We built The Roux on Fresh Product. Fresh French Bread for our Po-Boys. Fresh produce (never ever bagged) for our Coleslaw. Our Vaucresson Cajun and Creole Sausages are so fresh that when we call Vance Vaucresson in New Orleans to order more, he often has to check the production schedule to confirm that he will be making the varieties we need within the correct timeframe.

Zirlott Gulf Seafood. Zeafood. We’d say “don’t get us started on our fresh Zeafood”, but… too late. A customer did that for us all today. While we were yet biting our tongues and waxing poetic with apologies, we knew We’d Have To Say It In A Blog.

You see, we have a favorite kind of customer at The Roux. And just about every person that walks through the doors is that customer. We know them by name; they know us. They ask what we’ve prepared that day; we tell them. Sometimes we discuss food, sometimes life. Always we part ways having lifted each others’ spirits and the world spins just a bit more rightly for the effort.

And Then There’s The Other Kind. Not Quite So Uplifting. It’s a small, small percentage of our customers, but we got one today. We’re blogging about it because when you, our faithful, friendly, and loving regulars, see this kind of person in our restaurant, you should feel empowered to shame them into next year.

Let me tell you a little secret. Most of you must know this already, because you’ve never crossed this line… but here’s the secret: You should generally never, ever, have a conversation with a restaurant owner that starts with you saying any of the following:

• “You guys ought to do it the way that other place does it...”
• “What kind of a restaurant doesn’t sell…“
• “What kind of a restaurant runs out of…”

Because, you see, we cringe inside. We even have answers to those statements. The first is answered with “Really? Is that how you do it in your restaraurant? What’s that? You don’t have a restaurant? Exactly!”

The last two are answered by saying nothing whatsoever, watching you walk away, and hoping you do not come back. Oh, and we blog about you, too.

So this guy walks in today, in the middle of the biggest Saturday lunch rush we’ve had, ever, and orders two Shrimp Po-Boys. When I politely and apologetically explain that we are temporarily out of our Fresh Gulf Shrimp, he and his wife cancel the entire order, and leave in a huff. On the way to their car, a lady inquires if they are leaving because The Roux is too busy (very busy, yes, but not too busy), or had no seating available. The wife’s response was, in a self-important tone, “No, they’re out of shrimp! What kind of Cajun restaurant runs out of shrimp?!” They then hastily got in their car and sped off. Presumably to have their Fresh Gulf Shrimp fix satisfied at… um… wait it will come to me… hmmmmm…. yeah I got nothin’ there actually.

Anyway. Had they had the patience for any conversation whatsoever, they could have found out many interesting things, including:

• The lady inquiring about their departure was Mama Roux, who was trying to offer them a $25 Gift Card for their inconvenience.
• We only use freshly-caught Zirlott Zeafood, from about as far South as you can go before you fall into the Gulf of Mexcio.
• The Roux’s business is up 50% over projections from just 2 weeks ago, and ran out of Fresh Gulf Shrimp faster than our Mom-n-Pop shrimpers could catch, process, and ship us more. Hey, it happens. It’s fresh product. We make no apologies for having fresh product.
• We have more Fresh Gulf Shrimp enroute now, but we don’t get Saturday deliveries of Fresh Gulf products.
• We have a personal trip to Alabama scheduled for mid-October when our children have their fall break from school. With our original projections, mid-October would have been perfectly fine. Business being up 50% is a good thing. Most of our customers are thrilled for us. Of course, most of our customers also don’t think only of themselves every waking minute.

So… Mr & Mrs In-A-Huff, I’m sure your question was rhetorical, but we’re going to take the time to answer it anyway. What kind of Cajun restaurant runs out of shrimp? This kind. The kind that gets rave reviews month after month about the quality of the products we sell. Rave reviews because it’s made fresh. Ask yourself why our Shrimp Po-Boys are so popular. Ask yourself what it must be like for a husband and wife, a family of six, to manage procurement of 7 fresh products from roughly 800 miles away, all to operate the fastest-growing restaurant in your neighborhood, all so you can selfishly whine and complain when for three brief hours everything doesn’t go exactly according to your selfish desires. Then go to Taco Hut and try a Shrimp Taco. See how well you enjoy shrimp that’s been scooped up and frozen, by who-knows-what-means, in who-knows-what-country, and sold to Big Commercial Giants while our domestic Mom-n-Pop shrimpers struggle to keep their homes. Or go to another local Cajun eatery and enjoy the frozen foreign seafood products there. We encourage you to do this. In fact, we sort of really really wish you would. Because that’s the kind of place that doesn’t run out of seafood. The place that keeps frozen, pre-cooked seafood from China on hand, and loves the fact that you don’t care.