The Crawfish Caravan

           BD woke up with a start, He needed to get back to work! The last few hours had been a whirlwind of paperwork signings and getting the materials together. Not that he needed too much. He already had a sizable amount of capital from working so hard and with all the jobs that had come his way since he found his new calling. In fact, the building itself was already an old soup kitchen that had been shut down after it was found out to be dealing with less than ideal owners, doing less than ideal things. The least of all having to do with the poor homeless of Downtown Detroit. The mere thought of he himself actually opening up a real business, when he in fact in the short time he has been in Detroit, has been less than innocent himself made BD chuckle heartily. “Back to work ya lazy bum” the man says to himself as he stands up and stretches. Heading out to the freight truck he borrowed from the family garage, he begins to unload the easy things that the movers didn’t bother with before they left. After getting the kitchen all squared away the young man stops and leans against a wall looking out through the large food window that looks out upon a very large open room with six or seven very long wooden tables the ran almost the whole length of the room from front to back. A large wooden stage sat in the back of the room and BD smiled to himself, this was going to work! this was going to happen! The business his father had always wanted to open was going to finally be achieved!

         Sitting down with a long sigh and a groan, BD leaned against the wall near the kitchen and took a long hard look at the work that he had done in 48 hours and grinned. 

Newspaper was taped firmly down over the table tops and benches so you wouldn’t even hear a crinkle when you sat down. The room was lit, Dimly but lit. Oil lamps on every post from front to back of the room as well as low hanging string bulbs hung low and dim in the same fashion. To the right of the room a small fully stocked bar sat vacant, different bottles of whiskey and spirits sat on the shelves a sign hung on a mirror on the wall that said “ask about out Apple Pie moonshine!” A large grand piano sat on the back of the stage and a single microphone stood lonely at the front of the stage waiting to be sung into. Pictures and paintings hung on the walls, some crooked, some straight. All that was needed was music, People and the smell of sweet spicy down home southern cooking being brought to tables where people would eat and eat until they just couldn’t anymore. 

“Well, that will have to do for now. I’ll have to take care of the food supply and the few minor details later. Now he thought to himself, onto the menu! Getting a large piece of cardboard nearby he grabbed a pencil and scratched into the soft cardboard what could easily be obtained and acquired in the next day or so. The hardest part would be training the new cooks but till then he’d be cooking mostly by himself and honestly, he couldn’t be happier!

                                            Menu & Sides & Desserts

~Smoked chicken and Cajun Sausage Jambalaya- $12.00  

~ BigDaddy’s Crawfish Etouffee- $10.00

~Crawfish and Crab Boil- $15.00(all you can eat, w/fixins.)

~Collard Greens- $5.00

~Corn Cob- $2.00

~Biscuits- $ 5.00(comes 4 to an order)

~Sweet Potato Fries- $2.00

~Peanut Butter Pie- $2.00(Scoop of Vanilla or by its lonesome)

~Apple Pie Moonshine!- $3.00(guaranteed to make you smile.)

BigDaddy leaned against the wall next to the food window watching the door, The room was filled with the smell of sweet spicy southern cooking. A few musicians stood on stage talking quietly waiting for the first few customers to find there way to his cozy little version of New Orleans he had built himself. A large fan blew the smell of cooking food out the open windows and onto the street as he smiled and took a sip of the water he was holding on to. Chef Apron dirty, he smiled and new this place would be hopping here in a few hours.

Donald had just touched down in Detroit a few hours ago. He had business in the city with a friend and was originally from New York. He hadn't eaten since before the flight back home and set out to explore the business district and grab a bite to eat. Across the street from him was an establishment named 'The Crawfish Caravan'. It was unlike anything he had ever heard before. He decided to walk in.

Reading the menu was a chore for Donald. He had never heard of a 'Jambalaya' before and written on the board, it had seemed like a foreign language. He wanted to try something different for once, something other than canned corned beef, or the terrible egg drop soup his uncle used to serve back home. 

"I'll have the Jambalaya", Donald said to the man, struggling to do so. He reached into his pocket, grabbing a few crumpled bills and placed them onto the counter.

BigDaddy grins ear to ear as he gives the man back his money and hollars into the kitchen for them to make the best batch of the day for their very first customer. "Come on in and rest yourself sir! As our first customer, you can eat free, as long as you promise to spread word of what you had here today, you can have anything and everything off the menu!" BD sits the man down and waits for the order to come in before setting it down in front of him. The bowl of broth, brown rice and meat steams spicily in front of him. BD rushes off to grab the patron a drink and manages to grab one for himself before sitting down across from him with a basket of biscuits. "dig in sir dig in!"

