Du Jour: Jason Juban

Silver Spoon chef/owner Jason Juban’s on-the-job training started at age 13, when he cut his teeth at his family’s popular Creole restaurant. His parents launched Juban’s in 1988, ushering in a new kind of dining experience in Baton Rouge. More upscale than fry houses, but less fancy than now-closed Chalet Brandt, Juban’s introduced New Orleans cuisine and a business casual vibe to the local market. Along the way, Jason, 32, learned about the kitchen’s sweaty intensity and the tedious world of management — skills he brought to the Silver Spoon when Juban’s purchased it last fall.

Juban hasn’t tampered much with the Silver Spoon’s formula: detailed lunch fare served in a Martha Stewart-approved atmosphere. The menu’s popular items, Juban says, are still the rosemary chicken-topped Silver Spoon salad, the sweet and savory harvest salad and the maple chicken sandwich with bacon and avocado on focaccia. But closing in is one of the chef’s new offerings, a hearty Cuban pork sandwich on a toothy roll. He’s also added the C.G. sandwich, fresh crabmeat on la baccia bread (a ciabatta/focaccia hybrid) with pepper Jack and havarti cheeses. The dish’s name is shorthand for the crab grill, a once-popular menu item at Juban’s that was one of Jason’s favorites.

Juban’s short term goal is to streamline the Silver Spoon’s functions and hone in on what patrons expect most. Currently, the restaurant is only open for lunch Monday through Saturday, but Juban says his team will explore why dinner has struggled in the past. For a menu, catering line-up and hours, thesilverspoonbr.com.

To read previous Du Jour features on local chefs and other culinary experts, click here.