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Hook & Boil’s Mark Alleman grew up in the crawfish business. Beginning with his “Pappy,” Dalford Alleman, who started cultivating crawfish and rice in Duson in 1960, the Alleman family has enjoyed three generations of crawfish farmers which include Mark and his sister who grew up helping on the farm.
Mark’s dad, Don, now runs the family crawfish farm which provides all of the fresh-sourced crawfish for Hook & Boil, which is delivered twice daily to ensure that all crawfish is prepared and served within a few hours of harvest.
Alleman was formally trained at Louisiana Culinary Institute earning a degree in the Culinary Arts. While training to become a chef, he started his catering business, Cravin’ Cajun Seafood, specializing in full-service, on-site Cajun catering.
Since opening in 2014, Hook and Boil in Broussard has become one of the area’s favorite local restaurants. It earned Alleman the 2017 Rising Young Business Leader Award from the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame, and he has been honored by the Advertiser in their annual 20 under 40 award ceremony.
At only 32 years of age, Alleman has accomplished quite a bit, and has also experienced a loss when he attempted to open a second location of Hook & Boil downtown. Not one to dwell on the negative, he has moved forward and is focused on making his original restaurant in Broussard a roaring success. Given the crowds who have returned when he reopened in January 2019, it looks good for Alleman.
Alleman sponsors an annual “Boiling Up” greatness scholarship fund each May for 8th graders at St. Cecilia Catholic School in Broussard. The students write papers on how they can use their unique talents to impact the local community and the winner receives a $1000.00 prize.
Not sure you want to eat crawfish? Hook & Boil’s boiled shrimp is a crowd favorite served up with a custom blend of seasonings.
Hook & Boil is located at 209 N. Morgan in Broussard LA. For more information, please visit their Facebook page.
