Our Chef
Main Street Market Cafe is proud to have a true Cajun cook. This is his story. You know New Orleans…there is ALWAYS a great story to tell about a great chef!!! So enjoy this one and then come see us at the café.
Chris was raised on the bayous of Louisiana, the sixth of eight children. He clung to his mother’s apron strings and learned to cook. Granny’s cast iron pot was his favorite instrument. With great enthusiasm, he learned all the family secrets.
When time came for him to go to school, he rode an alligator. This animal exacted a contract from Chris. He was to give up his lunch or he would be eaten. Every day the alligator grew fatter and fatter on Andouille po-boys, jambalaya, shrimp creole, crawfish pie, dark chicken stew, wild duck and turtle soup, chicken gumbo and divine desserts — cream puffs, chocolate chunky pecan pie, lemon chess pie, butter pound cake and so much more.
Through the years, Chris and Alligator would argue about the seasonings in the gumbo. The gator had a testy stomach for spices. When Chris was really hungry he would season up a pot of alligator sauce piquant. That ’gator would get some upset!! Chris would pay for such a burst of childishness. He learned to take care not to use too much cayenne in the gumbo or the gator would move even slower through the swamp.
One day going into the fourth grade, the alligator, which had grown so fat, was moving even slower than usual. Chris was late for school. His teacher gave him a caning that he would not soon forget. That was the end for Chris. He went home and got out that cast iron pot. He wrestled the ’gator to the ground. But, over the years, Chris had developed a kinship with that gator, so he let that ’gator slip into the murky waters. On that day, Chris vowed to eat what he cooked and love what he eats.
Today, he cooks for Main Street Market with his family. His mother-in-law will, on occasion, hide the cayenne pepper. (You see, she has a sensitive stomach.) But, every now and then, he is able to really season things up a bit.