NEW ORLEANS — Drew Nieporent the New York City restaurant mogul whose Myriad Restaurant Group owns eight world-renowned dining spots, recently spent a few days enjoying a Louisiana fishing trip followed by seafood at some of New Orleans' top restaurants.
The trip certainly gave Nieporent a great time. Tourism and seafood officials in south Louisiana hope it, and others like it, will help the state's fisheries and tourist industry recover from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
"We don't have a product problem, we have a perception problem, said Kelly Schulz, a vice president with the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau. "We need people to get rid of that perception problem – and who better than some of the top restaurant people?"
Louisiana normally has $2.4 billion in annual seafood sales, keeping about 27,000 residents working.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Sun Herald (Biloxi-Gulfport, MS).