David Bilyeu brings his Cajun, Coastal and Caribbean fare to west St. Petersburg as his long-time dream materializes in the form of the Bayou Market and Café, a retail store and restaurant for his flavorful creations, on Central Avenue near 66th Street.
It has been seven long years since we introduced you to David Bilyeu and his then 3-year-old catering company focused on “Peppers”… “a phenomenon that I never saw coming,” admitted Bilyeu, founder, chef, business manager, and human resource department of Bayou Catering, the Cajun and Caribbean caterer that has steadily risen to success over the past decade.
David relocated to Florida from Baton Rouge in 1996 as a newly degreed civil engineer. He worked 15 years in the land development business in the Tampa Bay area. Always trying to find the “human” side of the business.
“I developed a lot of my original recipes at home after work during those 15 years in what I called ‘therapy cooking.’” Treating co-workers to his early renditions, David realized that his love for spicy food was not equally shared by all Floridians. So, he developed a set of recipes for the clients…and one for himself! He started catering small parties four years before the construction crash, thinking “I’d never give up this well-paying job to start a catering company…even though I was always making lists and diagrams and menus…putting dates on them and storing them.”
Construction crashed in 2007; David hung on to his job till 2009. Early that year he saw writing on the wall and said “what the heck…let’s try this! It’s all about bold favors and the ‘wow’ of something different.” Catering the local chambers’ of commerce new member orientation luncheons proved a great way to expose his capabilities, his food and his passion to an up-and-coming section of the business community.
That was 10 years ago, and the Louisiana native in the chili pepper pants and red chef’s tunic has been looking forward to the day when he could open the Bayou Market and Café he has been dreaming about for years. With his right hand Holly Sizemore at his side for the entire decade and a dedicated team behind them, David just realized that dream with the opening late last month of the Bayou Market and Café at 6630 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, FL 33707. “I had been scouting the right location for months.
I felt I needed a convenient spot for folks to stop on the way to or from work. I was willing to settle just for a market location, but when I found this location available, I decided to accelerate my original plan to incorporate the Café with the market.”
It really is two businesses in one, a market and a restaurant. The market, open 11-7 weekdays and 10-2 on Saturday, has refrigerated or frozen items to take and bake, and local beers and quality wines to grab and go. We asked them to heat up a crawἀsh pie that was in the refrigerator.
The café operates 11 – 2 (lunch) and 4 – 7 (dinner) Monday – Friday. A choice of four entrees and four sides is served cafeteria style along with beverages like Community coffees, iced teas, soft drinks, local beers and wines and homemade desserts. Other lunch and dinner choices at the Café include Bayou’s Signature Sandwiches, Cubans, Salads and Soups (Cajun, Caribbean and traditional). The current menu is posted online weekly at www.bayoumarketandcafé.com. Phone your order in for faster service. Call 727-914-7500.
They are only serving breakfast as part of their Saturday brunch 10 – 2, that includes both breakfast and lunch items, and champagne. David says Bayou catering serves “a lot of breakfasts, and they love them, so call us in advance if you have a group to feed.”
David claims the catering division will continue to operate somewhat independently from its current location for larger caterings, but “some smaller affairs can be handled through the new Central Avenue location,” which is really convenient for Paradise NEWS readers.
With a Feet of “mobile cooking monsters,” Bayou Catering serves parties from 20 – 600.
- the small trailer grill “The Cajun Bullet”
- the large trailer grill “The Bayou Beast”…and
- mobile Crawfish boiling trailer “The Cajun Hot Tub”
“People are already scheduling to have us serve their holiday parties and events. With the new Central Avenue location, it is really convenient for people to either pick up their prepared food there, ready to serve, or to stick in the oven and warm up, so it looks like you cooked it yourself.”
“Thanksgiving has always been a blessing for us,” David continues. “People are anxious to observe the tradition, but many prefer not to spend hours in the kitchen preparing, and take a chance on the outcome, so our serve-yourself, catered Thanksgiving dinner has always been popular and demand for it grows every year. This year we plan to set up a canopy in the back parking lot for people to pick up their Thanksgiving feasts.”
The back parking lot between Central and First Avenue South is good to know about. There is a glass door into the market and Café from the back, there is always plenty of room to park back there, and it is easy to get in and out.
They are still running a VERY popular Thanksgiving offer of Cajun or Jerk Fried Turkey with all the traditional fixings, plus your choice of Cajun or Caribbean holiday accompaniments, like Seafood Gumbo, Oyster Dressing, Crabmeat Dip, Conch Chowder, Rum Cake, and even Caribbean Grilled Turkey with pineapple and mango salsa. The food is ready for pickup Thanksgiving morning or can be delivered for an additional charge.
Look for an order form online at bayoucatering.com. Bayou Catering also made the December holidays bright for many of our readers by catering quite a number of holiday parties, dinners and social gatherings in the Paradise NEWS readership area.
For a quote for a catering event for you or your group, call David Bilyeu at 727-644-7085, email davidb@bayoucatering.com or visit bayoucatering.com.
Be sure to call and get your date on his calendar as early as possible to avoid disappointment. PN