While Passion Food Hospitality Restaurants of Washington, D.C., participated in the Dine America/Dine Louisiana event on 1 December to benefit Gulf seafood, it is not unusual for the company to champion Gulf fish.
The restaurants operated by Passion Food — including Acadiana, Louisiana Fish House, Ceiba and TenPenh in Washington, D.C. , and PassionFish in Reston, Va. — serve thousands of pounds of Gulf seafood daily.
In November alone, Passion Food’s restaurants used 10,800 whole oysters, 1,450 pounds of Louisiana shrimp, 600 pounds of jumbo lump crab meat, 900 pounds of whole red snapper, 400 pounds of crawfish tail meat and 65 gallons of shucked oysters, all from the Gulf Coast.
Jeff Tunks, chef and proprietor of Passion Food, told SeafoodSource on Monday about his restaurants’ seafood usage and support of Dine America, which is designed to boost demand for Gulf seafood. On December 1, more than 300 restaurants nationwide and the White House chefs served Gulf seafood.
As chairman of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans and proprietor of Gulf-seafood focused restaurants, Tunks is passionate about supporting New Orleans and the Gulf.
“I remain dedicated to Gulf seafood like I have for so many years, especially after the issues fade from the spotlight,” said Tunks.
Although consumers asked questions about Gulf seafood soon after the oil spill, Passion Food’s staff educated them about the fishing closures and seafood testing.
“There is consumer confidence. Our guests know that we source really good seafood and prepare it correctly. We told them that our seafood is all tagged from certified vendors, and people did not pull back,” said Tunks.
Passion Food is getting plentiful supplies of Gulf seafood from its main distributor, Congressional Seafood of Jessup, Md., as well as Harlon’s LA Fish & Seafood in Kenner, La.
Check out the Networking interview with Tunks that appeared in September issue of SeaFood Business magazine.
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