Cooking up a reputation

We in northeastern Louisiana like to eat — especially at restaurants.

For years, compared to places such as New Orleans and Lafayette, our region saw itself as wandering in the culinary wasteland. If that impression was ever true, we’ve certainly found the promised land.

Diners can enjoy a growing variety of cuisine, with an ever-expanding presence of Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Asian fusion, New Orleans-style and even Indian restaurants.

In fact, Monroe ranks behind only Houma and Baton Rouge in Louisiana’s largest 10 cities in the number of restaurants per capita.

With 3.7 restaurants per 1,000 residents, Monroe ranks ahead of cities with stronger restaurant reputations such as New Orleans and Lafayette, according to an analysis by Louisiana Gannett.

Monroe has 186 restaurants with more than 100 of those locally owned independents, according to Alana Cooper, executive director of the Monroe-West Monroe Convention and Visitors Bureau. West Monroe has another 102, almost eight per 1,000 residents, which would rank it at or near the top of smaller cities.

Not only has the number increased, but so has the quality.

Big Momma‘s was included on Louisiana Cookin’s Ultimate Fried Chicken Trail, while Waterfront’s Catfish DeSiard was featured in Southern Living and the restaurant’s Oysters Weemo was on the cover of Louisiana Cookin’ as one of the state’s best oyster dishes.

The success of Monroe star chef Cory Bahr certainly can be viewed as the catalyst for the growing awareness of the region’s restaurants. Before opening his own restaurants, Cotton and Nonna, Bahr was executive chef at Sage in Monroe and served internships at Commander’s Palace and Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse in New Orleans.

He won the King of Louisiana Seafood title at the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience competition in 2011. The following year, he was the winning chef on Season 12 of Food Network’s “Chopped.” This year, he was named People’s Best New Chef in the nation by Food and Wine Magazine.

A new chapter in the growing recognition of the region will play out Saturday. That’s when 36-year-old chef Anthony Miletello, a Monroe native who started in the industry as a dishwasher in New Orleans, will share one of the state’s biggest culinary stages with nine other chefs in hopes of following Bahr as a Louisiana seafood king when he competes at the 2015 Louisiana Seafood Cook-Off.

Miletello will represent Willie’s Duck Diner and Miletello’s Sports City Grill in West Monroe. “It’s an amazing opportunity to represent northern Louisiana and something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” he said.

We wish Miletello good luck Saturday with his Blackened Redfish Filhoil that will include a crawfish and Parmesan risotto and lump crab among its ingredients. His participation in the competition is just one more confirmation that Monroe restaurants can walk among the best.

The editorials in this column represent the opinions of The News-Star’s editorial board, composed of General Manager and Executive Editor Kathy Spurlock, Engagement and Community Content Editor Hope Young, Watchdog and Storytelling Coach Mark Henderson and Business and Politics Reporter Greg Hilburn.