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CHARMING TOWNS, FARM-FRESH HARVESTS AND RESTAURANTS WITH SCENIC VIEWS
LOUISIANA’S NORTHSHORE
SOMETHING’S BREWING
There must be something in the water in St. Tammany Parish: it’s home to three breweries, more than any parish in the state. Tiny Chafunkta
Brewing Company produces Voo Ka Ray IPA and Old 504 porter, getting rave reviews, in Old Mandeville. Just blocks away, the Old Rail
Brewing Company micro brew pub brews eight beers on site at itslocation adjacent to the Tammany Trace. And just up the road, Abita
Brewery is turning out its very popular lineupof beers now available in 48 states. Abita’s grown from a micro-brewery into a recognized
brand, in part thanks tocameos on popular TV shows like “True Blood” and “Treme.” Abita contends there really IS something in the water
– it uses only unfiltered water from a very deep aquifer – and tells its story in an informative tour and tasting at thebrewery that’s become
a Northshore tourist attraction.
POWERHOUSE CULINARY COUPLES
There are no shortage of dynamic culinary couples who met and married while in the restaurant industry and went on to own and operate
lauded restaurants on the Northshore. In Covington, duos are three-time James Beard semifinalists David and Torre Solazzo of Del Porto
Ristorante, Keith and Nealy Frentz of LOLA and Jeffrey and Amy Hansell of Oxlot 9. All own locally-loved restaurants within walking
distance of each other in the historic St. John District of Covington. A short drive away in Mandeville, Luke and Marci Hidalgo of Hambone
serve up Louisiana comfort food at its finest. The St. Tammany culinary couples are competition but also friends, having a lot in common,
including young children, successful restaurants, impressive culinary chops and innovative approaches to Southern, coastal and Louisiana
fare.
POPPY TOOKER’S TAMMANY TASTE: QUICK BITES
Through Poppy Tooker’s award-winning NPR affiliated radio show and podcast, Louisiana Eats!, get to know some of the Northshore’s
dynamic chefs, bakers, brewers and ice cream makers that comprise the Tammany Taste culinary scene. Look for a plethora of story ideas
in her engaging Tammany Taste: Quick Bites, mini-interviews with some of our Northshore cast of culinary characters. Poppy’s preserving
Louisiana culinary culture and history and sharing her stories with the world, just as she intended. Go to LouisianaNorthshore.com/Poppy
and have a listen.
LATER GATOR
Thousands of people come to the Northshore each year to see alligators in their native habitat, the Honey Island Swamp. But some of
them come to eat gator, an ingredient found on a number of restaurant menus here. They can buy gator meat at Insta-Gator Ranch in
Covington, which is licensed to harvest the reptiles, then cook it themselves using one of Insta-Gator’s recipes. Or they can try it fried at
seafood joints, made into Gator Piquant at Creole restaurants, or gussied up at places like Trey Yuen in Mandeville, where the Wong
brothers put an Asian spin on gator meat, blending Asian technique and Louisiana protein in a tasty Szechuan Spicy Alligator. Or, try it
blackened at the popular Chimes restaurant on the Bogue Falaya River. Chickeny-flavored gator meat might be a novelty in other parts of
the country, but on the Northshore, it’s just another home-grown ingredient.
Christina Cooper | St. Tammany Parish Tourist Commission | Christina@LouisianaNorthshore.com
985-892-0520 | LouisianaNorthshore.com
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