Nungesser highlights ‘teamwork', Gulf shrimp, MICHELIN partnership in Louisiana
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Louisiana will join other southern states as MICHELIN unveils a regional guide highlighting popular eateries.
Louisiana is celebrating the 'Year of Food,' which is being marked by an exciting partnership. Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser and the Louisiana Office of Tourism announced that Louisiana will participate in the MICHELIN Guide for the American South. The guide will highlight the state's 'diverse and authentic cuisine,' making it the first regional guide in North America.
Nungesser said the guide is another significant step toward promoting everything Louisiana offers.
'Every year during the Louisiana Great Seafood Cookoff, we include chefs from all over the state. Many North Louisiana chefs and out west have won that title and went on to attract attention for their restaurant from people from all over the country in the world, both in North Louisiana and surely over in the Lake Charles area of Lafayette. So when Michelin came to the Southern states, after going to several Southern states, it was only fitting for us to reach out to our partners around the state,' Nungesser said.
Testing reveals some Louisiana restaurants misrepresent imported shrimp as Gulf shrimp
New Orleans is known for its famous restaurants, beloved by locals and visitors, but this is also true for other Louisiana cities, and the lieutenant governor says the MICHELIN partnership presents a great opportunity for other parts of the state without the reputation of the Crescent City.
'Hopefully, if we're lucky, they will receive several stars to restaurants all over the state because people will travel to visit restaurants on that list, and surely we want them to visit more than just New Orleans.'
The lieutenant governor said restaurants across the state are being visited now in preparation for the complete release of the 2025 selected restaurants later in the year during the MICHELIN Guide Ceremony for the American South.
Restaurants featured in the regional guide will receive one, two, or three stars.
'If you receive one star, that means you're a good restaurant. If you receive two stars, then it's worth detouring wherever you're going to make a trip to that restaurant. And if you receive three stars, it's worth planning your trip around going to that restaurant,' Nungesser explained. 'That will be international recognition for those people that are lucky enough to receive those stars.'
The MICHELIN Guide started as a way for the tire company to give a little bonus to its customers by gathering notable stops for road trips, which also boosted tire sales.
'They had the idea to get people to travel and go visit other states to see the things worth seeing. So they really helped drive the tourism industry initially, early on with getting people to use their tires more,' Nungesser said.
Louisiana is still in the national spotlight, as Lieutenant Governor Nungesser also announced that the state will be featured in the 2026 Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year's Day, with the theme 'Teamwork.'
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'As a matter of fact, I'll tell, I'll say it here first on your program that we'll be highlighting, the great foods of Louisiana on the Rose Parade float. This year's theme is, teamwork,' the lieutenant governor said. 'And what better teamwork than to put great Louisiana, all those great ingredients produced here in Louisiana, and a great pot of gumbo. It takes a great team to put together a great pot of gumbo. So that's gonna be our teamwork and our theme this year.'
He said his office will partner with Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Mike Strain to bring together Louisiana's native products, produce, and seafood to ensure every ingredient that belongs in the gumbo pot also makes it to the representative float.
Nungesser, whose father was a Louisiana shrimper, shared some of his favorite traditional foods. Anything with Gulf shrimp is a go-to, including Galatois shrimp remoulade and shrimp creole, but he also loves red beans and rice and, of course, gumbo.
As the son of a shrimper, it's no surprise that the lieutenant governor is interested in protecting and bolstering the interests of the state's shrimp economy. His office is over the seafood promotion board, and now, through legislative action, the office will oversee the inspection of imported shrimp formerly overseen by the Louisiana Department of Health.
He shared the steps his office is taking to protect Louisiana's shrimp industry and protect consumers from shrimp that is filled with antibiotics or farmed and processed in unsanitary conditions.
'So now that's gonna be our responsibility, along with the AG department. Mike Strain is gonna do the testing. So we can catch those bad actors that mislabel seafood. And then I'm, I'm here today in Rhode Island at the Lieutenant Governor's Conference,' Nungesser said. 'Several years ago, I got them all to support a resolution asking the federal government. To impose a 10-cent-per-pound inspection fee. We inspect less than 10% of the imported seafood. A lot of that is rejected, chock-full of antibiotics or full of bacteria. It's unhealthy.'
He hopes that President Trump's tariffs on imported shrimp will provide some relief for Louisiana shrimpers and drive consumers to buy shrimp from a few hundred miles away in the Gulf rather than thousands of miles away in a foreign country.
'We hope they'll use some of those tariffs to hire more inspectors, so those people are, are caught that are bringing in unhealthy seafood we inspect less than 5% of it. So that's a great start, but we are making progress,' Nungesser said.Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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