Du Jour with Justin Ferguson of Stroube’s Chophouse

For downtown watchers, few restaurants have been as anticipated as Stroube’s Chophouse, the sleek corner eatery at North Boulevard and Third Street that opened this spring. Its beefy name seems formulaic, but there’s little that’s predictable in this kitchen. Chef Justin Ferguson is passionate about finding an authentic, albeit long, route to great taste: He bakes his own breads and hamburger buns, transforms pork bellies into pancetta, even churns the restaurant’s signature butter.

Ferguson’s culinary career began circuitously. Food was an afterthought growing up, but a stint in the US Army changed that. Stationed in Germany, Ferguson experienced Old World culinary traditions, including small batch wines and seasonal eating. He couldn’t forget it stateside, so after an uninspired stretch in construction, the Denham Springs native enrolled in the Louisiana Culinary Institute, supporting himself by working in the kitchen at Capital City Grill.

Ferguson excelled – cooking came naturally and he was insatiably curious. After graduation, he wanted more. “Cooking school can take you so far, but people told me to really grow I needed to spend some time in a big city,” he says. Ferguson packed his car and drove to Boston, where a year of apprenticing brought new skills in creating fresh pastas and working with market-to-table ingredients. Meanwhile Stroube’s owner Rick Volland, who also owns Capital City Grill, was casting about for an executive chef for his new spot. Ferguson’s tirelessness and enthusiasm had made an impression, and Volland recruited him to return.

Ferguson’s mission at Stroube’s is to serve a great steak, but it’s also to emulate the preparation methods that first inspired him. Beets should taste like beets, butter should have real buttery flavor, bread should be toothy, and so forth. “I want to let ingredients speak for themselves,” he says.

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