Cajun Kitchen offers taste of Louisiana

MARY ESTHER — It stands to reason that the owner of a restaurant called Cajun Kitchen would have a name with a “Le” and some X’s in it and hail from somewhere deep in the bayous of Louisiana.

So what’s ol’ Brad Miller from Alabama think he’s doing?

Don’t question the man, whatever it is, he’s doing it right. Real right.

The food

You know you’ve entered an authentic Cajun restaurant when you overhear an attendant ask a cook, “Where’s the gator at?”

Yes, there be gator to eat at Cajun Kitchen. There’s also fantastic sausage gumbo, all manner of seafood, po’ boys and crawfish etouffee.

There’s also chicken fricassee, prepared, the menu says, via a “secret Cajun cooking method.”

Side items include red beans and rice and crawfish pistolet, all Louisiana staples.

“Delicious. Absolutely,” said a well sated Lee Teppen as she left the restaurant, having consumed a monster-sized po boy.

The breakfast menu has as many authentically Louisianan dishes as the lunch menu. Beignets-n-coffee and café au lait are New Orleans favorites Miller has brought east.

Save room for dessert. Beignets, crème brulee and blueberry bread pudding head the lineup.

The service

Miller, the owner of Cajun Kitchen, was born in Alabama but moved to Louisiana at the tender age of 18 to become a boat captain working on the oil rigs off the coast.

“I learned to cook while I was out there,” he said.

He said he decided to move to Fort Walton Beach to be close to his parents, and planned to open a cleaning business. But he found himself a restaurant for sale on Mary Esther Cut-Off and he decided to go for it.

“I said, ‘You know what? I can do that,’ ” he said.

Miller runs his business with his wife, Sylvia. The couple have hired a cook and spend most of their time running between the kitchen and the dining room. There’s sort of a controlled-chaos feel to the place, but Miller takes time to light customers’ crème brulee with what looks like a little, bitty blow torch.

“You don’t get the full crème brulee experience if you can’t smell the sugar burning,” he says … even as customers wonder how he’s not burning his hand off.

The Cajun Kitchen has been open for two months and Miller said he’s getting by. He has big plans for crawdad season when it opens in March, and you can bet he’ll be expanding the menu then.

The atmosphere

The Millers have done a lot in a short time with limited space. The restaurant is roomy enough and the Zydeco music adds a nice flair. There’s an alligator menu holder, and they’ve even created a little outdoor seating with a gurgling fountain.

A final taste

Real live Cajun cooking. In Fort Walton Beach.

Can you say Laissez les bon temps rouler?

QuickBites

Location

Cajun Kitchen

527 Mary Esther cutoff

Fort Walton Beach 32548

Telephone

(850) 226-4351

Hours

Monday through Thursday 6 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Friday and Saturday 6 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Closed Sundays

Reservations

Not necessary

Children’s menu

yes

Appetizers

$3.99 -- $6.99

Lunch

$6.99-$19.99

Po Boys

$6.99-$8.99

Breakfast

$2.49-$5.99