Page 40 - South Mississippi Living - December, 2018

DINING David Picou
COAST COLISEUM
Chef David Picou aspires to
be the Claude Monet of food with color, texture, and satisfaction of flavor to knock your socks off. He grew up in Southeast Louisiana, but was no stranger to Mississippi. “I’ve been running up and down the Mississippi Coast since I can remember,” he said.
He watched Justin Wilson, Jacques Pepin, Paul Prudhomme, and Julia Child on TV and was inspired to use his creativity in the kitchen. He’s been chopping, slicing, dicing, boiling, broiling, frying, sautéing, and burning pots for almost half a century.
His favorite dishes to prepare and eat include fresh Gulf seafood. “My favorite food comes from the ocean,” he said. “All seafood ranks just below oxygen for me.”
He loves being a chef and thrives on the gratification of seeing people enjoying the dishes
he’s put his heart and soul into. For someone considering a
career as a chef, Picou says to realize the sacrifice you will
have to make for the craft: total dedication, long hours, sore
feet and knees, pressure, hot work environment, burns, cuts, bruises, tears and blood, short- tempered chefs, and crazy cooks on occasion. “But, if it is your passion, don’t wait,” he said. “Do it now.”
Chef Picou worked for Levy Restaurants for six years, and after a brief hiatus, returned to Levy in 2014. He joins Levy Restaurants
at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum & Convention Center this month. Levy Restaurants is the exclusive concessions, catering, and hospitality strategy partner at the Coliseum and is a member of the Mississippi Coast Restaurant & Beverage Association.
Welcomes New Chef
story and photos courtesy of Mississippi Coast Restaurant & Beverage Association
Chef David Picou
40 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • December 2018
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