Baton Rouge – Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board will welcome 12 chefs from around the country to the nation’s ultimate seafood cooking competition. The 2025 Great American Seafood Cook-Off will be held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans on Saturday, August 2.
Chef Karlos Knott of the Cajun Saucer at Bayou Teche Brewing in Arnaudville is among the competitors. He was crowned 2025 King of Louisiana Seafood beating 11 other chefs to win the state title.
The 21st annual event gets underway with an opening parade through the convention center at 10:45 a.m. and opening ceremonies at 11 a.m. as 12 chefs, each representing their home state, cook in front of a live audience and a panel of nationally acclaimed judges. The Great American Seafood Cook-Off promotes the quality and variety of domestic seafood found in the United States.
“The Great American Seafood Cook-Off is the perfect stage to celebrate Louisiana and America’s domestic seafood industry - the best in the world,” said Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “Each year the competition gets tougher. This year there will be a very talented field of chefs from all over the country vying to be crowned the next ‘King or Queen of American Seafood’ right here in New Orleans. Each chef will be showcasing their skills with domestic seafood to present the best seafood dishes that represent their state.”
Other competitors in the American Seafood Cook-Off are: Ben Rosen The Depot, Auburn, Alabama; Kevin Lane, The Cookery, Seward, Alaska; Nick Farrer, Isabel’s Amor; Gilbert, Arizona; Daniel Roy; Delilah Miami, Miami, Florida; Scott Ryan, Moona Restaurant, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Jon Davis, City Grocery, Oxford, Mississippi; Christian Gill, The Culinary Gang, Cincinnati, Ohio; Danny Smith; Perrone’s Restaurant and Bar, Pawleys Island, South Carolina; Wesley True, Inman Social, Cleveland, Tennessee; Abby O’Sullivan, Laundry Day Takeaway, Burlington, Vermont; and Matt Brusca; Alewife, Richmond, Virginia.
During the competition, each chef will prepare a dish highlighting the use of domestic seafood while interacting with the live audience, celebrity hosts Chef Cory Bahr – Food Network Star Finalist, Food Network Chopped! Champion, and a former King of Louisiana Seafood and KLFY TV10’s Gerald Gruenig.
Each dish will be presented to a panel of nationally renowned judges who will score based on presentation, creativity, composition, craftsmanship, and flavor.
T o be eligible to compete in the event, chefs must either hold the current title of King or Queen of Seafood or be appointed by the lieutenant governor of their respective state or territory. Last year’s Queen of American Seafood, Chef Erin Miller of Urban Hearth in Cambridge, Massachusetts, captured her second title in three years preparing a cape cod dish with black bass and lobster. Miller called the dish a “love letter to coastal Massachusetts.”
Previous Louisiana winners include: Nathan Richard, 2019; Ryan Trahan, 2018; and Tory McPhail, 2009.
