Remembering when Emeril, other celebrities kicked up restaurant and bar scene in South MS
Many celebrities visited South Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to see how they could help and some of them opened restaurants and bars at Biloxi and Gulfport casinos.
Initially, he didn’t want to open a restaurant on the Mississippi Coast, said celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse, whose wife, Alden, grew up in Gulfport.
“I want to relax here,” he said. Emeril was the hottest chef on television in 2006, and his “Bam!” and “Kick it up a Notch” made cooking shows the thing to watch. He also had nine restaurants in New Orleans, Las Vegas, Orlando and Miami at the time.
His Gulf Coast Fish House at Island View casino in Gulfport was his 10th because Lagasse wanted to take part in the rebuilding of the Coast. It opened in June 2007.
He and the other celebrity chefs took advantage of the fresh regional seafood and many of them gave favorite Southern dishes their own twist.
Luke Palladino and Todd English open first
Lagasse was the third celebrity chef to announce the opening of a casino on the Coast after Katrina.
Luke Palladino opened Bragozzo at the Isle of Capri Biloxi in October 2006 and Todd English opened Olives at Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in December. He also had a Bragozzo restaurant at the Isle Casino & Racing at Pompano Park, Fla.
Bragozzo Osteria Wine Bar was on the second level of the Isle and the centerpiece was a two-story glass wine cabinet with hundreds of bottles on display
A food bar facing the open kitchen let diners watch cooks make pasta from scratch and grill their steaks over open hickory and pecan flames. The ambiance was old-world Italy and the cuisine was heavy on seafood like shrimp, mussels, calamari and lump crab.
Todd English featured Mediterranean cuisine at his restaurant at the Beau Rivage, the first restaurant he’d opened in the South.
English said he was excited for the variety of Gulf Coast oysters, redfish and other seafood that he wished he could get fresh in Memphis. His signature surf and turf was a 14-ounce New York strip steak stuffed with blue cheese and fried oysters.
Celebrity restaurants continue in Biloxi
Kelly English still has his Magnolia House restaurant inside Harrah’s Gulf Coast in Biloxi. He opened his third restaurant in Biloxi in May 2014.
The white tablecloth, fine dining restaurant isn’t about fancy. “We’re about great food,” he said.
English made a national name for himself with his two Memphis restaurants, Restaurant Iris and The Second Line. He studied at the Culinary Institute of America, worked with Chef John Besh in New Orleans., was a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef Southeast and was named Best New Chef by Food & Wine Magazine.
English and Jonathan Jones, general manager at Harrah’s Gulf Coast, went to school together at Ole Miss and they wanted to bring something new to the Coast. English works with local growers and suppliers to source fresh seafood and vegetables to turn into memorable dishes.
Deuce McAllister, former New Orleans Saints running back, opened his Ole Saint restaurant at Boomtown Casino in 2018 at the casino’s sportsbook.
He already had a restaurant on Royal Street in New Orleans and he brought Southern favorites like shrimp and grits for breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with Southern catfish, gumbo, po’ boys and a Crab Maison BLT to his new place in Biloxi.
Cheers: Pitbull and Rande Gerber open bars
Rande Gerber, who owns restaurants and bars around the world, said he had to do something big when he saw the devastation Katrina left in Biloxi.
“I’m going to do something here,” he said and he opened Rise Lounge at Hard Rock Casino Biloxi. “This is my little contribution” to the Coast’s recovery,” he said,
It was the smallest of his 26 lounges worldwide, and Gerber said, “I come up with the concept and design ideas,” to make it a comfortably chic lounge and energetic nightclub with amazing views overlooking the Gulf.
He and his wife, model Cindy Crawford, were there July 7, 2007, for the official opening festivities of Rise Lounge and for Hard Rock Casino after Katrina, along with 3 Doors Down and Gerber’s friend Kid Rock.
Pitbull make quite an impression when he arrived at Hard Rock Casino Biloxi in June 2018 to open iLov305 Center Bar.
The musician already talked about his new venture in Biloxi on “Good Morning America” and to his millions of followers of social media before he arrived to christen the bar named for Miami’s area code. The drinks carried the Miami theme with names like “The Frisky Chica,” “Mr. Worldwide Mai Tai” and “Gasolina.”
This was the first iLov 305 venue, and another was under construction in Miami.
