Waking as much as the aroma of frying beignets at his grandmother’s home in Louisiana is one in every of Chef Bradley Wildridge’s earliest recollections. Cajun via and thru, he has jambalaya in his blood and roux in his soul.
“Yoo-hoo!” was his grandma’s name for him to get off the bed and make a beeline for the kitchen, the place the nice and cozy, yeasty puffs waited.
Now Wildridge and his spouse Mandy make the identical beignets every Sunday on the Sebastopol Farmers’ Market below a small tent emblazoned with the identify of his fledgling meals enterprise, Bayou on the Bay. Different dishes embody curry jambalaya, crawfish meat pies and Muffuletta sandwiches, plus different rotating menu gadgets listed on their chalkboards.
It’s been lower than a yr since Wildridge acquired severe about his dream of French-Cajun fusion and supplied his first pop-up menu at Shady Oak Barrel Home in Santa Rosa in late November.
“I simply requested some pals one night time after beers,” Wildridge stated of how his plans to begin Bayou on the Bay got here to be.
A former cook dinner at Dry Creek Kitchen and vegan catering chef, he gained traction along with his concept after posting a GoFundMe web page to check the waters. He quickly discovered an investor and an area on the Outdated Possum Brewing Co. business kitchen, which not too long ago fostered one other pop-up, Austin’s Southern Smoke BBQ.
Now Wildridge’s enterprise is likely one of the many rising pandemic meals pop-ups fueled by invites to serve meals at breweries like Outdated Possum Brewing, Outdated Caz, Henhouse and Parliament. It’s a win-win as younger, food-savvy beer drinkers come each for the brews and for the rotating meals vehicles and tents — from sushi and Asian cheesesteaks to samosas, gumbo and barbecue — ushering in a brand new meals tradition in Sonoma County.
With out onerous rents, costly gear and heart-stopping start-up prices, ardour initiatives that after appeared not possible have grow to be reachable for cooks and bakers. Name it the silver lining to being out of labor for a conventional restaurant or catering job after years of pandemic closures and uncertainty.
On an early Saturday afternoon at The Barlow’s Seismic Brewing, Mandy Wildridge whisked a coconut and pecan caramel sauce for his or her Cajun Cake. The moist, darkish crumbs studded with pineapple took me again to childhood granny desserts made with brown sugar, pecans and pineapple. So. Freaking. Good.
With a small fryer, chafing dishes and moveable cooktops, the couple danced round their 10-by-10-foot house, turning out orders effectively and smiling at curious passersby. Most individuals ended up stopping, having seen the Wildridges at different breweries. As they whipped up my order, Bradley inspired a visit into Seismic for a beer. A brand new sushi rice lager (brewed with sushi rice within the grist) was an ideal pairing for the intense, daring, spicy, totally fusion flavors of Bayou on the Bay. Ca c’est bon, y’all.
Finest Bets
Wildridge is an skilled vegan chef and creates vegan and vegetarian riffs on many dishes. The menu often modifications, with additions and subtractions. Beignets are served solely on Sundays.
Smoked BBQ Mac and Cheese, $15: Smoky Joe Matos cheese is the bottom for creamy macaroni topped with barbecue mushrooms (presumably my new favourite meals), crispy onions and jalapeños and barbecue sauce. You’ll be able to add andouille sausage, rooster or bacon, nevertheless it’s fairly excellent by itself. The beneficiant portion is sufficient for 3 individuals or one spectacularly hungry particular person.
Crawfish Deviled Egg, $7: Crawfish, when you’re not acquainted, are the lobster of the Bayou and have an identical candy and briny meat, simply in an abbreviated bundle. At Bayou on the Bay, their little tails are sauteed in truffle butter and set atop a spicy deviled egg. Add sizzling sauce, inexperienced onions and sprouts (to chill it off). Cajun meals isn’t three-alarm sizzling (at the least not right here), nevertheless it does have a kick that’ll make your eyes water.
Curry Jambalaya, $15: Right here’s the place the fusion surfaces in Wildridge’s cooking. Curry and coconut milk are added to conventional jambalaya spices (normally a mixture of onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, basil, thyme, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika and salt) and a Cajun “holy trinity” of onions, bell peppers and celery. Rooster and sausage stud the wealthy, fragrant stew, a scrumptious mash-up that someway makes a ton of sense.
Gumbo Ramen, $15: Issues get somewhat loopy with this dish. Wildridge begins with a gumbo base of roux, provides greens and thins the broth with veggie inventory (the broth is vegan). Ramen noodles, sliced andouille sausage and rooster are added, a la carte, together with a smoked six-minute egg. The wealthy, darkish broth is bursting with taste in a not-quite-ramen, not-quite-gumbo means that labored so effectively with the sunshine nuttiness of my sushi rice beer. Rating!
Natchitoches Crawfish Meat Pies, $7: Name ’em Louisiana empanadas or simply plain scrumptious. Candy crawfish, veggies and jambalaya rice are stuffed right into a dough pocket and fried till crispy and sizzling. As a result of we’re dippers, the “Secret Bayou Sauce,” a spicy-creamy dip that provides a correct warmth, makes these hand pies doubly scrumptious.
Bayou on the Bay is at Outdated Possum Brewing Co. (357 Sutton Place, Santa Rosa, oldpossumbrewing.com) 11:30 a.m. to eight p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and the Sebastopol Farmer’s Market on Sundays. For different instances and places, go to their Instagram @bayou.onthebay.
