New West Seattle restaurant: Fleur de Lys bringing Cajun/Creole

(Photos courtesy Jessep Bangham, unless otherwise credited)
By Bill “Hutch” Hutchison
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

“N’awlins” flavors are coming to West Seattle in the form of a new restaurant named the Fleur de Lys Café.

The new venture will share the upstairs of Shipwreck Tavern, at 4210 SW Admiral. Before you ask, yes, the Shipwreck is still in business and will remain so – they’re just renting out the upstairs as a separate business to Jessep Bangham and his girlfriend Liz Bowman, to start their tribute to the great cuisine of New Orleans.

The opening date is not set in stone, but they are aiming for mid-January. Liz was born and raised in NO and now lives here in Seattle. Jessep, an Alaska native, is now working as a Microsoft program manager, and is the driving force behind the operation. “The idea is to marry Northwest fresh produce and some seafood with some authentic New Orleans ingredients and prepare the best New Orleans’ style food outside of Louisiana,” he explained.

(Photo by Bill “Hutch” Hutchison)
“Growing up in Alaska, we had great fresh products but not really a regional cuisine,” Jessep continues, so, he turned his attention to New Orleans-style food, especially after meeting his girlfriend Liz. Together they make trips back to her home city to visit and set up some of the exclusive NO-local foods they’ll be bringing here.

One of the connections is working with many of the crayfish “farmers” who will be shipping the restaurant’s supply of crawfish once or twice a month, when in season: “This will be a special item on the menu and not always available. The season for crawfish runs from ~~late January to mid April~~ March through early July (sometimes later depending on the conditions overall) in Louisiana so that’s when we’ll be getting them.”

Trying to be as authentic as possible, he’s going to be boiling them up in traditional seasonings and serving them on newspaper along with all the usual accompaniments. Regular menu items include all kinds of “po boys” – Louisianan sandwiches with vegetarian, seafood or meat options – sometimes combined.

The bread is coming from a Coeur d’Alene bakery, which Jessep describes as “awesome”. “Dirty rice”, coleslaw and fried pickles are a few of the side dishes mentioned. Each day will feature a special New Orleans’ dish such as jambalaya, étouffée, and a variety of gumbos.

One of his favorite dishes will be called “Ma’s Mumbo,” which is a hybrid version of gumbo comprised of moose meat, caribou sausage, Alaskan spot prawns, and Alaskan scallops. One other feature will be homemade “po pies” … traditional ingredients in a pie form ready to take home and cook or eat in.

Hours of operation will be 4 pm-10 pm Mondays through Saturdays. On Sunday, Fleur de Lys will be offering coffee from Café du Monde in New Orleans and fresh-made beignets from 10 am-4pm. There will also be live music. Everything “Shipwreck” will remain as is. You can stay and order a drink to go with your meal, or get your food to go.

Fleur de Lys is already on Facebook, here, and has the stirrings of a website here.

meander November 23, 2011 (11:59 am)

Oh, man…I know where I’ll be going for dinner!

mrsB November 23, 2011 (12:17 pm)

Doesn’t Seattle have good enough bakeries?

Ben November 23, 2011 (12:21 pm)

very excited about this. welcome!

Fiwa Jcbbb November 23, 2011 (12:24 pm)

Yum….but…..upstairs at the Shipwreck? Couldn’t you have found something smaller?

Joe November 23, 2011 (12:24 pm)

This place sounds great. Unique in West Seattle

JessicaDiamant November 23, 2011 (12:25 pm)

YUM!!

Jasperblu November 23, 2011 (12:37 pm)

A little slice of NOLA comes to West Seattle? Oh I’m SO in! I love me some Cajun/Creole food.

J242 November 23, 2011 (12:40 pm)

A quick note of correction, his name is spelled “Jessep” not “Jessup”.

