While Kourtne Donnaud’s family had already been entrenched in the seafood business, the venture it took on 20 years ago was still a leap of faith.
“We’ve had a crabmeat processing plant in Des Allemands, so we were always in the wholesale side of it,” Donnaud said. “But we wanted to build on that. (Between retail and the restaurant business) we didn’t know what we were doing.”
Donnaud and her family learned quickly. The Seafood Pot was born and later this month, the Destrehan restaurant will celebrate its 20-year anniversary. Specifically, plans are for The Seafood Pot to have a customer appreciation celebration from Oct. 15-19, which will include specials and giveaways to the members of a community Donnaud said made it all possible.
“Truly, it’s all about our appreciation for our wonderful employees through the years and the best customers,” said Donnaud. “Without them, we would not have made it to this great mark of 20 years.”
Donnaud said the strong support of the restaurant’s vendors, local plants, the parish’s school system “and just about every person” have not only made the restaurant a success, but a joy to be a part of.
When her family opened the restaurant, a lot of the process was a mystery.
“It started with a love of seafood. We wanted to go into the retail side of things … we didn’t have restaurant experience, either. We went through all the trials with that. The community rallied behind us.
“We’ve built strong relationships over the years, sponsoring events, just seeing people’s smiling faces come in every day. We’ve been told by many of our customers that we have some really great employees, and a lot of our employees have been here, if not from the beginning then for years and years. I think people in our community like to come in and see their faces as well.”
The tough times are also memorable. Donnaud recalled the days of the COVID pandemic. The Seafood Pot stayed open and allowed locals some of the comforts that could be few and far between in those days.
“We got a lot of support,” she said. “Being able to meet the demand people had was one of our biggest triumphs over the years. We stuck to all the necessary guidelines.
“Even as we’ve had our ups and downs, and there were definitely times we’ve all wanted to throw our hands in the air, we got through it as a community.”
The anniversary and customer appreciation celebration will coincide with another big event in St. Charles Parish – the annual rivalry football game between Destrehan and Hahnville.
Donnaud said that’s always a fun time around the restaurant, as she and her family live in Luling while their restaurant is in Destrehan.
“Our customers give us a hard time about it and we have fun with them back,” Donnaud said. “We always look forward to the rivalry week.”
