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When first cousins Thien and Nhu were children, they would pile into their uncle’s pick-up truck with their cousins and ride to the rice fields of Sacramento where crawfish were plentiful. In those days, they hadn’t heard about the boiled crawfish of Louisiana.
Instead, they tossed the shellfish into a wok and would stir fry them with whatever ingredients they could find in their humble childhood kitchens — apples, ginger, lemongrass, and anything sweet. It certainly wasn’t classic crawfish, but it was the beginning of a style and technique that would later spin the crawfish of New Orleans, Louisiana on their heads.
Since 2015: Thien and Nhu were among the first Vietnamese Americans to introduce Viet-Cajun crawfish to Louisiana. Since the late 1970s, members of the Vietnamese community had been making south Louisiana home because of its warm climate, seafood culture, and its welcoming church communities. Thien and Nhu came to the area in the early 2000s, eager to share their style of seafood preparation with the people of New Orleans.
At first, the idea of boiled crawfish bathed in a bath of garlic, butter, citrus, and spices didn’t go over well with the traditional, tried, and true palettes of the Cajun/Creole population. But soon, the techniques that they first developed in their childhood home of California found their way into the hearts of even the pickiest crawfish lovers. Today, our guests have their pick of the bayou and the sea. From plump Louisiana Blue Crabs and shrimp to Dungeness Crab and lobster, we serve a variety of local and specialty seafood with our scratch-made sauces and our promise of always fresh, never frozen locally purveyed products.
Ours is a personalized business that celebrates the food and the people whom we serve and the people with whom we work. We’ve established personal relationships with our vendors and purveyors. We venture into the marshes to harvest much of our products on our own. We start our day browning a dark roux in a giant gumbo pot and have perfected the seasoning and fry for our po-boys and seafood platters.
Louisiana and its traditions have become ours, part of our soul and spirit. We invite you to roll up your sleeves, eat with your hands, and feel at home in our restaurants. We look forward to sharing the heart of our kitchen and the merging of traditions with you.