Photo taken at Le Creolé by Kim Ashford.

January 2012. With a menu anchored in Gulf seafood, Le Creolé is hooking lots of local diners.

That Le Creolé is a seafood-lovers’ kind of place won’t come as a surprise to fans of Wayne Stabiler’s various culinary ventures. The long-time restaurateur started making a name for himself as a seafood man back in the eighties when, while still in high school, he began driving to the coast to buy fresh Gulf seafood direct from fishermen, which he then sold on to Baton Rouge-area markets. That led first to Wayne Stabiler’s City Cafe, then later to the popular Little Village restaurants, all of which have found firm footing as landmarks in the capital city’s dining landscape. Now, with a sophisticated dining room, a Commanders Palace veteran in the kitchen, and a year in business under its belt, his latest venture looks to be carving a comfortable niche for itself, too.

“This is a way to bring some more of New Orleans’ seafood flavors to Baton Rouge,” explained Stabiler, noting that Le Creolé’s menu offers a more specialized seafood experience than The Little Village’s Italian influenced one. Stabiler and restaurant manager Clark Ellis both credit acclaimed New Orleans seafood restaurant GW Fins as an influence, although final decisions all rest with executive chef Ryan André, a veteran of the storied kitchens at Commanders Palace. “Ryan is young and he’s local,” said Ellis, who worked for Wolfgang Puck in Las Vegas before relocating to Baton Rouge. “He’s got free rein to do what makes sense based on what’s good and in season.”

Central to Le Creolé’s menu and mission are the daily fish features: three (usually Gulf-sourced) fresh fish selections, which can be ordered prepared three different ways—grilled and topped with blue crab and jumbo shrimp; pecan-crusted; or roasted on a cedar plank. That’s not all of course. Entrée options include luxurious Angus filets, black-skillet-fried bobwhite quail; and New Orleans-style Creole faves like barbecue shrimp and a very popular crab cake special. Dishes like herb panéed rabbit loin and crispy buttermilk battered frogs’ legs appeal to outdoorsmen, but as Ellis explained …“it’s the fish—the flounder and grouper and the sea bass—in fresh every day. That’s what we focus on. That’s what we love people to have.”

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