Signature jumbo lump blue crab cakes with corn maque choux, vintage shrimp and grits with a Latin twist, a braised carnitas tamale stack with Santos rocoto sauce and cotija and shrimp remoulade stuffed arepas – new flavors are coming to St. Charles Parish at Santos cafe.
“It’s Louisiana roots with Latin mind-set,” Executive Chef Natasha Clement, a previous contestant on MasterChef Year 6 and a contestant and winner of Foods Network’s All Star Academy Year 2, explained of the cafe she and Buddy Boe are established to open the initially week of August.
The cafe partnership came right after years of friendship.
“It was quite early on immediately after I won the Food Network clearly show that there was an interview I did and they asked me if I’d like to have a cafe and I claimed, ‘Yeah, a brick and mortar would be wonderful,’” Clement recalls.
Boe read the article, and his wheels started out spinning.
“I messaged her on Facebook and explained, ‘You want two dining establishments?’” he explained laughing.
Boe experienced a system. He knew he would be having above Buddy B’s Cafe in Garyville from his mom and dad, and he needed to make an umbrella of food providers. Boe and Clement fashioned Sophisticated Hospitality Team, which will attribute Clement’s currently set up catering and non-public chef company Refined Southern Plates, Buddy B’s and Santos – their St. Charles Parish restaurant that will be housed at 12713 Hwy 90 in Luling, which was formerly Catahoulas.
“A solitary stand-alone restaurant is hard to change good margins, but if you can unfold some overhead prices out you can make decent earnings,” Boe stated. “We began that dance in 2020 and started out Refined Hospitality team and then Covid hit. Covid was just about survival very last yr – for her with her catering and me with Buddy B’s.”
Boe mentioned he and Clement are thrilled to offer you something new to the River Location.
“Santos is heading to be refined everyday,” he claimed. “It’s a location in which you feel at ease but you know the foodstuff is elevated. It is Southern with that Latin mind-set and aptitude. We’re likely to do shrimp and grits but with Latin spices and a Latin pastalaya … elevated convenience food items.”
Boe explained he has no question people today will tumble in enjoy with Clement and her foodstuff.
“Her food is so attractive and her identity is so large that I consider people today of the River Parishes are heading to practical experience a snug setting but sense like they are in the French Quarter,” he claimed. “I know Natasha has put her coronary heart and soul into this menu. We want to increase to the local foods palate with one thing a minimal various. Individuals are likely to style new flavors but in a way which is comfortable.”
Clement explained the concept guiding Santos is to provide a twist to the Southern convenience food items of the River Parishes.
“It’s these common, historic dishes with a Latin mindset,” she reported. “I’m super thrilled for persons to consider new matters. We’re stepping outside the box a minor little bit. People today about here know how to cook dinner, so you have to make it diverse and interesting and deliver a little something new.”
Boe stated the restaurant – which will attribute a full bar that includes craft cocktail offerings – will open with lunch and meal choices and will extend to brunch alternatives in the fall. An outdoor eating and outdoor bar setup will also be phased in as it will get cooler.
“We’re in the process of selecting proper now and finishing touches are becoming done on the actual physical place,” he mentioned, incorporating the cafe will make use of upwards of 20 people. “The place has been completely renovated from major to bottom … every little thing from paint and building to fixtures.”
Boe reported the cafe will operate to partner with neighborhood marketplace for deliveries, and that the hospitality group will present its workforce utmost growth chances and versatility.
“That’s exceptional in the food items and beverage market,” he reported. “We’re hoping that owning the multiple areas makes it possible for our people to keep lengthier and increase far more.”