Pat's of Henderson: Hurricane rebuild has allowed landmark Lake Charles restaurant to re-emerge better than ever

Most Lake Area residents know Pat's of Henderson is one of the area's iconic go-to restaurants for special occasions, including date night. Whether it's the food, the hospitality or the atmosphere that keeps regulars going back for more is hard to say. The three are blended as inextricably and as necessarily as the Cajun Holy Trinity.

This restaurant's reopening date after being destroyed by the hurricanes in 2020 was postponed more than once. The same thing happened to many local businesses. The insurance company was slow to pay. Contractors were hard to find. Contractors had trouble getting workers. COVID set off supply chain disruptions. Materials became more expensive, difficult to get or took much longer to get.

The opening was much anticipated and by reservation only – at first. Now, no reservations are required except for large parties.

Owner Nicholas Perioux credits his sister's talent with the interior decorating. He credits the generations before him for everything else – not just the recipes but the work ethic that keeps him at the restaurant long hours. His parents and grandparents even played a role in his road to recovery story.

In June of this year, guests arrived to be seated in a simple but stunning elegant space, opened up to improve flow and reveal the show-piece bar. The original Pat's had a bar, but it was closed off and not everyone knew it was there. The "new" Pat's of Henderson space offers plenty of natural light, soft neutrals, graceful chandeliers and tables spaced far enough apart to provide comfort and intimacy. It is classic, timeless. So is the food, unchanged through three generations, according to Perioux.

"We didn't change what makes this company what it is," he said, "and that's the food and the hospitality. We won't ever get away from these flavors; these flavors are timeless. You don't want to give that up."

Making sure every batch of gumbo, pan-seared crab cake, broiled red snapper and shrimp and crawfish etouffee meets standards set by Perioux's grandparents, for whom she worked since a teen, is Menola Zeno. Her mother also worked for the family. "Ask Chef de Cuisine Menola about cooking," Perioux said. "She'll tell you it's her calling."

Perioux is the grandson of the late Pat and Agnes Huval, a family that's been serving up mouthwatering Cajun cooking in Henderson, La. since 1948, playing host to writers from Time Magazine, Southern Living, the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Geographic, Gourmet and more.

This family owned and operated company also owns a roux factory and crawfish farms. Peroioux has his own seasoning company. He purchased the Lake Charles restaurant from his father and mother Ricky and Nancy in 2019.

"I was spending a lot of money redoing everything in the restaurant and had it for a year and three months when COVID shut the state down," Perioux said. "So, I'm closed for two months and when we opened in May, we opened at 25 percent capacity. My parents faced many challenges, but they admitted they had never faced anything like this."

Perioux said he made a decision to run the business as though God was with him and not in fear.

"People were holding on to their cash because they didn't know what the future held but I thought, there's no way they can keep the economy shut down."

Perioux used the lull to install new flooring just in time for Hurricane Laura to take it up again.

"When I heard the announcement to evacuate for Hurricane Laura, honestly I thought we would come back and everything would be fine. We didn't have any damage from Hurricane Rita. But history did not repeat itself."

A hole in the roof and metal ceilings meant water ran down walls and inside walls, mold developed. "We had to gut this place, start from scratch," Perioux said.

He said the process that preceded the rebuild was orchestrated by divine providence.

"I go to one of my favorite places to eat in Houston, Taste of Texas, the biggest steak house. They do a phenomenal job. I asked my server if I could see the kitchen. The server brought the owner of the restaurant to the table and I told her about the hurricane. She told me to text her my contact information and when I finished eating she would show me the kitchen. The next thing I know, the whole family is at my table asking if it is my family that owns the restaurant on the bayou."

As it turns out, that's where the Hendees, Taste of Texas owners, most like eating when they visit Louisiana. The owners gave Perioux the name of a kitchen design consultant, aptly named Tom Cook. Cook recommended Perioux look at some of the best designed facilities in Houston, including Johnny Carrabba's.

"I was early for one of our meetings at Johnny Carrabba's. The consultant wasn't there yet. The restaurant wasn't open, but I saw Johnny's car in the parking lot so I went on in."

Carrabba asked Perioux the name of his restaurant and Carrabba showed equal enthusiasm when he discovered the connection to the Huval's. Carrabba told Perioux that before he opened his restaurant, his uncle took him to Henderson to eat at Pat's to experience authentic Louisiana hospitality, culture and cuisine.

"Whatever Nick needs, you help him," Carrabba told his management and the kitchen designer.

For two years, Perioux visited some of Houston's most outstanding kitchens until he was ready to design his own with all the bells and whistles imaginable, realizing that work environment is important to the staff, to the food, to the operation, all integral to the total experience. The kitchen has functional design such as refrigerated drawers under cooktops. Pull out the food, put it on the grill. The fry station, despite its size, maintains the correct grease temperature and overhead, the hood is equipped with air conditioning vents, to keep the cooks from overheating. A blast chiller is in addition to large walk-in refrigerators and freezers. The tilt skillet makes large bath gumbo making it a little less labor intensive. Customers who choose to pick up orders rather than dine in never have to leave their vehicles.

Pat's of Henderson employs 100 individuals including Chef Daniel Bunker and Sous Chef Chris Ward. There are challenges. Food prices are up for everyone.

"My lettuce doubled in price. I was paying less than $40 a case and now I'm paying $80. I just wrote a check for $60,000 for oysters coming out of Cameron."

He misses talking to his grandmother, which he did just about everyday.

"She thought she had a cold, but she had COVID," he said. "I would have loved telling her about meeting the Hendees and Johnny Carrabbo, and everything they said."

He is a man who understands the importance of family, his own and the family he has created among the staff.

"You have to love people to serve here," he said. "We can teach some basics, but not that one. We invite anyone who has never experienced Pat's of Henderson to find out how our hospitality and food sets us apart and has been doing so for three generations."