Three new Creole-inspired spots recently popped up around the metro area — Cafe Roux in Leawood, Danny’s Big Easy at 18th and Vine and Fat Fish Blue in the Northland.

These restaurants offer hearty helpings of crawfish, gumbo, jambalaya and all that jazz.

So, what’s with the sudden Cajun invasion?

“It’s definitely a little bit of a novelty,” said Todd Leinenbach, managing partner at Fat Fish Blue. “It’s really about the party atmosphere.”

Factor in that festive spirit of the South, and you’ve got a Fat Tuesday celebration every night of the week.

Cafe Roux

If you order the crawfish boil at Cafe Roux, a new Cajun restaurant in Leawood’s Park Place, you’d better be prepared to get your hands dirty.

The steaming plate of tomato-red crustaceans — which look a lot like miniature lobsters — isn’t something you can eat with fork and knife.

You’ve got to grab a hold of one, crack it in half, then extract the sweet, buttery meat from the tail. It’s worth it, unless you’re the squeamish type.

Owner Jen Coniglio said some people like to suck the heads, too — “but I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Coniglio, who’s worked in the corporate restaurant industry for years, teamed up with her brother Marty Coniglio, a meteorologist in Denver, to open Cafe Roux.

“We’re best friends,” Coniglio said, “and we’ve always wanted to do something like this.”

She said she’s always liked Southern cooking because “it has an attitude” and it draws from so many great cuisines — mostly Spanish, Italian and French.

The food: Coniglio said Cafe Roux, which opened last month, has lighter fare than most Cajun restaurants. So not everything on the menu’s blackened and deep-fried.

The cafe specializes in fresh seafood dishes such as the crawfish boil ($13), roasted flounder ($18) and pan-roasted trout ($17). But there’s heavier comfort food on the menu, too, in the form of buttermilk fried chicken ($15) and Southern fried dill pickles ($7).

The atmosphere: Cafe Roux is dark and cozy, save for the big, sunny windows facing Ash Street. Dark wood, brick walls and deep red vinyl on the furniture give the cafe a rich, masculine feel.

The drinks: A long bar spans one wall of the cafe and serves up beer, wine and specialty cocktails such as the Sazerac, $9, a famous New Orleans drink made with Pernod absinthe, Wild Turkey Bourbon, Peychaud’s Bitters and a sugar cube. If you’re feeling adventurous (not squeamish) try the Oyster Shot ($8) — a raw oyster swimming in Absolut Peppar vodka, tomato juice, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce.
— sarah benson
 
What: A new casual Cajun and Southern restaurant in Park Place.

Where: 11554 Ash St. in Leawood

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Info: 913.400.3478, or on Facebook