Dine + Wine
Nibbles + Bites
by Aaron Garcia |
photography by Lisa Crates
New Home for a Lost Cajun
HOW AUTHENTIC CAJUN FOOD FROM A CHAIN FOUND ITS WAY TO HUNTERSVILLE
The Lost Cajun
STATS Cuisine
Cajun-inspired seafood dishes, pasta, gumbo, jambalaya, beignets, po-boys
Price JANUARY 2020
lunch dinner
66 LAKE NORMAN CURRENTS
Attire
There are plenty of seafood dishes on the menu at The Lost Cajun.
A
uthentic Cajun food. From a franchise. In Greenville, S.C. Steve Galloway was skeptical. Yes, the news of the newly opened The Lost Cajun restaurant was coming from his brother, Joe, with whom he had shared a childhood in Louisiana. Galloway, though, is safely referred to as a Cajun food snob after essentially growing up in Creole kitchens, starting in “mom-and-pop po’boy shops in the back of gas stations.” He and his wife, Rebecca, even first met as college students while both worked at Judge Roy Bean’s, a Cajun restaurant in Lafayette. So when he said “somebody knows what they’re doing here” after stacking the restaurant’s gumbos and etouffee against his
own, Galloway was getting more than just a taste of home. He was starting to grow an appetite for more.
From donuts to beignets When the trip to his brother’s happened five years ago, Galloway’s professional life had long since taken him away from his Cajun roots. Throughout his decades-long career he’s worked as a consultant and executive, mainly within the food services industry. He, Rebecca and the rest of their family had lived in Connecticut and were roughly halfway through a nine-year stretch in Florida, where Galloway was part owner of a 25-store Dunkin Donuts
Casual
franchise group. Adding a Cajun restaurant to his portfolio, says Galloway, was intriguing. So he called The Lost Cajun’s owner, Raymond Griffin. “I’m a Cajun boy living in Florida and I’m interested in doing something like this,” Galloway told him. The two met, became friends, and agreed to expand into the Florida market. A merger involving his Dunkin Donuts group led to a delay, however, and the Galloways soon hopped on another opportunity with the donut franchise in the Winston-Salem area. After moving to the area and getting that investment settled last year, Galloway called Griffin and let him know he was ready to proceed. He purchased the rights to The Lost Cajun in
Atmosphere
Cajun-fish camp and NOLA Bistro
Group Friendly Family Friendly Going solo Date Night
PRICE KEY 15 and under
$
25 and under
$
50 and under
$
75 and under
$
This includes an entree and a non-alcoholic beverage.