Before long an ice-cream machine materialized. But it soon became clear to him that he couldn't reach his goals with a chef who though talented was resistant to change. His choice was Emeril Lagasse, who went on to become the hottest brand-name chef in the country with a restaurant empire of his own. Clearly Teixido had an eye for talent. What he didn't have was a tolerance for New Orleans weather.
Summers there do things to people.
While not many people sing the praises of Delaware summers, Teixido clearly preferred them and eventually left Louisiana, recruited back by David Sezna, a man with a restaurant empire of his own, to be his operating partner. He helped Sezna not only to open a number of restaurants like Kid Shelleen's but to refocus others like the Columbus Inn. In 1988 they bought the old Admiral's Inn, a fixture on Naaman's Road for decades. Teixido set out immediately to change its image, and that started with a name change. But there was artwork there by a Harry, and Harry is a comfortable name.