Louisiana Chefs Keep The Good Times Rolling In Central Texas

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - As they say in Louisiana, “everywhere else, it’s just Tuesday.” However, the spirit of Mardi Gras lives on in Central Texas ahead of Fat Tuesday thanks to restaurant owners like Stacey Mitchell and Aneka Armstrong. They are teaching locals about their culture and their food.

“We’re a creole restaurant,” Armstrong said. “We serve gumbo, etouffee, pastas, loaded potatoes...just bringing the spices from New Orleans to Central Texas.”

“My background comes from Louisiana so my mother...my grandmother...those roots come from that side of the family,” Mitchell said. “When I was younger, this was the type of food we always ate so we ate Creole food all the time.”

That Creole cooking led Mitchell to her fiance before they opened Black Pot Cajun Cuisine in Lacey Lakeview.

“We sort of got together based upon the food she’s cooking actually,” Mitchell’s fiance, Chris Hilliard said. “It got right to me and I wouldn’t let her go and we bought this restaurant.”

The community has embraced the couple and their family recipes. They’re passed down from Louisiana communities like Oakdale, Lafayette and Baton Rouge.

“Nothing was written down and I don’t write anything down,” Mitchell said with a smile.

She says the restaurant stays busy this time of year.

“When Mardi Gras comes around, which is Fat Tuesday then Ash Wednesday , that’s when Lent starts so everybody’s going to be looking for some really good fish,” Mitchell said.

Across town in Waco, Aneka Armstrong is pouring her soul into her Creole dishes. A piece of her heart remains in her hometown of New Orleans.

“I used to march in the parades so i was a dancer so I was actually a part of the carnival festivities,” Armstrong said. “My daughter is actually a queen of an Indian tribe down there called Wild Creole West so Mardi Gras was a big thing for my family because we are a part of that culture.”

She shares stories of her culture through her food at Armstrong’s Bayou Cafe’s locations at Union Hall and Union Grove.

“Some of my customers still watch my grandbaby while I cook in the kitchen,” Armstrong said. “I love the people here.”

Armstrong and Mitchell have created their own little versions of Mardi Gras with their families and customers with the realization that people around here want more Creole food. As we leave Black History Month behind and enter Women’s History Month, they are both proud to represent their families as black female business owners in Central Texas.

“Some of the colors that are in the Mardi gras...the green, the purple and the yellow...one of them means power,” Mitchell said. “To me, power means being able to give back something positive to somebody else and that’s power to me.”

“Mardi Gras is about having a good time with family and friends and meeting new friends that later on become family,” Armstrong said.

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