Marla Chua is part of a growing generation of young female culinary leaders bringing a fresh perspective to the Capital City restaurant scene. As executive chef at Creole Cabana, she’s the brains behind the casual resort-style restaurant’s menu. Developed by Sammy’s Restaurant in summer 2018, it’s a fusion of island flavors and Cajun cuisine.
Chua, who is Filipino, moved with her family to Franklin, Louisiana, as a child, later relocating to Baton Rouge to attend LSU. She waited tables and worked in catering during college, prompting her to shift gears and pursue a culinary arts degree at the Louisiana Culinary Institute. She worked for several years at Zea Restaurant before Sammy’s recruited her to lead Creole Cabana.
225 checked in with Chua about the day-to-day at Creole Cabana, what she cooks at home and the one piece of cooking equipment she can’t live without.
Tell us about the Creole Cabana menu and how you helped shape the concept.
When I came on board, there was a first draft of the menu, which had a lot of the Creole cooking style that Sammy’s is famous for. Being from the Philippines, I really like island flavors, so I worked on adding more of them into our dishes—things like curries, pineapple and coconut.
What are the most popular items on the menu?
Since we have the patio and a lot of people playing beach volleyball [at the adjacent courts of The Oasis], we sell a lot of shareable appetizers: things like quesadillas, fried mac and cheese and crawfish and corn fritters, which is one of our top sellers. We also do a lot of nachos, especially for game days.
What’s the secret to good nachos?
Definitely layering. There’s nothing worse than finding no cheese or toppings on the chips at the bottom. We build flavor by adding a layer of Hola Nola chips, then homemade queso, then toppings, then more chips, queso, toppings and grated cheese. Our team has had a lot of fun creating different themes, like our Who Dat nachos, which have black beans and roasted corn for Saints’ black and gold.
What’s a typical day for you like?
I work out at 6 a.m. every morning and then go into the restaurant. Since we don’t open until 4 p.m. during the week, it gives me a chance to really prep everything well, make sure we have the products we need and coach my team into cooking the best quality food we can.
What do you like to cook at home?
Well, I have a 2-year-old, and he loves mac and cheese, so I do a lot of different versions of gourmet mac and cheese. He also loves gumbo.
What’s the one piece of kitchen equipment you can’t do without?
A rubber spatula. We use four different sizes. They’re great for making sure you get every bit of an ingredient out of a bowl or container, and they’re also great for cooking.
What’s it like to be a woman chef in what is still a male-dominated field?
When I was coming up in the industry, I rarely saw a woman chef as a role model, so I’ve hired a lot of women in my kitchen. I want to make sure they know they can do this and they’re getting the training and exposure from me that they need to be successful. creolecabana.com
This article was originally published in the October 2019 issue of 225 Magazine.
Tell us about the Creole Cabana menu and how you helped shape the concept.
