Area tourism helps seafood market, restaurant grow

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, February 9, 2000

DANIEL TYLER GOODEN / L’Observateur / February 9, 2000

VACHERIE – Tommy Breaux has been hauling fish out of Lake Des Allemands since 1972. Back then Breaux was bringing crawfish up the old back roadsand selling them to whoever he could. Nowadays his business has grown toinclude a processing plant and the B & C Seafood Market and Cajun Cafe which services local residents, the eastern seaboard and seafood buyers as far away as Japan.

Breaux knew back in 1972 he could make a living fishing. He talked with JohnChampagne, one of his crawfish buyers, and $5,000 later Breaux and Champagne were B & C Seafood.

Everyone worked hard to get the company moving. Breaux’s wife Geneva andson Emile both worked for the business. Geneva worked as hard as anyone,driving the trucks back and forth from the lake, Breaux said.

“I’d come in with a load of catfish, before we had a cleaning machine, and throw them down for Geneva. Then I’d quickly find something else to do,”Breaux said with a smile.

For 15 years the company ran seven days a week. Then Breaux decided theycould manage with Sundays off.

After a few years of pulling delivery trucks through the thick swamp mud two at a time Champagne decided to pull out from the business. Hegenerously asked Breaux to simply repay the initial $5,000, and Breaux continued on his own.

When his market opened up “people would be standing in line sometimes” to get in the door, said Breaux. He offered a full line of seafood, from shrimp toalligator.

But after gambling came this way people spent about half as much money in the market, and large supermarkets opening up in the surrounding parishes took away part of Breaux’s business, as well.

When the Laura Plantation opened in 1995 Breaux started seeing more tourists wandering into the market for lunch.

He started up a deli to see what kind of interest there was for lunch. Twoyears later a new addition was added on for the restaurant.

Now one to three tour busses stop in for lunch every day as they visit the Laura and Evergreen plantations. During Mardi Gras season 45 to 50 peoplecan come in on each bus, said Breaux.

The business seems to be paying off for Breaux. There were days whenthey’d run swamp tours or do about anything to keep the money coming in.

Now he and Geneva both work at the market and have 19 or 20 other employees. His son Emile still fishes on Des Allemands, and in a good weekhe’ll bring in between 15,000 and 30,000 pounds of fish, said Breaux.

Breaux is proud of his restaurant and market.

“It’s real cajun,” he said. “I wouldn’t know how to fix up a restaurant anyother way than real cajun.”

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