Stands outside the window and just is thrilled over this perfectly build restaurang. Walks in and says hello to the owner BigDaddy_182 which always is in a  good mood.

"Hey man Im hungry like a wolf, surprise? na didnt think so, can I have Crawfish and Crab Boil and to that some Sweet Potatoe Fries and a big glas of beer to it"

BigDaddy_182 had told Rain so much about the new restaurant he was opening called The Crawfish Caravan.  It was finally opened for business; she couldn’t wait to go enjoy it.  Reigning from Louisiana herself she always enjoyed Cajun food, she loved a little spice.

As she entered the restaurant, she sat down at a table. She thought to herself, people will spend a lot of time within the welcoming walls of this humble habitat. BigDaddy had transformed it into the restaurant into his own personalized dream with the unique décor.  The Oil lamps on every post showed an inimitable taste. On the backstage, there was an older gentleman playing a grand piano entertaining the customers.

The smell of the food was absolutely killing her.   She had saved her appetite especially for this occasion and she was starving.

When the waitress came to her table she ordered the Smoked chicken and Cajun Sausage Jambalaya with an order of Collar greens.   She also told the waitress she definitely had to have that Apple Pie Moonshine, whatever it was it sounded very tempting.

BD grins as he finishes taking Wolf's order. Jotting it down and taking it over to the window. he pins it up and spins the wheel a bit before turning and spotting Rain as she came in. Nodding to himself, BD poured wolf's beer and set it down in front of him. Patting him on the shoulder, BD grinned widely and threw his arms wide as he approached Rain.

"Well hey there! welcome on in! I'm glad you finally made it. Whatcha think? did i capture our little corner of the country? I think i did pretty well. Don't worry bout your tab, today you eat free, family's first meal is always free, i couldn't do this without you guys! Lemme grab your order and that Moonshine and ill come sit with ya for a bit as soon as i've got Wolf's order ready alright?"

BD touches her shoulder lightly before whisking off again to grab food for a few tables, including Wolf's first helping of his crab and crawfish boil. Setting down a large helping of both, with a side of corn cob and biscuits and butter. He rang in Rain's order and grabbed their drinks. hustling back towards her table he sat down and clinked glasses with her before beginning to trade pleasantries with her, smiling as wide as ever as he does so.

Kenny walks in and immediately eyes the menu, thinking of something to eat. There are foods that he never saw on his whole life, strange thing though because Kenny always liked to try new stuff, so there he was. He looks around at the place and it look nice, he grabs a little menu then walks over where Rain is sitting with BigDaddy_182, he smiles at them both.

"Hey Rain, good to see you here." He gives her a kiss on the forehead then turns his attention to BigDaddy. "Good place you have here, lad. I never saw some of this types of food before, where do they come from?" He eyes the menu again and wonders if he should eat the pie, he is hungry so he plans on ordering two things. "Can you get me a Apple Pie Moonshine? Then I'll let you choose the next thing I eat." 

BigDaddy_182 ponders for a moment before nodding with a grin and getting up. Clapping KennyRusso on the back "i'll get that going for you right now boss. I'll have a plate of Jambalaya piping hot and ready with your Moonshine." He strolls over to the kitchen, puts in a ticket nods to the cook before heading over to the bar and grabbing a mason jar out of the fridge. Grabbing 2 other glasses out of the bar he heads back over to his family and sits down again. "now this is a special batch of the apple pie moonshine a good friend of mine made for me, still figuring out which distillation company I'm gonna go with yet. So enjoy this for me!" He pours 3 glasses and holds up his for a moment. "cheers! To a long healthy and profitable year to the family!"

After letting the sweet potent alcohol sit in his mouth for a moment, he swallows and sighs happily. Setting the glass down he gets up and fetches the food that his boss ordered. Setting it and a side of biscuits and corn on the cob next to him. "Alright now, Dig in! Its a plateful of brown rice gravy, chicken and a spicy sausage. Honestly its one of my favorite dishes."

"Cheers mate" Kenny lifts his glass and take one long sip out of it, finishing quickly. He sees the food arriving and listens to BigDaddy talking about the things in it. He looks at the dish with a curious expression, he never ate that before and is curious as hell to see what that tastes like, he grabs the fork then fills it and puts on his mouth, he chews a little then signals the waitress to bring him some water.