WSB November 23, 2011 (1:36 pm)

J, sorry. We do check our reporters’ work and are usually close to error-free … in this case, my crossreferencing pulled up another erroneous reference instead of a correct one .. sigh. Thanks … TR

squareeyes November 23, 2011 (12:48 pm)

Muffaletta – Central Grocery style please.

mookie November 23, 2011 (1:07 pm)

beignet get in ma belly!

datamuse November 23, 2011 (1:08 pm)

Yes please! Someplace I can take my Louisiana-born-and-raised dad to!

LAintheJunction November 23, 2011 (1:46 pm)

I am so excited about this I can’t stop making dolphin-pitched noises. I was so bummed when La Louisianne closed (where JaK’s in the Junction is now) since it is near to impossible to get good cajun/creole food in Seattle. The New Orleans restaurant in Pioneer Square is a joke.
.
I lived in Baton Rouge and have missed shrimp etouffee, crawdad boil (pictured at top…mmmm), jambalaya, gumbo, oyster po’boys, and beignets like burning. Add in a decent cornbread (moist and not dry and crumbly like most places serve it) and garlic greens and I may never leave. THANK YOU AND WELCOME TO WEST SEATTLE!

Annie November 23, 2011 (1:49 pm)

YEAH YOU RITE! I’ll take me a fried shrimp po boy, dressed!

Jessep November 23, 2011 (1:58 pm)

@ WSB, NO worries at all! My name can be easily misunderstood as it’s a very unique spelling. :) Hutch did a GREAT job and we have nothing but positive feedback regarding his report.

WE love the WSB and read it daily for updates here in our beloved neighborhood so keep up the great work and we can’t wait to start serving up some great food for ya’ll!

Jessep November 23, 2011 (2:02 pm)

One quick update, crawfish season is from March through early July. I don’t want anyone showing up expecting some fresh crawfish in February and that was my mistake when I was speaking to Hutch.

I apologize as I was getting my seasons mixed up. Sorry for any confusion!

WSB November 23, 2011 (2:12 pm)

Will update it in the story.

NFiorentini November 23, 2011 (2:33 pm)

Would they consider showing Saints games during the football season? That could be a huge lure to any the Who Dats living around here. And opening in mid-January means being able to chow down on po’ boys as the Saints head for their second Lombardi trophy.

(FYI to Seahawk fans: The Lombardi Trophy is the award given to the team that wins the Super Bowl. A Google image search can show Seahawk fans what the trophy looks like. Geaux Saints!).

Jessep November 23, 2011 (2:44 pm)

To NFiorentini:

YES! We will DEFINITELY be showing Saints games (when they are on general broadcast TV as we will not have the specialized NFL package from our provider yet) and will be having beignet & coffee along with a variety of specials. :)

We had a special fundraiser and were cheering on the Saints against the Falcons the entire time!

Geaux Saints!

WorldCitizen November 23, 2011 (2:44 pm)

I’m Very Excited about this! I was raised in Lafayette and lived for years in New Orleans. Having some good food with flavor in this area will be a welcome treat. I second the Saints games if you folks are up to it.

I hope the bread works out for the po’ boys…it’s the number one most important ingredient and no one around here seems to get it right. Is it anything like Crabby Jack’s just over the border in Jefferson Parish? You know, not too dry, but crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside…

Aman November 23, 2011 (2:45 pm)

Welcome & Good Luck!

Jessep November 23, 2011 (3:06 pm)

To “WorldCitizen”, I have not had the pleasure of experiencing Crabby Jacks’ Po Boys however the bread we’ve found is the closest I’ve been able to find to Domilise’s that I’ve ever found.

I’ve seen and heard comments such as the “Doesn’t Seattle have good enough bakeries?” above however while the bakeries here in Seattle are indeed incredible, there is a VERY specific texture required to make a proper po boy.

