My loss is Rex's gain

I've been asking everyone on the Coast I know, "What about Chappy's?" It's just gone, they say. But Chappy himself has to be somewhere. When can I have blackened prime rib stuffed with crawfish and doused in Hollandaise sauce?, I whimper. Or flavored butter? Or fried green tomatoes?

On the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Chappy was our Emeril way before Emeril was. He was our Paul Prudhomme. Our Justin Wilson. I can remember Chappy on new shows on the Coast cooking way before the advent of today's 24-hour cooking shows - when chefs got five minutes or so in the afternoon news segments.

The answer to the mystery was in the Jan. 24th Clarion-Ledger. Chappy has landed in Nashville. He lost his 21-year-old restaurant in Long Beach and his home in Waveland after Hurricane Katrina and went to stay with friends in the area. He's now working on starting a restaurant there. (And, Rex, my loss is your gain! I may have to head to Nashville just for a fix.) The new restaurant is set to open in mid-March with 240 seats.

If you're in the Nashville area in March, be sure to check it out. And be sure to get the blackened prime rib in my honor - it's my favorite!