Hey now! Sister Cities Cajun grand opening celebration is in full swing

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Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

Chef Travis Parfait is once again conjuring his cooking mojo at Sister Cities Cajun, this time in a spacious kitchen he designed himself. Partner and front of house manager, Pam Melton, will hold court in a spacious, light-filled dining room with gleaming hardwood floors and warm brick walls beginning Saturday morning, June 10 at 11 a.m. at 3550 South Broadway. 

Parfait and Melton kept the essentials -- delicious food, imaginative decor and the insouciant attitude they project of good times with no worries that customers loved in their original location on South Grand. Thankfully, the new space affords more comforts with more room to move than their first restaurant. They’ve even got an overflow dining room to accommodate private parties and events.

Look for a full menu of fan favorites and tasty new things. Melton and Parfait will serve a full lunch and dinner menu, plus the bar will be open for drinks until the doors close at 11 p.m.

Don’t miss the shareable crawfish & crab cakes, a quartet of cakes served with house remoulade and a corn-poblano salsa. “For four pounds of crawfish and crabmeat we use no mayonnaise. Instead, we make a roux of vegetables and flour, just a half-cup in total, with two eggs to bind them together,” Parfait says.

Check out the new Po-Boy menu, too. Order them to go at the service counter or from the menu. Dive into the Cuban. Parfait puts a Sister Cities spin on the classic, substituting his pulled pork and pork belly for the ham, and tops the meat with house-made pickles, Goose Poop relish and more.

Parfait gives his smoky wings plenty of attention as well. They’re smoked, rubbed and fried to perfection. Diners will still find the classic dishes like Dirty Chix and red beans. Their spoon-tender pork steak will be offered as a special. Pair any of the plates with Melton’s cocktails, her sangria or classic beers for a memorable dinner. 

The grand opening comes after a long series of delays and bumps in the road, but Parfait and Melton expect the day to run smoothly, thanks in part to a weeklong series of soft openings. 

“I would recommend opening soft the way we did, with a limited menu and ticketed spaces. We expected people to show up without tickets but we had an idea of the crowd size each day,” Melton says.

Parfait and Melton look forward to greeting guests in their new space just blocks from the Mississippi River. The river that connects New Orleans and St. Louis holds special significance for these life and work partners, as noted in this Q&A in last month’s St. Louis Magazine. It’s fitting that their new logo and branding uses both river turtle and fleur de lis imagery.

“We met with Art Farm to go over ideas and they showed us the turtle – Travis and I couldn’t believe it. When we take those surveys online about animals, turtles come up for us every time. We hadn’t even talked to Art Farm about turtles – it was meant to be as was the fleur de lis -- because St. Louis and New Orleans were both capitals in the French Territory. Both have personal meaning for me and for Travis.” Interestingly, the turtle spirit animal symbolizes following intuition and staying true to inner vision, strengths both partners ably demonstrated as they built out the new Sister Cities.

They’ve had the full support of their families, and not just metaphorical support. Pam’s dad Frank Melton paved the way, working throughout the build out in whatever capacity they needed.

“My daughter Ashley Parfait and her fiancé Alex Seery will be with me in the kitchen,” Parfait says. “I’m hoping to hook Ashley on the family restaurant business, but she’s interested in exploring all career options, including nursing.  Pam’s cousin Amy Kennedy will be working front of house with her.”

“My niece, Amanda Melton, will be bartending for us and my nephew Brendan McCutchen, who just turned sixteen, has been helping us open. It’s his first job. He’ll do a little of everything – dish, prep, food runner,” Melton says.

“Terra McCutchen, another niece, will be working on the management side, and my mom – Ginny Melton – we’re hoping she’ll be making her desserts and caramels for us. She made the beignets at our Grand location. Travis bought a dedicated fryer, just for beignets, for the new place.

“Sister Cities staff wouldn’t be complete without our first employee, JJ Johnson. He’s here. He’s family now. We’ve also got our cook from Grand, Phil Wilson, coming in on weekdays.”

Check out the safe they found during the renovations on the main dining floor. Hang a handbag from the antique doorknobs located under the bar. Have a drink. Imagine the place filled with art and the chalkboards from South Grand, plus new art like the framed jersey from NAHL player Frankie Melton, Pam’s nephew, who plays for the Shreveport Mudbugs. “We haven’t gotten everything out of storage yet,” Melton says.

Do admire the mushroom entrance to the secondary dining room – it’s groovy – and celebrate the re-opening of the restaurant resurrected from the dust of the old South Grand location in a beautifully renovated building. “The whole damn family will be here to greet you,” Melton says. Hey now. Laissez les bon temps rouler at Sister Cities Cajun.  

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Photo by Kevin A. Roberts