Chef brings taste of Louisiana into the home

When he is at his Steiner Ranch home cooking for his family, chef Mike Thompson said he likes to make Italian and Chinese food—pasta, wontons, stir-fry and egg rolls—all made from scratch.

But at work, as owner and chef of Nola Kitchen, he creates traditional Louisiana specialties for clients throughout Austin.

"I'm the ambassador of everything Cajun and Creole," Thompson said.

Nola Kitchen provides on-site catering and cooking demonstrations for a variety of events, such as company celebrations, birthday parties, bridal or baby showers, graduations, and tailgates parties.

Clients create a custom menu under the guidance of Thompson, selecting from an array of Cajun and Creole classics, such as chicken and sausage gumbo, crabmeat remoulade, red beans and rice, and crawfish etouffe.

"The food is very traditional, old-school, [and] true to the old culinary ways of South Louisiana," he said.

From arrival to departure, Thompson's one-man catering operation typically lasts about three hours. He arrives with supplies, prepares everything on-site, helps with serving and leaves a clean kitchen.

Thompson said he grew up in Lafayatte, Louisiana, known as "the heart of Cajun country," and graduated from Louisiana State University. He said he comes from a line of great cooks that begins with his grandmother, who owned a small restaurant in Oceanside, California.

Since his mother experienced acute back pain while he was growing up, Thompson said he and his siblings took over kitchen duties. By the time he was out of high school, he said he had mastered a few basics, such as spaghetti sauce, gumbo and etouffe.

In college Thompson waited tables and occasionally subbed in the kitchen of a local Italian restaurant. He said the chef noted his knack for cooking, but it was not until graduate school that Thompson decided to take the plunge and turn cooking into his career.

Two-and-a-half years later Thompson said he graduated from Johnson and Wales University at the top of his class, earning the University Director's Distinguished Graduate Award.

Eventually he and his wife, Lori, and their infant son, Jake, made their way back to Louisiana, Thompson took a job giving cooking demonstrations at the New Orleans School of Cooking in the French Quarter.

"I would stand there for three hours, telling stories and cooking. I loved, loved, loved that job.

"I like being in front of people," Thompson said. "Before I decided to become a chef, I wanted to be a teacher. I've always wanted to impart knowledge."

Thompson said he taps into that inner teacher when he is catering. Though he is willing to cook quietly in the background, he said he prefers interacting with guests, conversing about the food and sharing his knowledge of Louisiana culture and cuisine.

Many events conclude with a tableside preparation of bananas Foster—a dramatic, flaming dessert made from bananas, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and rum.

Thompson said his favorite thing to hear at the end of an evening is, "This was so much more of an event than I anticipated."

"I derive pleasure from teaching people, but also from making people smile [and] making events special," he said.

Surviving Katrina

Now residents of Steiner Ranch, Mike Thompson and his family were living in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. Though their home was spared, the city's mass evacuation put a halt to his catering business. After spending two months in Baton Rouge, the family returned to New Orleans.

Sample menus

• Chicken and andouille sausage gumbo, sensation salad, rice, garlic bread and bananas Foster.
• Brandied crawfish and sweet potato bisque, trout meunier with creamed spinach, crabmeat au gratin and cherries jubilee
• Bibb lettuce with avocados, heirloom tomatoes and Bermuda onions finished with a balsamic glace; Gulf shrimp with a Creole mustard cream sauce over polenta cakes; Creole pralines
• Crabmeat remoulade; hot bacon and spinach salad; red beans and rice; cornbread and grilled shortcake with strawberries; poached pears and whipped cream

Nola Kitchen, 512-751-7957, www.nolakitchen.com