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Restaurants Forced to Tell Truth about Seafood
August 14, 2008
Original WWL TV article→
Stay Local! archive of this article ↓
“We should be judged how good of a restaurant we are and how good the food we put on the table in front of you. When you have that 75 percent of the shrimp sold in Louisiana are imported shrimp, that’s sad.”
WWL TV
Restaurants Forced to Tell Truth about Seafood
12:35 PM CDT on Sunday, August 17, 2008
Lucy Bustamante / Eyewitness News
If you’re not picking Drago’s famous chargrilled oysters, the Fleur de Lis Shrimp is usually a close favorite.
“When you bite into a Louisiana shrimp, it’s got that extra sweet flavor to it,” said Tommy Cvitanovich, who owns Drago’s restaurant in the French Quarter.
He says it was his choice to brag on his menu that he uses only Louisiana shrimp, crawfish and oysters.
“I don’t need the government to come in here and tell me how to advertise or how to sell my product to you,” Cvitanovich said.
Yet he still respects the new law that will fine restaurants if they lie about selling Louisiana shrimp or crawfish.
“We should be judged how good of a restaurant we are and how good the food we put on the table in front of you. When you have that 75 percent of the shrimp sold in Louisiana are imported shrimp, that’s sad.”
The district attorney’s office will enforce the new law with the help of The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
“They can ask us to produce documents. All of this stuff is tracked now,” Cvitanovich said.
If a restaurant owner or manager is caught misrepresenting, the first offense will be $50, the second offense $250 and $500 for every one after. And even though fishermen say restaurants have lied, they’re now hesitant to report which ones.
“The Louisiana Restaurant Association and the seafood industry here really work hand in hand,” said state representative Juan Lafonta. “One is the supply and one is the consumer. It doesn’t make sense for them to burn bridges. It was just an issue that they had to iron out because it was hurting Louisiana fisherman.”
Lafonta is one of two New Orleans members of the commerce committee who heard the arguments. He says both groups are happy with the agreement that leaves it up to the consumer to ask about the origin of the seafood.
“So we just felt it wasn’t in the best interest of the restaurant industry to have to go through the process of redoing their menus so often. Think about a sushi restaurant and how many different types of seafood that they carry, and it changes on a daily basis,” said Wendy Waren, who represents the restaurant industry.
She hopes people asking will lead to restaurants choosing to spend a bit more money on Louisiana shrimp and crawfish to sell to the consumers who say they can definitely tell the difference.
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