"It's tastes good." He says with his mouth full, manners is not a thing that Kenny has mastered yet. "Too spicy though, I like spicy things but I always have a hard time eating them." He swallows the food and reaches for his water, he takes a sip then fills the fork again, eating some more. He likes the stuff, what is strange, Kenny hate spicy things but this one he judges good. He eats some more before grabbing the pie.

"I'll mix some spicy with sweet, hah!" He cuts a big slice then puts on his mouth. That pie, he loves. He smiles while chewing and makes a face of who approves, he gets some more and after he swallows the says.

"Damn this pie is awesome. I'm sure that I will always visit here just for the pie." He eats some more before adding. "It's a good place and good food you have here BigDaddy, I approve 100 percent."

Grins and bows graciously, happy to have the bosses approval as he tips his hat and rushes off to tend to other customers for a moment. He heads to the office for a moment to take a break and sighs to himself. "this is turning out to be one of the best weeks of my life. He absent mindedly rubs the pin on his lapel before sighing with a grin and stretching. "no time to be lazy, got customers to help."

Roger was walking around when he spotted the Crawfish Caravan, he was feeling hungry so he decided to check it out.

"Hey there, I'd like two corn cobs please."

He politely tips his hat.

Nods and heads over to the window and snags up to two corn cobs and a beer for the man and sets them down in front of him with a small dish of butter and salt to his liking and bows shortly. "Lets me know if you'll need anything sir."

"Can I have Smoked chicken and Cajun Sausage Jambalaya please and a large beer to start with, can assur you I will have another one in ten minutes so hold one more for me"

He starts to eat and enjoys the seadood so much that he almost eats up everything in nearly no time at all, finish also his second beer and just has one word in mind, yummie.

Tutte really wanted some good seafood so he asked Bigdaddy.

"Do you have shrimps so will I take half a kilo in a bag, will sit out and eat those gordius creature which are so damn good when cooked properly"

kiddo was starving so him and his friend stops in  The Crawfish Caravan..   to get some food,kiddo and his friend oreders an all u can eat Crawfish. sat there while their beverage is delivered and soon after. The waitress brings the boys their food ,the 2 of them havent ate in a while.

all the food was great and gone kiddo and his friend pays for their dinner and off they go full a an elephant..

Joyri was walking down the busy sidewalk in a daze. She had another cup of coffee in her hand. This was her 4^th cup and the day was not over with yet.  She was on her way to The Crawfish Caravan to meet up with one of her friends who was getting concern about her.  Joyri frowned up at the sky; she could see bad weather was on the way. Finally making it to The Crawfish Caravan, she throws her coffee into the trash can outside of the establishment. She makes her way in and is greeted by a host.

“Hello, welcome to The Crawfish Caravan, I am Gary and I will be your host tonight.  How many will be part of your party, this evening?

“Um party of two, smoking area and I would like a booth, please”

“You are in luck, miss, a booth just open up with all of what you were seeking, please follow me this way.”

Gary grabs a few menus from the host station; he leads Joyri to a booth. Joyri slides in, sets her purse down. Gary set a menu in front her.

“A server will be coming to take your order. Enjoy your meal, miss.”

Gary flashes a smile and leaves. Joyri looks around and notice the place was slowly filling up with the dinner crowd. She checks the time and notice her friend was running late. She opens the menu and scans over it as a server approaches the table.

“Good Evening, my name is Stephen and I will be your server tonight. Are you ready to order? “

Joyri looks up for a second and then glance back down at the menu. Her friend could always order when they get here but right now she was starving.

“Yes I am…I would like Smoked chicken and Cajun Sausage Jambalaya with collard greens, sweet potato fries and biscuits. As for desert I would like some of that apple moonshine pie.  Also I would like your finest bottle of red wine to drink.”

Steve jolts down her order on a tiny pad and then removes her menu. “Very fine choices miss.  Your meal should be ready in a timely fashion. I will be back with your wine in a few minutes”

Steve leaves the booth; Joyri picks up a bread stick and chews on it, waiting.

"Hey Im starving, please bring me some food, I can have Crawfish and Crab Boil just bring in a plate and see how much I can eat and odont forget to bring in a big glas of cold beer to thanks"

Home and nothing to do today kiddo is all done with his work.he travels over to The Crawfish Caravan.he has been craving this for sometime he entered and went to a table that was open.soon after kiddo has a waitress take his order..   while on the phone he was talking to a friend CaptainDirtyBeard and he was still busy,so kiddo tells him his dinner will be there shortly and they both said goodbye. A fw moments go by and kiddo's food is brought to him.he starts to eat the crawfish and dinner was over so kiddo walks back home instead of taking a bus.