's history this year has brought a lot of attention to the restaurant. Here's a big article that came out a few days ago in the Washington Post. For once, the place wasn't beat up for its honest historic cuisine. It's worth reading
here.
Emeril's Celebrates 25 Years.
A celebration the twenty-fifth birthday of Emeril's Thursday at lunch Thursday. Emeril invited a bunch of media people for the occasion. It was mostly a congratulatory affair, but one good question was asked: What does Emeril have in mind as the next step for his restaurant collection? He didn't have an answer beyond saying that he thinks his present concepts have gone as far as they can, and that any new restaurant will likely be something entirely new of the group. I hope he puts one here.
Greg Sonnier Gone From Kingfish.
During the luncheon at Emeril's, it came out that Chef Greg Sonnier has left Kingfish under uncertain circumstances. Nobody is sure of the reason or the instigator. Greg was at Kingfish since it opened. Where he will go now is unknown. Nobody asked me, but I think the best move would be to open something a lot like his big hit Gabrielle, which was destroyed by Katrina. Meanwhile, Kingfish's new chef Nathan Richard--recently of the Bombay Club--is not saying what if anything will be changed. He has a handful right now, I'd think.
