BAYOU BOOGALOO HOMEPAGE | LINEUP | TICKETS | CAJUN CUISINE | BAYOU ARTIST | FESTIVAL FAVORITES
The annual Bayou Boogaloo and Cajun Food Festival brings to Norfolk a New Orleans’ unique food culture which spices things up with the addition of multiple New Orleans chefs that are sure to bring that special spirit to life in Town Point Park. Such chefs have been featured on television shows like: Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations”, Food Network’s highly competitive cooking competition “Chopped”, “Food Paradise” and “The Best Thing I Ever Ate”. Several chefs have even been participants at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans, regarded by many as the pinnacle of festival food events!
Festival guests are in for a real treat as they find more than 8,000 pounds of live crawfish straight from Louisiana boiled up with sausage, corn and potatoes throughout the weekend, as well as jambalaya, file gumbo, crawfish and shrimp etouffee, po’ boy sandwiches, alligator sausage, Cajun boudin, and beignets. There will also be unique Chef inspired dishes on site for Bayou guests to indulge in. Our on- site cooking demonstrations will get guests’ mouths watering as our Chefs prepare their blends of Cajun & Creole cuisine that are sure to pack a punch. See what goes into their special dishes and take home their techniques so the New Orleans style comes alive in your kitchen.
Based in New Orleans, Nola Boils is South Louisiana’s premier catering company. They specialize in the very best on-site seafood boils and provide first-rate local cuisine. This small team provides large seafood boils and a down to earth NOLA experience.
My Mama’s Kitchen offers up soulful Cajun and Creole comfort food. Chef Moe perfected his jambalaya and cornbread when he studied in New Orleans. “The jambalaya has a down-home, nice, traditional flavor,” Chef Moe says. “Jambalaya is the food that feeds everyone. It brings people together.”
My Mama’s Kitchen features recipes passed down from generation to generation, with Chef Moe’s grandmother occasionally dropping in to sauté up her flair in the kitchen. “My mother’s kitchen was my favorite place to be growing up. It’s all about family,” Chef Moe says. “I can’t wait to smell and taste everything at the Bayou Boogaloo.”
Serving up po'boys at the Bayou Boogaloo, Nawlins Xscape is a food truck owned by Navy veteran, Al Ford. “I’m a Nawlins food enthusiast. It’s the flavors that draw me to the food. There’s such a variety of spice. For example, you can cook up shrimp etouffee, shrimp po'boys, shrimp jambalaya and it all tastes different. And I love bringing the taste of New Orleans to Hampton Roads,” Al says.
Al keeps it in the family by working side by side with his wife and cousin as they balance Cajun spices and fresh ingredients to get that authentic New Orleans taste.
Owner Carla Rudolph farm raises all of the oysters from Tidewater Oyster Farms in the Rappahannock and York Rivers in floating cages, in the Lower Bay section of the Chesapeake Bay. “I love watching the ecosystem transform before my eyes because of raising these oysters,” says owner Carla.
With two growing locations, Tidewater Oyster Farms are able to capture the essence of two separate regions within the Chesapeake Bay, providing two different, yet flavorful gourmet oysters for every occasion. All oyster shells are recycled as part of her commitment to conservation and the environment.
