Flip My Food cameras were recently rolling as Chef Richard Kiral whipped up a dish of free-range chicken with creole tomato and corn maque choux at Ormond Plantation in Destrehan.
“I think it’s a lot fun and hope we’ll get some publicity,” Kiral said of being featured in this episode filmed in June at the plantation and another filmed in August in New Orleans. They are part of the nationally syndicated television show’s fall lineup. “The cool part is having chefs feed off each other, and people like to have some color to it with chefs trading ideas.”
Kiral, Ormand Plantation’s executive chef, thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and so did Chef Jeff.
“Chef Richard is an amazing chef with a deep love for fresh ingredients and passion for people,” said the Los Angeles chef. “His flavors are bold with a simple approach to home style cooking. I’ve cooked with very few chefs that I connected with on all levels.”
The feeling was mutual for Kiral, whose passion for cooking local cuisine was so popular with the show’s producers they brought him back for another episode, “Rolling on the River,” shot about two weeks ago at Ninth Ward Studios in New Orleans.
“I hope to do more shows with them and they said they would,” Kiral said. “I look forward to doing some more cooking shows and especially featuring the plantation, possibly with a local producer.”
Business is “growing in leaps and bounds” for both Kiral and Ormond Plantation.
His soon to be aired television debut has Kiral brainstorming his own television show concept that could focus on the River Parishes, but still include a focus on the plantation.
“There is so much history with the River Road and food,” said Kiral, who maintains today’s cooking show viewer has graduated from cooking rice to wanting locally grown rice reflecting an area’s cultural uniqueness and certainly its taste.
On the local level, it’s reflecting in a Friday night crowd growing so fast that plans are in motion to expand the plantation’s restaurant and open times in January. Plans also call for expanding restaurant hours – opening Thursday nights in two weeks and then opening Saturdays starting in January.
Plantation Manager Robin Priest said the kitchen remodeling is coming in January so being featured in two episodes of Flip my Food is a solid windfall for growing Ormond Plantation as a business.
“They showcased the plantation, which I truly appreciate,” Priest said of the location being featured prominently in the episode filmed in June. “We have a fantastic chef who is gifted so it’s great advertisement letting people know where we’re at. This will go nationwide.”
Landing a Flip my Chef episode is an opportunity to the privately owned Ormond Plantation, according to Priest, who says the location’s only other film credit is two episodes of The Astronaut Wives Club television show.
Food, particularly Chef Richard’s culinary flair and passion for it and the restaurant, have become what Priest called “the heart of the plantation” because his food is so popular.
“The community has totally supported us,” Priest said. “They love Chef’s [Richard] food and enjoy the ambiance.”
The plantation is also home every other week to the German Coast Farmers Market, which she said is another way they give back to the community. Kiral said he furthers that effort by buying from local growers, which also keeps the food fresh. Also banking off the area’s German culture, Priest said they are planning to hold an October fest next year with German food and microbrew beers.
“We’re a wonderful location,” she said. “We’re the German Coast and we don’t have an October fest so we’re working on it.”Ormond Plantation is also growing in weddings, which Priest said has been boosted by the plantation also conveniently being a bed and breakfast.
As for Kiral, the outlook is equally promising and tasty.He’s also planning new menu additions with more local Gulf seafood and prime cuts of meat, focusing on “more local flavor.”
“There’s a lot of passion in the food,” said Kiral, who is gratefully seeing a longtime future with his “great situation” at the plantation. Business as grown 90 percent. “I will hopefully get to work with Chef Jeff again and I’m looking forward to the future – it all seems very positive.”
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