Cajun Kate’s planning second location in Bellefonte
Cajun Kate’s New Orleans Market has had a tiny home at the Booths Corner Farmers Market, just over the Delaware state line in Boothwyn, Pennsylvania, for the past 10 years.
Now, the popular eatery that offers authentic New Orleans cuisine is expanding. This fall, owners plan to open a second location in Bellefonte, about 3 miles northeast of Wilmington.
The new, fast-casual Delaware restaurant at 722 Philadelphia Pike, in a former pizza shop, will be larger than the original location.
It will have counter seats as well as a 30-seat dining room. But the ordering process will be the same as the farmers market site. There are no servers. You place your order at the counter and pick it up. Then, you can sit and eat in the dining room or at the counter, or you can take it to go.
The flagship Cajun Kate’s at Booths Corner Farmers Market, 1362 Naamans Creek Road, is a tiny stall with six counter seats.
It’s run by chef-owner Don Applebaum, whose background includes stints at Emeril Lagasse’s Cafe NOLA in the French Quarter and New Orleans’ Aquarium of the Americas. The business is named for his wife, chef Kate Applebaum, the longtime chef of Harry’s Seafood Grill at the Wilmington Riverfront. Her New Orleans cooking background includes working with renowned chef/owner Susan Spicer at her critically acclaimed New Orleans restaurant Bayona.
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The Cajun Kate’s stand has been a success ever since it opened in August 2006. As part of a recent anniversary celebration, the couple sold 270 quarts of seafood gumbo in just two days.
Kate Applebaum, who worked at Harry’s for 12½ years as its chef de cuisine, stepped away from the Wilmington restaurant last August to help her husband expand their thriving business. Kate said she and Don have been hunting for a second location for some time and found it at the former Nick’s Pizza site, which they are beginning to renovate.
“It’s the beginning stages now,” Kate said of the construction at the eatery in a small strip shopping center that includes a Rita’s Water Ice. It’s near Peco's Liquors and St. Helena’s Catholic Church, she said.
The second Cajun Kate’s will be similar to the farmers market, yet it will be open five to six days a week and will have longer hours. Kate said they anticipate having a strong lunch crowd.
Their Booths Corner farmers market stand, which they plan to keep running, is open only during the market’s hours, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays.
At the new eatery, the couple will offer many of the same New Orleans specialties such as Don’s terrific jambalaya, red beans and rice and his special gumbos (a different variety each weekend). But they’ll also be able to expand the menu and include fried oyster po’boys along with frog’s legs and other delicacies like crawfish pies and crispy Cajun mac ’n’ cheese.
“It gives up the opportunity to have things on the menu that we could only have once in a while,” she said.
What will not change, Kate said, is the strong interaction with customers.
“I want everyone to know it’s still going to be good ole Cajun Kate’s, just open more days and more hours,” she said. “You’ll still get that friendly conversation. We won’t lose that relationship we have with customers. We’re not going to lose that interaction. I really like talking to my customers and being able to talk about food or what’s happening in the music industry or whatever.”
Kate said they’re hoping to begin service at the Bellefonte location by early October. To follow the progress of construction at the new location, visit the I Love Cajun Kate’s Facebook page or visit www.cajunkates.com
Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 orptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter@pattytalorico