Seagrove's Café Bouchee is a mouthful

SEAGROVE, FL - Café Bouchee opened in the former location of Yianni's in April along a quiet stretch of County Road 30A in Seagrove.

Chef/owner John Wagner cooks and runs the kitchen while his wife, Kerrie, can be found waiting tables.

Wagner admits he and Kerrie opened Café Bouchee on a shoestring, but they believe they can make a go of it in South Walton. And as other restaurants falter under the present economy, Wagner is well familiar with what it takes to make a go in the restaurant business.

Originally from New Orleans, Wagner was chef/owner of The Summerhouse in Fort Walton Beach for 11 years, executive chef at Marina Café for two years, executive chef at Flamingo Café in Destin in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and executive chef of Elephant Walk at Sandestin.

"Everything is coming this way," he said. "I know I won't be able to have the kind of extensive wine list I had at The Summerhouse, but I prefer working in South Walton and this will be my own."

Wagner said he intends to cater to the locals as well as tourists and bend his menu to accommodate special diets.

He uses real eggs, he said, unlike some restaurants down the road, which he declined to name.

While he awaits his beer and wine license, diners are encouraged to bring their own bottles.

The café's focus is mainly breakfast and lunch, and Wagner's New Orleans origins find their way into his cooking style and onto the menu.

Grillades and grits with veal are a standout for breakfast, followed by omelets, smoked salmon, a fried egg BLT, a Belgian waffle dusted with powdered sugar and sprinkled with either pecans or berries, and a yogurt berry parfait with granola. Prices are $5.25 - $12.50.

Lunch choices include corn and crab bisque, fried grit cakes and shrimp with a tasso crème sauce, artichoke dip with toast points, tuna, steak or chicken salad, hamburger, fish, shrimp or a New Orleans-style roast beef po boy, blue crab cakes, grilled fish of the day, or chicken with bowtie pasta. Lunch entrees range from $9 and $12.

Many of the lunch favorites are carried over to the dinner menu, offered on Friday and Saturdays, and joined by soft-shell crabs, chargrilled ribeye, fried shrimp, seafood medley and grouper almandine. Entrees run between $10 and $18.

Fresh baked cookies and cheesecake are also available.

Closed Monday, Café Bouchee is open from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., for breakfast and lunch, and from 5 - 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday nights. Sunday hours are 7 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Specials are offered every day.