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Posted on 12/07/2005 8:44:33 AM PST by hipaatwo
By Kathy Boccella
Inquirer Staff Writer
Michelle Davis had a problem. A week before opening her new restaurant, De' Essence of New Orleans, she couldn't find genuine Cajun hot sausage for the jambalaya.
It seems that the New Orleans sausage makers she planned to order from hadn't recovered after Hurricane Katrina.
"I don't know if it's going to be available," fretted Davis, standing behind the counter of her tiny Mardi Gras-themed eatery, which is scheduled to open tomorrow in Chester. "I'm really upset about that."
When someone suggested she use Italian sausage, Davis rolled her eyes.
"That is not hot sausage," she said.
And De' Essence is not just another Cajun restaurant. It's a years-delayed family affair that finally came together after Katrina devastated Davis' native New Orleans.
With dozens of their relatives homeless, she and her husband, Kyle, welcomed 20 of them to Chester in September, and helped them find houses, clothes, schools and jobs.
When it came time to consider long-term plans, only one thing made sense: Open a Cajun restaurant.
"Everybody is excellent cooks, even the boys," Davis, 44, said of her family, as she unpacked bags of the beads, feather masks, and New Orleans street signs that add soulful charm to the 19-seat former luncheonette.
From the outside, the pumpkin-hued building at West Second and Lloyd Streets, near the Commodore Barry Bridge, could pass for a French Quarter bistro, with its two festive signs in red and Mardi Gras purple and gold.
Tomorrow, the tantalizing aroma of red beans and rice and jambalaya will permeate the neighborhood.
Davis got the idea for the restaurant two years ago but couldn't persuade her New Orleans relatives to move north and help out.
"They didn't like the cold," she said.
Katrina changed their minds. "We have nothing to go back to," said Ruth Lewis, 70, Michelle Davis' mother.
The family has been through a lot. Joy Davis, Kyle's sister-in-law, waited six days to be rescued from Katrina's waters. She and members of her extended family were plucked from her flooded house by military helicopter, then shuttled to Texas with no possessions and without the family dog, which drowned when he tried to swim to Joy.
Kyle Davis, who owns K.C. Electrical Contracting, sent them bus fare to Chester and took them into his home. He eventually found shelter for many more displaced relatives in several rundown houses he owned in Chester and had planned to rehab. Local businesses and social services donated clothing, furniture and toys.
Most of the Davises plan to remain in the Philadelphia area and many have found work, some in Kyle's business. The rest are committed to making De' Essence a success.
"I'm the bookkeeper, but I'll cook when they need me," said Lewis, whose bad knees will keep her out of the kitchen most of the time.
Though none have any real experience in the restaurant business, which is known for its high rate of failure, the Davises have no shortage of culinary talent.
Joy Davis will work as a waitress and hostess, and "mix a dish or two."
"I made jambalaya three times a week at home, and gumbo at least once a month," she said.
Also on board are Michelle Davis' youngest brother, Keith, who will be a busboy, and several nephews, who will wash dishes and make deliveries. Even Davis' 6-year-old niece Asia wants to get in on the culinary action.
"We'll have her passing out menus or something," Michelle Davis, an easygoing former secretary who moved to Chester from New Orleans 10 years ago with her husband, said with a laugh.
De' Essence's menu is filled with the zesty, regular-folks dishes that the Davises grew up on - crawfish pasta, stuffed bell peppers, smothered chicken, shrimp po' boys. The family is more interested in feeding people than in serving gourmet cuisine.
With 30 people coming for Thanksgiving dinner, Michelle Davis stayed up until 4 a.m. cooking New Orleans delicacies to accompany a turkey, ham and pot roast. She learned her skills early from her godmother and her father, who, she said teasingly, was a better cook than her mother.
"My Aunty Thelma taught me to make crawfish bisque. You stuff the crawfish heads," she explained, and "as you're eating the soup you're constantly sucking the heads and all the stuff that's floating in the soup.
"And crab balls. She would make millions of them for her social club. We'd all be sitting at the table for hours making crab balls."
After leaving a job at Chester City Hall last year, Davis did some catering and prepared a Cajun feast for Chester Mayor Wendell N. Butler Jr. and City Council to thank them for providing clothing and services to her displaced family.
"Everyone enjoyed it," Butler recalled. As for the restaurant, "it gives our city more variety. You can't eat hot dogs every day."
The menu will feature a few permanent items, such as jambalaya, fried chicken, fried shrimp, and po' boys, the sandwich that is to New Orleans what cheesesteaks are to Philadelphia. Prices range from $5.50 to $15.
There also will be daily items. "Monday is always red beans and rice," Lewis explained. "That was traditionally wash day, so you put on a big pot of beans" to save time.
With a Harrah's racetrack and slots parlor scheduled to open just down West Second (also known as Highway 291) next year, Kyle Davis, 43, thinks the restaurant has great "potential." He bought the place this year, before he knew his wife would be its proprietor.
"I know it's going to work. People are dying for something different, especially something good and different," he said. "This is the closest you can get to real Cajun food without going to New Orleans. This is the real stuff."
The biggest problem for the novice restaurateurs so far has been the high price of shrimp. Instead of paying a princely $8 a pound in local stores, Joy Davis' son bought 80 pounds of shrimp at $2 a pound and transported it, plus 40 packs of crawfish, frozen and packed in dry ice, on a flight from New Orleans.
Now the family is counting on a relative who works for a New Orleans seafood company to make monthly deliveries in a refrigerated truck.
As the Davis family hung posters and unpacked purple dishes, the door opened and Lawrence Chase, 62, walked in, a week too early, hungry for some Cajun cooking. He always wanted to go to New Orleans to try the food, he said.
"I want jambalaya," he decided, looking at the menu as if he couldn't quite believe his luck. "And what's that other one? Gumbo, that's it. That's not on the menu."
"It will be," promised Michelle Davis.
As soon as she finds the right sausage.
If You Go
De' Essence of New Orleans is at 1000 W. Second St. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Will be a huge success! I garontee!..........
they could have picked a better location. id go but i dont have a bulletproof vest.
Dang I hope they make it big..NOT ONE word in the entire article about waiting for the gubmint to bail them out..
I am Going to have to go to this! Finally a Taste of HOME!!!!
wacha gotta did is..... ;-)
Now that's the American way. I hope these people make a million. Oh yeah, Chester is a terrible place -- it will keep their rents down for sure -- but next time I'm back visiting family in the Philly area, I'm making a point of stopping in. I go into Chester for John's Doggie Shop, I can do this too. Great story.
Shrimp Poboy ummmmmmm
How refreshing it was to read this! A whole family of entrepreneurs! I just wish I lived in the area, so I could eat at their restaurant!
You beat me to it! That was the next thing I was going to type. How about a Debris PO BOY like they make at Mothers!
they could have picked a better location. id go but i dont have a bulletproof vest.
If your near there go. I saw a report on this on Channel 17 last night. The patrons were a nice mix.
If you would like on or off the Louisiana Ping list please FReepmail me and your name will be added or taken off of the list.
I live just the other side of the bridge from here. I'll make it a point to go there and spend a few bucks. The extra Gumbo order is for you!!
R3
(((((speedy!))))
I don't live anywhere near there, but the food sounds awesome!
Good news ping!
Jambalaya, a crawfish pie and a file gumbo............
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