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PEOPLE OFTEN REFER TO THE CULTURE OF THE GULF COAST AS A GUMBO. It’s a somewhat cliché way of saying we’re a lot of different, ordinary ingredients — people, places and experi- ences — that are pretty good on their own, but when combined, they are transformed into something sublime. In a good gumbo, the chopped-up vegetables — the trinity of onion, bell pepper and celery — cook down into one singular flavor. But the other ingredients still shine through. I can distinguish between the Conecuh sausage in the green gumbo at Dauphin’s in Downtown Mobile, Alabama, and the hot Creole chaurice sausage Chef Leah Chase uses in her Gumbo Z’herbes, a HolyThursday specialty at Dooky Chase’s in New Orleans. Both gumbos are wonderful. It’s the same with our 62 stores. They sell mostly the same stuff, but each one has its own personality and foods that reflect its own commu- nity and its own people, as well as our Rouses brand. That’s not true of every grocery store — some are so identical that when I’m secret shopping the competition, I sometimes forget which city I’m in. But I don’t need to see a customer walking around in just a bathing suit to know I’m at the Rouses Market in Orange Beach. My office is at our store in Downtown New Orleans. When I need to clear my head, I wander the aisles. The grocery store is a natural place to strike up a conversation, but everyone talks to everyone at this store — and sometimes to himself or herself.The game “costume- not-a-costume” was invented for this store. And it’s not unusual to see pirates, vampires, Saints players, movie stars and regular customers in a second line behind a brass band, waving napkins like handkerchiefs. I love that all of our stores are the same, but different. That Sulphur, which is about half an hour from the state line, has just a bit of a Texas twang. That everyone at the West Mobile store calls me ma’am (well, maybe I don’t love hearing that, but I do love the unique South Alabama sensibility it reflects). That I see everyone I know at the Rouses on Canal Boulevard inThibodaux, no matter what time of day I’m there — it really is Thibodaux’s town square. And I’m not the only one who appreciates all of this. We have fans that make a sport out of visiting the various Rouses Markets along the Gulf Coast. It’s like trying a new and different gumbo wherever you go. Soup’s on! In the pages that follow we celebrate some of the best bowls on the Gulf Coast, including local favorites gumbo, crawfish bisque and turtle soup. The recipes were created by our corporate chef, Marc Ardoin. Chances are you’ve cooked recipes Marc developed for past issues. You’ll want to cook these recipes as well. I had the chance to taste every soup Marc cooked and Romney Caruso artfully styled and photographed (here’s a secret: We actually shoot each issue right in my office). And each soup is better than the next. by Marcy Nathan EDITOR’S LETTER

everyday JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

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