Do you like seafood? Well, December 1 may be your night, no matter where you live.

A number of New Orleans chefs have committed to featuring Gulf Coast seafood on their menu on December 1. Easy for them, perhaps, but they are encouraging restaurants around the country to join them, and are doing everything they can to make it just as easy to have Gulf seafood in Minnesota as it is in Louisiana!

 We talked with chefs in the Gulf who are setting the example, and who have some great ideas for menu items.

Thomas Wolfe, of Wolfe’s in the Warehouse in the Marriott Hotel, says he is going to do one of his favorite dishes, a Shrimp Remoulade that prominently features Gulf shrimp.

Guy Sockrider, the chef at Roux on Orleans, in the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, is doing a signature dish called Shrimp Absinthe.

Café Adelaide and Chef Chris Lusk, in the Loews New Orleans Hotel, says, “We always want to promote local seafood, the greatest seafood in the world!” On December 1, he’ll be featuring Shrimp on Shrimp on Grits, described deliciously as “dried shrimp crusted shrimp, grilled oregano red grits and absinthe-basil beurre vert.

7 on Fulton, in the Wyndham Riverfront, and Executive Chef Matthew Fultz will do a Red Grouper, “fresh out of the Gulf” with cream corn polenta on the side.

Haley Bittermann, Corporate Executive Chef for the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group, says their restaurants will feature BBQ oysters—try them in a Po Boy! And, Chris Montero, chef at BACCO will prepare the restaurant’s signature Gulf Shrimp and Lobster Ravioli; see our review, here.

Chef Brian Katz of Redfish Grill says he “works very closely with the fishermen” to choose the freshest catch, and will be featuring the best fish of the day—perhaps snapper, tuna, or grouper—in a special dish. A similar plan is on the menu for GW Finn’s, where 70 percent of the menu is based on seafood, meaning many menu items change daily (and, yes, they print a new menu every day).

And, at Mr. B’s Bistro, Chef Michelle McRaney says she’ll do something “Gulf and local,” quite possibly BBQ Shrimp.

As the chefs are thinking up their menu items, the New Orleans Fish House is preparing for delivery. Cliff Hall, Vice President, makes the point that, “Our seafood was never tainted, only our image.” He says that the December 1 event is a chance for “other people to enjoy what we know as a phenomenal dining experience, in a celebration of our culture and our seafood.”

If your local restaurant wants to participate, the process is simple:

• Sign up at the website, http://www.dineamerican2010.com
• Create a menu item using Gulf seafood, and place an order
• Set your own price and keep the revenue

For those restaurants looking for ideas, see The Food Channel’s holiday menu based around Gulf Coast seafood.