Ron Reed has been frequenting Prejean’s for a decade now, and is thrilled at the recent updates overseen by the Metcalfs.
CLASSICS OFF OF I-49
Prejean’s 2.0
WITH NEW ENERGY, A BASTION OF THE BYGONE ERA OF DINE-IN DANCE HALLS RE-EMERGES
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on Reed is adjusting to some changes. It’s just before 5 pm, and he’s settling into his regular seat at Prejean’s. Sleeves rolled up, Michelob Ultra tucked firmly into a koozie, his routine is intact, but his surroundings seem slightly foreign. This bar used to be a cavernous corner of the restaurant; it is now part of an open floor plan, with improved lighting and fixtures, a showcase sign overhead inviting guests to the Cypress Tavern. Gone is the decaying Formica countertop, replaced with beautiful sinker cypress, shining under a clear epoxy finish. Same for the rickety old barstools, the ones that would let out an uneasy creak at any shift of weight; they’ve been upgraded to comfortable metal-reinforced counter chairs. Reed looks up to a pair of new flat screen televisions and down to the new wood grain tile flooring that spans the dining room. “Look at this,” he told me with admiration. “This whole thing has changed.” Reed has been regularly visiting Prejean’s for the past decade. When Tim Metcalf bought the restaurant in November and closed it down for the
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Story by Nathan Stubbs • Photos by Paul Kieu ten-week renovation, Reed anxiously awaited its re-opening. For him, it’s convenient; he lives three minutes away. But more than that, the social exchange that takes place at Prejean’s is what has continuously drawn him back to the Cajun institution along the I-49 corridor. The forty-one year old Carencro restaurant has sustained a reputation that stretches worldwide—built on a history as rich as its famous duck and andouille gumbo. “You know what I like about this place?” Reed asked me. “I’ve met people from all over the country here.” Noting their propensity to return, he added: “and I’ve met them more than once.” Metcalf is still in awe of what he just purchased. On a tour of the sprawling seventeen thousand square foot restaurant, he noted the enormous amount of effort and funds (close to one million dollars) that have been poured into the re-opening, a massive undertaking for a place in dire need of upgrades. With 8,500 square feet of kitchen space alone, Metcalf and crew have installed a new drive-through window for takeout service and a newly screened-in boil room decked out with a pulley system for lifting heaping pots
M A Y 2 1 // C O U N T R Y R O A D S M A G . C O M
of crawfish and shrimp. The new layout also features a cold room set at fifty-eight degrees, designated for shucking oysters and processing other temperaturesensitive seafood. Around the corner from the pastry room, he’s also set up a prep area with three jumbo tilt skillets capable of producing up to 420 gallons of gumbo a day. Almost the entire kitchen has been outfitted with new equipment, from skillets to stoves. Welcome to Prejean’s 2.0, durably fashioned and adapted for the postCovid era. “It’s very ambitious,” Metcalf acknowledged. “Covid was the proverbial straw that broke Prejean’s. Prejean’s had its issues, but it was still functioning just fine pre-Covid.” First opened in 1980, Prejean’s, along with Mulate’s in Breaux Bridge and Randol’s in Lafayette, paired a menu of classic Cajun seafood—boiled, fried, and etoufféed—with live music and dancing for the quintessential Cajun experience. A booming oil economy ate it up; tourists took note. The circuit propelled the carriers of local Cajun and Creole musical acts, including future Grammy winners Beausoleil, Wayne Toups, and Chubby Carrier.
What set Prejean’s apart was the arrival of Chef James Graham in the mid-nineties. An avid hunter-fisherman originally from Montana, Graham elevated Prejean’s food to new heights, serving up crowd-pleasing stews and savory desserts, upping the ante by mixing in wild game dishes like the popular rack of elk topped with a mushroom and andouille cream. The gumbo was the best in town. Perhaps nothing distilled Graham’s legend more than his dark roux masterpiece, which came to be sold exclusively at the New Orleans Jazz Fest, and has reached near mythical status in the canon of Cajun cooking. Having won first prize at the New Iberia World Championship Gumbo Cookoff seven years in a row, Graham’s pheasant, quail, and andouille gumbo went on to establish Prejean’s as one of Jazz Fest’s most sought after food vendors for over twenty eight years, drawing a line of annual devotees and wowing artists from Jimmy Buffet to Lady Gaga. After a decade of success, Graham left Prejean’s for other entrepreneurial projects, and sadly passed away in 2006 at age forty-six while living in Florida.
