Their new Lakefront home allows spouses Mark Romig and David Briggs to begin and end their days in observance of the sun.
“When I leave for the office in the morning, the sun is rising over the lakefront to the east,” said Romig. “In the evening when we have dinner or cocktails, the sun is setting over the harbor behind us to the west. It’s glorious.”
Romig is senior vice president and chief marketing officer for New Orleans & Co., but is most widely known as the public address announcer at Saints home games.
He serves on the Super Bowl LIX Host Committee and also was recently appointed as Honorary Consul for Thailand in Louisiana.
He and Briggs have been a couple for 35 years and have been married since 2012.
At 2,800 square feet, their new waterfront digs were a downsize from the 4,400-square-foot home they shared for 24 years in the Fontainebleau neighborhood.
The living area overlooks the Orleans marina via a terrace. Overseeing the space is a large portrait of Jerry Romig, Mark Romig’s late father who for 44 years was the play-by-play announcer for the New Orleans Saints, a position Mark Romig inherited in 2013.
“We planned the design and renovation of this home around pieces we knew we would be taking with us from our old house,” said Briggs, a native of Baton Rouge and a retired neuromuscular massage therapist specializing in assisting patients with chronic pain.
The couple’s furniture tends toward dark, fine wood pieces made by Briggs, family heirlooms and antique pieces, many of which were acquired at Dopp Antiques on Jefferson Highway.
Both Mark Romig and David Briggs are passionate about life on the water.
Life on the water
Shared passions for the waterfront and motor yachting informed the couple’s decision to purchase the three-story condominium in a breezy waterfront building erected in the early '80s. The accomplished yachtsmen studied the sport together at boating schools in Florida. Currently under debate is whether they will buy a vessel of their own, lease one or rent one when the urge strikes.
“We are still trying to figure that out, but it’s definitely in the works,” said Romig, who grew up nearby in the Lakeview neighborhood.
After closing on the property in late summer 2023, they collaborated with contractor Ashley Cavalier, of Geaux Cavalier, to attack the 60-square-foot kitchen that Briggs, an enthusiastic cook, found intolerably confining.
A renovation took the kitchen from 60 square feet to 200 square feet at the request of David Briggs, who loves to cook.
Cavalier expanded the space to 200 square feet with a 10-foot seated island that allows Briggs to cook for and converse with guests while they look on from across the elegant Viscon White granite counter. Stainless appliances, a white marble backsplash and white marble floors keep the space sleek and tidy.
Stored in deep under-cabinet drawers on silent glides, Briggs’ culinary implements are always within easy reach without the need to dig fore and aft through cabinets. “Upper cabinets are one thing, but I just hate lower ones,” Briggs said.
“Ashley understood just what we wanted,” said Briggs, who enjoyed a lengthy career as a general residential contractor before becoming a neuromuscular therapist.
Briggs learned woodworking skills from his father, who was also a contractor and builder, and his grandfather, a furniture maker.
His grandfather also taught him to cook, "which I am kind of learning to do all over again. I had an eight-burner gas stove in our old place. Now I have five electric burners, but I knew I had to learn to cook with electricity because you can’t have a gas range on a boat, and a boating future is a priority.”
A tight deadline
Following the mid-December move-in, Briggs spent the next 10 days furiously readying the home to receive guests for the couple’s annual gathering of their extended family.
“David is amazing,” Romig said. “I don’t think there’s anything he can’t do. Our role within the family is to be the party planners. We put this place to the test for Christmas. It passed.”
The third-floor 'clubhouse,' with its plush, clubby leather furnishings and a well-appointed bar, is a popular spot. 'This is where we hang out when the Saints have an out-of-town game and Mark’s not making the calls,' Briggs says. 'Saints games are a pretty big deal around here.'
The couple’s open dining and living area overlooks the Orleans Marina via a terrace. Overseeing the space is a large portrait of Jerry Romig, Mark Romig’s late celebrity father (and look-a-like), who called 446 consecutive games across 44 years as the public address announcer for the New Orleans Saints, a position Mark Romig inherited in 2013.
“In our old house, the first floor was the man cave,” Briggs said. “Now, that’s on the third floor and we call it the clubhouse.”
