Chad Kirtland knows that food lovers along the Eastern Shore are pretty savvy, but there's a certain segment of his clientele that he really wants to satisfy. He can spot them right away from the distinctive accents that he's known all his life, and that they have no trouble pronouncing the names of popular menu items such as jambalaya, muffaletta, or étouffée.

For those folks, great food is simply a way of life, and there are some built-in expectations.

"The Louisiana crowd is very discerning, so those are the ones I'm cooking for," says Chad. "I figure that if I can please them, everyone else will fall in step."

Chad has been cooking most of his life, but not professionally until he started Rouxster Catering fairly recently in Fairhope. The odd spelling is a play on words that offers a culinary clue right up front.

"People who are native to the region pick up on the 'roux' reference right away," he says, "but sometimes we do have to explain it."

Despite any cultural or language barriers, his Cajun and Creole flavors are certainly catching on. He and his partner, Jan Phillips, stay very busy preparing food for special events while holding down regular hours at the storefront operation they opened in February at 209 S. Section Street. 

It's the former location of another catering business, which was called Rootz, so it's equipped with a full commercial kitchen in the back room. The take-out-only shop is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays. They have a lunch menu every day, plus sweet treats and a big selection of refrigerated and frozen meals.

Chad grew up in New Orleans and went to college at Loyola, the University of New Orleans, and LSU. His first jobs were in restaurants, but until early 2020, his work experience as an adult had been media and marketing-related. He first landed in our area as a travel writer, and like many of us, was charmed enough to come back for a much longer stay. 

"I've always cooked, ever since I was a little kid, sort of out of necessity," Chad says. "My grandmother and my great-grandmother would cook things, and I was always watching, always picking things up."

Lessons learned. Chad has just the right touch with deep flavors that are bold and balanced. He offers two kinds of gumbo, one with shrimp and crab and the other with chicken and sausage, and each with a different roux. His crowd-favorite roast beef po-boy stands among the best, with just the right level of messiness.

The catering business's following has come about partly because of a frequent presence at the Book Cellar at Page & Palette. A stage for performing musicians and a fully stocked bar can make for a lively atmosphere, and having Rouxster in the corner gives it that little something extra. 

"The Book Cellar thing started kind of off the cuff, partly because we both love live music, and it really helped us build a name," he says. "We started setting up on Mondays originally, when there wasn't much else going on around town. We did a lot of charcuterie boards, and I would always bring a big pot of something like red beans and rice or one of the gumbos or jambalaya. We love being there whenever we can."

One reason they've gotten so much busier is because of his association with the supermarket chain, Rouses, which is also a product of Louisiana. He appears in the company's cooking segments on FOX 10-TV and leads cooking classes at several Rouses locations in Alabama, including Daphne, Spanish Fort, and Gulf Shores. 

During all those years of working as a writer or as a marketing professional, he never expected to someday become a culinary instructor. Nor did he imagine himself as an award-winning gumbo maker, but that happened in November. Representing Rouses, Chad and Jan prepared the chicken and sausage gumbo that took first place in the blind category at the Gumbo Festival hosted by CoastAL restaurant in Orange Beach.

Asked for insight into his methods, Chad had this to say:

"There are no tomatoes in my gumbo, and there should be no tomatoes in any gumbo," he says. "Mine is pretty straightforward and traditional. Obviously, you have the trinity (onion, bell pepper, and celery) and garlic, and I use Conecuh sausage, which is really good stuff. My chicken and sausage gumbo has a thicker  roux, and I think of it as a fall-winter gumbo that sticks to your ribs, whereas my seafood gumbo is thinner."

While Rouxster is a return to Chad's roots in Louisiana, where food is such a central part of the daily routine, it also represents a major life change for him. In late 2019, he had decided he was tired of working for other people and wanted to do his own thing. He started a video production company while doing catering on the side. Though his skills with cameras and editing were top-notch, the appetite for his food proved to be stronger.

"I think eventually you give your passion the attention it deserves," he says. "All my life, people have said, 'You should open a restaurant' or 'People love your cooking, you should do something with that,' but I always felt like I should pursue a more traditional career path."

So now is the time, and he realizes what he's up against. He's the first to say there are many fabulous restaurants and talented chefs in our area. While he has no formal training, he hopes it's his authenticity that earns him a seat at the table, so to speak.

"As much as I can make it, this is the food I grew up with and that I remember growing up in New Orleans and South Louisiana," he says.

‍Rouxster Catering: 251 237-3030, Open: Tuesday - Friday, 10 AM - 3 PM