Creole food that feeds the soul and warms the heart

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - It’s been a struggle for many businesses to reopen since Hurricane Laura. One was Rita’s Creole Family Kitchen. The restaurant was wiped out by the storm.

For the last year and a half Rita, and her husband Joe’s livelihood has been food trucks, since their restaurant was destroyed. But now her dream of reopening has come true.

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” reads one of the many plaques on the wall.

“We put God first in everything we do, he will see us through,” says restaurant owner, Rita Fields.

Rita serves up food to satisfy the belly and inspiration to feed the soul and warm the heart.

“Always pray to have eyes that see the best in people, a heart that forgives the worst, a mind that forgets the bad, and a south that never loses faith in God,” reads another plaque on the wall in the restaurant.

Hurricane Laura brought tough times, but she never lost faith.

That faith has carried her through to her goal of reopening her restaurant, now where Chastains used to be on Ryan Street. She says the ingredients are the key to good cooking.

“I started some of my old cooked meals that grandmother and my mother taught us. Always from the bottom of the pot is the best gravy and the best taste. And you’ve got to put all you have in it. You gotta put your soul, your mind and your spirit, ‘cause that’s what make it good. You know you’re givin’ it all you got,” she says.

Fields hopes to encourage others struggling to recover to seek out the numerous resources available--and of course, to keep the faith.

“Remember, God give us strength. He say, ‘Let the weak say I’m strong.’ So every day I say, well, I got God on my mind.”

Rita and Joe will still have food trucks. One is for barbecue, another for seafood and in January, a smoothie truck.

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