The primary bedroom — complete with a seated balcony overlooking the water — and handsomely appointed guest rooms are on the second floor.
The primary bedroom opens to a seated balcony overlooking the water.
On the way upstairs, the walls are heavily adorned with memorabilia, bulletins and proclamations from the Rex Organization, of which Romig is a member. As the stairwell ascends to the third floor, Saints memorabilia takes over in the form of signed jerseys and jackets, framed newspaper clippings, and footballs, baseballs and bats.
The walls are painted a deep, soothing shade of green to offset plush, clubby leather furnishings, hunting trophies, pre- and post-Civil War-era long guns, the couple’s joint family crest, mementos from their shared fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon and a well-appointed bar illuminated by a crystal chandelier nabbed from their former home.
"This is where we hang out when the Saints have an out-of-town game and Mark’s not making the calls,” Briggs said. “Saints games are a pretty big deal around here.”
The table is set for a July Fourth-themed dinner.
An Independence Day celebration
A recent visit to the lakefront home of Mark Romig and David Briggs found the couple readying for a dinner party in celebration of Independence Day. The decorations and libations were of a red, white and blue theme.
Briggs is an accomplished and enthusiastic home chef with thousands of followers on Facebook and Instagram who look to him for recipes and culinary inspiration. His current style tends toward the Keto diet, and he favors straightforward recipes for entertaining so he can enjoy time with his guests while cooking. His Instagram handle is @David.Briggs.1004.
Pork Wellington
Pork Wellington
Serves 4
1.5-pound Smithfield brand pre-marinated apple and bacon pork loin fillet
1 sheet Pepperidge Farm brand frozen puff pastry
1 egg, well beaten
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
1. Place the pork loin on a wire rack set on a baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes.
2. Roll out the pastry sheet into a rectangle three times wider and three inches longer than the pork loin. Cut 4 by 1 slices from either side of the pastry sheet, leaving the center uncut. Place the pork loin on the center of the sheet. Fold the ends up to cover the bottom and top of the pork loin. Use the pastry strips to cover the pork loin in a crisscross or braided fashion.
3. Return the loin to the wire rack. Brush the pastry with beaten egg. Return the pastry-encased loin to the oven until the dough is golden, about 20 minutes.
Serve.
Honey-glazed Carrots
Honey-glazed Carrots
Serves 4-6
2 pounds baby carrots, scrubbed and peeled
1 stick salted butter
4 tablespoons honey
1 cup chopped pecans
3 ounces raisins
1. Steam the carrots until they just start to soften, about 5-6 minutes.
2. Set a large skillet over medium heat. Add the carrots and remaining ingredients. Stir until the mixture has glazed the carrots. Cook until the carrots are soft, about 3 minutes more. Serve.
Fourth of July Firecracker Cocktail
Fourth of July Firecracker Cocktail
Serves 2
1 cup frozen mixed berries
2 1-inch cubes of watermelon, chilled triple-sec liqueur
3 ounces light rum
1/2 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1/6 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Lime wedge for garnish
Combine all ingredients except the lime wedge in a blender and process until pureed. Serve in chilled martini glasses. Garnish with lime wedge.
Strawberry Gazpacho with Crabmeat
Strawberry Gazpacho with Crabmeat
Serves 4
1 1/2 pounds strawberries, washed and hulled
1 small English cucumber, chopped
1 1/2 medium jalapeño pepper, quartered and seeded
1 1/2 teaspoons lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1/3 cup scallions
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound crabmeat gently picked over to remove shells and cartilage
Combine all ingredients except crab meat in a food processor or blender and puree. Chill the soup for a minimum of two hours. Top each portion with 2 ounces of crab meat. Serve chilled.
Chocolate Avocado Pie
Chocolate Avocado Pie
Serves 6
16 ounces plain guacamole
10 tablespoons 100% unsweetened cacao powder
1 stick salted butter
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons honey
1 cup semisweet chocolate mini morsels
Fresh betters and whipped cream for serving
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.Combine all ingredients except the chocolate morsels in a medium bowl. Beat with a hand mixer until well combined. Use a spatula to fold in the chocolate morsels. Pour the mixture into a greased and floured 8-inch pie dish and bake until the pie is set, about 30 minutes.
3. Chill and serve with fresh berries and whipped cream.