Mama Roux opens on Broadway

By Lina Wu
Posted 11/27/19

When you walk into Mama Roux, you are warmly greeted by staff, and decor inspired by the deep South. The restaurant is coated in a warm forest green, matching shades of green, and a warm chestnut …

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Mama Roux opens on Broadway

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When you walk into Mama Roux, you are warmly greeted by staff, and decor inspired by the deep South. The restaurant is coated in a warm forest green, matching shades of green, and a warm chestnut brown. In addition to deep calming colors, the restaurant’s walls feature a large pelican, one of the South’s most iconic birds. Every aspect of Mama Roux ranging from its design to its cuisine is a celebration of Southern hospitality.

Every now and then, new customers and visitors alike wander into Mama Roux with questions and comments over the new restaurant. Due to its relatively recent opening, Mama Roux is a new feature to Broadway.

“I wanted to start my own restaurant for more than 12 years now,” said Sterling Knight. Knight is the owner of Mama Roux, and the co-owner of Ms. Fairfax on Liberty Street. Ms. Fairfax is well known for its sandwiches, and its simplistic but sophisticated design. Mama Roux is different due to it being an expansion of Knight’s dreams. The restaurant is inspired by Knight’s youth in New Orleans.

“It’s kind of the brainchild of my history,” said Knight. “Southern hospitality has kind of been in my blood for a very long time.” Knight has been in the restaurant business for many years. In addition to being inspired by her origins in New Orleans, Mama Roux became a way for her to combine her past experiences managing restaurants and the desire to create quality food.

In order to make the cuisine of Mama Roux truly pop for customers, Knight brought in Chef Matt Hutchins. Hutchins is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. In his time, he’s worked in restaurants all over, like The Hop in Beacon. Like Knight, Hutchins is also a native of the South.

Hutchins describes the flavor of Mama Roux as “deep South with some Cajun influences, Creole, and country French.”

“The flavors are certainly bold,” said Knight. “But there’s a lot of nice really fresh dishes. We’ve got a shrimp and grapefruit dish, that’s absolutely beautiful. So, it runs the spectrum of all different flavor profiles.”

Knight loves all of the dishes served on the menu, but she personally favors the sausages made by Hutchins. “The gator, and crawfish sausage sandwich is fantastic,” said Knight. “It’s a lot of fun, and it kind of gets people outside of the box.” Knight also favors their trout dish. The dish is a blackened trout with a crawfish cream. Knight also highly recommends Hutchins’ salads.

For Hutchins, designing the restaurant’s menu is a form of expression. “It’s always kind of been the story of my life,” said Hutchins. “Cooking food, and making and designing menus. It’s always been the story of my travels. This is kind of like a return to home.”

“I think everyone who comes here that has a love for food will really appreciate every plate,” said Caitlyn St. John, Mama Roux server. “Every flavor is like an explosion in your mouth, it’s really special.”

Mama Roux is located at 96 Broadway. It is open from Thursday to Sunday. From Thursday to Saturday, it is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. On Sundays it is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.