Jeremy Reilly was not just a popular guy in Olde Towne because he was the 11-year owner of Restaurant Cote and the Maple Room, but he was a leader among the business owners in Slidell for just as long.
Jeremy was always involved with any city meetings or projects that involved Olde Towne and probably did as much as anybody to help improve the entire region of our city in many ways.
Plenty of people were shocked last year when it was announced he was closing down the two spots on Carey Street, not because he wasn’t having success, but because he felt a little burned out from the 11-year grind of being a small business owner, and that meant the restaurant business has to be as difficult as any.
For those who miss the well-liked guy, and I would certainly be one of them, I ran into Jeremy rather unexpectedly recently.
When Jeremy was first getting linked into the restaurant business in St. Tammany Parish well over 10 years ago, he worked for the Abita Brewing Company in Abita Springs. He already had great experience as a chef after working at some of the 5-star restaurants in California for many years, then he came back home to Louisiana and became a top local chef at their St. Tammany spot, which is not only a local brewery, but also an outstanding restaurant.
Abita Brewing Company has been quite successful and has expanded to have a Covington location and one in New Orleans, with the prospect of others in the area as well.
I recently walked into the Covington store and asked for the manager, then after waiting a minute, I looked up and saw my good buddy Jeremy coming to greet me with a big hug.
It was like a reunion. He was always a guy in Slidell that I could find in the kitchen most days, and if I wanted to show up late in the afternoon, he would always drop what he was doing so we could have a drink together and chat for a while.
For a guy who was a huge business promoter for all in Olde Towne, he was also keenly connected to Slidell’s political scene. And I have no doubt that most of the main candidates for City Council, mayor or parish offices made sure to seek his support, since he was always a guy with a ton of friends and colleagues. It never hurt to have him believe you were the right person for a political position.
As for me, I enjoyed our chats about all things Slidell, and then some of our favorite personal topics like going to concerts.
With his wife Alyssa and two growing kids, he always struck me as a guy who busted his butt to run the business but always have time for fun with “Lys” and his two children, Brooklyn and Jamison.
I’ll never forget one of his greatest stories one winter when the kids talked about wanting to see snow. One day shortly before Christmas, he and Alyssa woke the kids up very early in the morning and told them to get dressed because “we are going somewhere.”
Not sure how long it took him to pop the surprise, but finally with them in the car and heading north he said, “we’re going to keep driving till we find snow.” And they did just that.
I’m sure many people miss Jeremy in Slidell, so I wanted to let you know that he is still around and busy as ever. I’m sure he would love to say hello if you drop in at the Covington location for Abita Brewing Company.
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Speaking of good friends, and I feel very fortunate to have a bunch of them as the local “newspaper guy,” I certainly count Johnny Amaraneni among them. Johnny is the son of Dr. Kumar Amaraneni, whom three-quarters of the town probably know quite well since he was the emergency room director at Slidell Memorial for many years.
Johnny helps his dad run his trio of Pelican Urgent Care clinics, with one in Picayune, then the Gause Boulevard branch, and the newest version at Oak Harbor where Kumar’s daughter Jenny has moved to Slidell to lead.
Johnny is among the crowd of businesspeople here who show up at Chamber events and Business After Hour’s gatherings. And if there is anything that is known about him it would be the fact, he is one of, if not the, best dresser among the men in Slidell. No kidding.
The guy always has these cool suits on, matching jacket and pants, matching handkerchief in the jacket pocket, and he is not afraid to be very stylish with colors and prints.
He had an outfit last week when we had a get together, and after I mentioned how good it looked, he dropped a very interesting line on me that he heard somewhere.
Johnny said someone once said, “always dress like you have better plans later.”
I loved it. What a great line. Johnny certainly lives that great quote out virtually every time I see him.
Kevin Chiri can be reached by e-mail at kevinchiri@gmail.com.