Star Cajun Seafood Boil is bringing a taste of Louisiana and a different kind of dining experience to Montrose.
The new restaurant, located in the former Amelia’s Hacienda building at 44 S. Grand Ave, celebrated its grand opening and ribbon cutting on Monday, adding Cajun seafood boils, gumbo, po’boys, beignets and other Louisiana-inspired dishes to Montrose’s restaurant scene.
Star Cajun is owned by husband and wife Esley Cano and Famai Boonin, who also own Chang Thai Cuisine in Montrose. For their newest venture, the couple wanted to bring a type of food to the area they had enjoyed while traveling but couldn’t really find at home.
The idea had been developing for several years. Cano said he and Boonin have sought out seafood while traveling to places including Maine, Florida and New Orleans, with Cajun seafood boils becoming a particular favorite of his wife.
“She’s like, ‘I love it, but there’s no options here, and I want to be able to bring that,’” Cano said. “It’s never been done here, and I think that it’s a great opportunity.”
Getting there proved to be a much bigger undertaking than the couple initially anticipated.
They originally hoped to have the restaurant ready in about a month. Instead, the project stretched to nearly five months as they remodeled the kitchen, restored portions of the building and worked to bring the space up to current codes.
“It was definitely a bigger project than we were thinking,” Cano said during the grand opening. “There was a few times where even myself, I was thinking we bit off more than we could chew on this project.”
Cano credited Boonin with helping push the project through to completion.
“She’s been a rock through all this,” he said. “She’s seen it all the way through.”
Helping the couple bring the Cajun concept to life is Cajun Star manager and head chef Adrian Musgrove, a Louisiana native with decades of experience cooking the cuisine.
Musgrove said his experience with Cajun food in the region stretches back more than 20 years. He previously operated a Cajun restaurant in Ouray before closing it in 2022 and most recently worked as executive chef at Elk Mountain Resort.
“Cajun’s always been the passion and the background,” Musgrove said during an interview with the MBT.
Cano said finding Musgrove came at an ideal time. The couple had been searching for someone with a Louisiana background to help refine the menu and restaurant when Musgrove happened across their search on Facebook.
“The timing was crazy,” Cano said.
Musgrove put the restaurant’s culinary goal more simply: “The plan is to bring authentic boils to the mountain.”
The centerpiece of the menu is the seafood boil, which customers can customize with a variety of seafood and sauces. Options include shrimp, crab, lobster and mussels, accompanied by traditional additions such as corn, sausage and potatoes.
The restaurant’s version is intentionally saucy, and Musgrove said the meal is designed to be more than simply a dish.
“The boil, it kind of brings that family style,” he said. “It’s like an experience. It really is. It’s a gathering.”
That communal aspect is part of what Cano and Boonin hope will distinguish Cajun Star. Eating a boil takes time — cracking crab legs, opening mussels and digging through seafood, vegetables and sausage, creating a meal that encourages people around the table to slow down and talk.
“You’re taking the time to take your food apart,” Cano said. “It’s a really good time, like socializing amongst each other.”
The menu also includes chicken and sausage gumbo made with a homemade dark roux.
Cano said one thing he learned while talking with cooks in New Orleans is that Cajun dishes can vary considerably from one cook or family to another. Ask people who makes the best gumbo, he said, and the answer might simply be their mother or grandmother.
“Most people, they have their own little tweaks and everything,” Cano said.
Musgrove, meanwhile, noted one distinction that can sometimes cause debate among diners: Their gumbo doesn’t contain tomatoes, which is reserved for Creole-style cooking rather than Cajun.
For dessert, Cajun Star is making beignets using mix from Café du Monde, the famed New Orleans coffee and beignet shop.
The restaurant prepares the dough from the mix, rolls it out and fries the beignets to order rather than bringing in a finished frozen product.
Seafood sourcing presents a particular challenge for a Cajun restaurant hundreds of miles from the coast. Cajun Star is working with suppliers while exploring seasonal options for products such as crawfish and lobster.
The restaurant hopes eventually to bring in fresh crawfish during the appropriate season, potentially having live crawfish shipped overnight from Louisiana.
Cano said the challenge is finding a balance between getting the freshest seafood possible and keeping menu prices reasonable for customers.
“We’re trying to find a good level ground where we can get you the freshest as we can at the best price that we can sell to them,” Cano said.
Musgrove described Cajun cuisine itself as a product of the mixture of cultures that shaped Louisiana, pointing to Canadian, French, West African and Asian influences.
“It’s a melting pot of culture,” Musgrove said. “A lot of spice. A lot of seasoning.”
The kitchen uses the traditional Cajun “trinity” of onion, celery and bell pepper, while customers can choose heat levels ranging from mild to hot.
“And (Cajuns) are not afraid of the spice,” Musgrove said.
Beyond the food, Cano and Boonin have tried to give the restaurant a setting that fits the concept. Cano said Boonin wanted the space to evoke a bayou atmosphere while still feeling comfortable and homey. The couple plans to continue adding to the decor as the restaurant settles in.
Star Cajun also features a full bar. Cano said the restaurant is starting with familiar cocktails and mixed drinks but plans to work with its bartenders to develop specialty drinks fitting the Louisiana theme.
The owners are already looking ahead to events such as Mardi Gras, which Cano said could include music and activities utilizing the restaurant’s outdoor deck.
Once fully staffed, the restaurant will employ about 15 people across its kitchen, dining room, bar and outdoor deck.
The restaurant celebrated its grand opening with community members, city representatives and staff gathered for a ribbon cutting.
Montrose Community Initiatives Manager Michelle Wingfield welcomed the restaurant to Montrose’s roster of restaurants before introducing Montrose Mayor Michael Badagliacco.
Badagliacco kept his remarks brief, joking that those gathered were probably ready to eat.
“This is incredible,” Badagliacco said, congratulating Cano and Boonin on the restaurant. “We’re very excited to have you here in Montrose.”
Cano then thanked those who helped the couple get the restaurant open, including city representatives, Cajun Star employees and staff from the couple’s other restaurant.
He also singled out Musgrove, saying having a manager and executive chef with a Louisiana background “has been a godsend for us.”
But Cano reserved particular thanks for his wife.
“It was definitely a bigger project than we were thinking,” Cano said. “And there was a few times where even myself, I was thinking we bit off more than we could chew on this project.”
Boonin, he said, remained committed to seeing it through.
After months of work, he said the couple is excited to finally offer Montrose something different.
“We’re just really excited to have something that we can provide the community,” Cano said. “We’re really excited to be able to bring something new and different to the community for sure.”
Justin Tubbs is the Montrose Business Times editor. He can be reached by email at justin@montrosebusinesstimes.com or by phone at 970-765-0915 or mobile at 254-246-2260.