The bread we use is meant to be toasted, it’s crying out to be toasted. It takes on a perfectly flaky, slightly “crunchy” exterior but keeps the soft bread interior fluffy and perfectly warm while it soaks up all of our seasonings like a sponge. That’s very important to us considering one of our favorites is a Roast beef, Smoked Turkey & Black Forest Ham po boy with bacon & beef gravy with a huge assortment of fixins!

nick November 23, 2011 (3:15 pm)

Jessup said it best…Po Boy bread is tough to get right up here, and no, Mrs B, Seattle does not have a bakery that can duplicate a good New Orleans Po Boy bread..

sun*e November 23, 2011 (3:44 pm)

Should we expect to see a muffaletta sandwich and deep fried dill pickles on the menu? Sure hope so! Yum!

southern boy November 23, 2011 (4:01 pm)

Skeptical, but looking forward to this. I grew up a stone’s throw from NOLA on the gulf coast. Crawfish King used to do an OK crawfish boil and gumbo, and Where Ya At Matt (the food truck) does a good – if too-fancy and too-small – Po’ Boy. Both are a nice change from 5 years ago when you couldn’t get any of that flavor at all around here.

Still, nobody’s doing my favorites: etouffee, dirty rice (there’s a Popeye’s in Renton but eesh, I have never liked theirs at all) and red beans (Camellia brand, please!) Do those right and I’ll be there weekly.

rockergirl5678 November 23, 2011 (4:07 pm)

Isn’t Coeur D’Alene French Baking Co local? I believe it is in Kent, WA – that’s not too far away if they are the Coeur D’Alene bakery your talking about. Nothing wrong with trying to source locally if you can for sure.

GenHillOne November 23, 2011 (5:15 pm)

So 21 and over? Bummer :( To go orders maybe?

Kara November 23, 2011 (5:36 pm)

I’m drooling while reading this! So super excited beyond belief!

I’ve volunteered in NOLA for two years now with Rebuilding Together and one of the best parts about it, second only to helping get people back home, is eating all the amazing food!

I CAN’T WAIT!

dawsonct November 23, 2011 (5:57 pm)

Hey, NFiorentini, aren’t the Saints the first team to lose in the playoffs to a team with a losing record? I seem to recall something like that happening not too long ago.
If you watched SBXL, I think you would have to agree, unless you’re a Steelers fan, that the ‘Hawks got screwed.

DF November 23, 2011 (6:11 pm)

Welcome The Fleur De Lys Cafe to West Seattle the neighborhood which yours truly grew up in and still reside in. I want to suggest as gracefully as possible how important it is for a business like yourself to be proactive in keeping Our Admiral District clean and debris free. Take some initiative and after one of those busier weekend nights sweep up the debris left behind like cigarette butts. This is important especially due to the fact that West Seattle will be growing significantly in population in the years to come. The Ship Wreck is great in that they actually have a coffee can within the premises to responsibly dispose of cigarette butts yet as any one can see they don’t all make them in there. Thanks, and again Welcome to West Seattle.

ADA November 23, 2011 (6:13 pm)

it’s upstairs from shipwreck? is there an elevator ?

Mack November 23, 2011 (7:26 pm)

Looking forward to authentic Louisiana crab boil.
There was a short-lived New Orleans restaurant (Corbray’s) at the Heartland Cafe location a few years back. Great oyster po’ boys.

Jason November 23, 2011 (9:14 pm)

The upstairs at Shipwreck is scary. And a little short in height, too. I hope they get the proper engineering review/inspection and permits. There’s been a lot of changes, structural and otherwise in that building over the years!

Amanda November 23, 2011 (10:18 pm)

NFiorentini – That was HILARIOUS about the Lombardi Trophy! And your comment about the Seahawks Fans was funny too.

Susan November 23, 2011 (11:33 pm)

I grew up in Lake Charles and would love someplace to eat good gumbo, red beans and rice, boiled shrimp, and étouffé. How about a monthly night catering especially to folks who grew up or lived in Louisiana or the NOLA area? It would be fun to meet other people from home.