Mark Majorie grew up in Louisiana with his grandmother's gumbo, jambalaya and etouffee cooking on the stove before school, learning from home cooks rather than professionals before spending 25 years in fine dining and luxury hotels. When he opened his own restaurant, he wanted something more casual, built around a smash burger loaded with pickles, onions, sauce and cheese on a sesame seed bun that has not changed since the first test run. He is candid that the restaurant's name, Lucky 8, comes from his own seat at the bar during weekly planning lunches with his now-business partner Eddie, who was bartending that Friday shift; after cycling through other ideas, including an early placeholder of Mark's Muffulettas, seat eight stuck.
Majorie walks through the real differences between Louisiana's staple dishes, something he says even longtime fans get wrong: gumbo never contains tomato, etouffee does, and both start from a roux, oil or butter cooked slow with flour until it reaches a deep, dark brown that can burn in seconds if left unwatched. His muffuletta draws on his Sicilian heritage, loaded with olives, ham, provolone and mortadella on bread baked locally by Mama G's after he handed her his recipe. A newer addition, the Cochon de Lait salad, blends his French Louisiana roots with the Vietnamese cuisine he grew up eating in New Orleans, home to a large Vietnamese community that entered the local shrimping industry decades ago.
Business Has Doubled Since opening, Lucky 8's business has doubled year over year, something Majorie credits to being on-site every day and to Eddie, whom he calls the make-happen guy for the parts of running a restaurant outside his own repertoire. Asked for the three dishes newcomers should try, he points to the muffuletta, best ordered as a quarter since a whole feeds a family of five, the oyster po'boy, and the smash burger, the restaurant's best seller since day one. This interview was filmed the day before Lucky 8 received a Michelin Bib Gourmand distinction.
On roundabouts, Majorie, who says Louisiana relies on four-way stops instead, estimates about 85 percent of drivers do not know how to use them properly, though he needs them to reach his own restaurant. He closes by recommending Eddie, along with Florence and the Spice Boys owners Steve and Florence and their partner Colin, as future guests worth having on the show.
What you'll take away
- Majorie's smash burger and the restaurant's name both trace back to his eight years at Veronica and a regular seat, seat eight, at a bar where he met his now-partner Eddie
- Gumbo never contains tomato while etouffee does, and both dishes start from a roux that can go from perfect to burnt in seconds
- The muffuletta uses locally baked bread from Mama G's after Majorie shared his family recipe with her
- Lucky 8's business has doubled year over year, which Majorie attributes to being present in the restaurant every day
- The episode was filmed one day before Lucky 8 received a Michelin Bib Gourmand distinction
“You go to 10 houses, you get 10 different gumbos.”
“My secret would be patience.”
Places mentioned: UTC, The Landings, Ringling Museum