By Charlee Beasor
AVON — The owners of the new Cajuns Cafe in Avon all have something in common.
It’s not the fact that they’re all related and it’s not the fact that they are all from southern Louisiana and know how to cook authentic Cajun cuisine.
Russell Byrd, one of the managing members, says it’s that they decided it was time to quit what they were doing and dive into something they truly enjoy: cooking and running a restaurant.
“I guess you could say it’s a mid-life crisis,” he said. “Our father used to tell us when we were young that you’ve got to do something you enjoy and you’ll never work again. This is what we love — we like to have a good time and love to eat. Some people eat to live, we live to eat.”
Byrd, his younger brother Laneier Byrd, and sister and brother-in-law Letitia and Elgin DeJean are managing members of the restaurant and while they have hired in some cooks and other local staff, they each know how to make the restaurant run, even down to getting in the kitchen and cooking the food. Byrd said most of the recipes have been passed down through the generations in his family and that they all learned to cook early on in their lives.
“We each know the jobs of each person,” Byrd said. “We can cook it, plate it, and treat the customers. It’s left hand, right hand, each knowing what the other does.”
The Cajuns Cafe will offer authentic Cajun recipes including barbecue shrimp, red beans and rice, Po Boys, and catfish.
One of the draws to bringing the restaurant to this area was the attitude of the people, Byrd said.
“We like this place, the Hoosier hospitality is outstanding,” he said. “Everyone is so gracious, it’s fantastic.”
Byrd has noticed one perception about Cajun cooking in Central Indiana that they’re attempting to change.
“The perception here is that Cajun food is spicy,” he said. “But authentic southern Louisiana cooking is about flavor, not about spice — we do have a few spicy items on our menu though, like the barbecue shrimp.”
While the restaurant is not yet open to the public, it will have its first big test this weekend. Byrd and the other managers decided to test out their staff and recipes during a “soft” open on Saturday. If everything goes according to plan and the managers feel the restaurant is ready to open, they plan to be open to the public this coming Friday.
“It’s better to invite people and warn everybody that this is a trial run if things don’t run up to par,” Byrd said. “We’d like to open next Friday if we are truly ready and we don’t want to serve anything not ready to be served. It’s our litmus test.”
Karen Hyfield of Danville, who works with Byrd’s sister, is helping with the first day of the soft open. She says she knows how hard they have been working to get the restaurant up and running.
“I drove by last night and at quarter after two in the morning they were still here — they’ve been working real hard,” Hyfield said. “I’m sure they’ll do well here, people are looking forward to something different.”
Byrd said they plan to serve more than 500 people this weekend and they received so many requests to come that they had to make the event invitation only.
“The cuisine speaks for itself,” Byrd said.
Once the restaurant is open, the hours of operation will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Cajuns Cafe is at 7900 E. U.S. 36, Suite A, Avon.
charlee.beasor@flyergroup.com
