Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason and Kristie Montegut.
Hi Jason and Kristie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
In 2018, I retired from the Oil & Gas industry after 30 years, mostly living and working overseas. After a few months, we started looking for things to keep us busy but also keep us local, as our youngest was just starting High School. I was born at Baptist Hospital in New Orleans and we moved to Houston when I was young. All my family is from Reserve, La and Basile, La. Growing up, we spent a lot of time with family in both areas. After high school in Houston, I graduated from Texas A&M and began my career in Houston with an International Drilling Company. I attended graduate school at the University of St Thomas, and shortly after graduation, we left for an assignment in Greece. Travels took us all over the world, but always returning to Houston as a base.
After retirement, we decided to buy a Kolache Factory franchise store and opened it in League City in 2019 – just before the pandemic! It was a rough start but we survived. Early 2020, while looking for other opportunities and locations for various interests, we found the location which would eventually house Chloe’s Cajun Market.
We missed food from back home and when we could find items here, the supply was limited and none of the home-cooked meals were like we remembered. In fact, the local market stores just didn’t seem to exist here like back home. We decided to open up something where we could find all those Louisiana grocery items, specialty stuffed meats, good boudin and, of course, fresh Cracklin’.
The plate lunches we wanted to serve all come from family recipes. We went through many versions of many dishes. And with my wife being from Beaumont, we had a good selection of both Cajun and Creole. The plates, poboys and gumbos we serve are a good representation of the subtle differences across the state.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Honestly, the hardest part of all this has been finding people. We currently have two full time employees, both of whom have another full time job, our son, my wife and me. Not having a full staff can help on costs but certainly limits the amount and variety of production. As an example, we have yet to start working with delivery partners due to the anticipated demand increase. As we continue to move forward, we are able to increase our efficiencies so we are hopeful to be able to offer online delivery options for groceries and plate lunches fairly soon. Lately, the obvious struggle has been with rising food costs. We are all experiencing this but the overall impact has been difficult initially. We are certainly beginning to feel the pinch on discretionary income.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Chloe’s is more of a specialty grocery and meat market that also serves quick snacks and plate lunches. We serve Poboys on Leidenheimer bread (out of New Orleans), have Seafood and Chicken & Andouille gumbo every day. Our plate lunches change daily, but we always serve Red Beans & Rice on Mondays – it’s a tradition! We debone and stuff chickens, pork chops, catfish, chicken thighs, pork belly – pretty much any type of meat we can get. We have prepared and ready to “heat and eat” meals, like Jambalaya, Etouffee, Bisque, Red Beans & Andouille. We make boudin and smoke tasso (hopefully andouille will be coming soon) and make our own Hog Head Cheese.
One of our biggest attractions is the fresh Cracklin’. We render pork belly every day, all day. We fry up a fresh batch every day before we open and will fry batches as needed throughout the day. The Cracklin’ are seasoned with our own all-purpose seasoning. We do not take shortcuts so the process is lengthy and cumbersome, but the final product is more than worth the trouble. As an added bonus, our son has learned the “trade” and has become quite the Cracklin’ expert. It is always great to hand down those lost arts and traditions!
One of the biggest surprises for us was plate lunches. We thought we would have to explain how the plate lunch works as we operate like these type of markets do back in Louisiana. To our surprise, there are a lot more people from Louisiana living and working here than we ever would have imagined. And many of the Texas locals have worked or traveled enough into Louisiana that they are very familiar with these markets.
We serve a single plate lunch each day and have that available until we run out. At that point, we have no plate lunch until the next day’s meal. The advantage to this is we are able to cook up and serve something that was just made, not reheated or microwaved, not covered in a variety of bagged or jar sauces. It is time consuming but the quality is well worth the wait.
No matter what our customers are looking for – something already cooked and ready to eat, something that is already prepared they can heat or cook at home, or even the base ingredients for their own family recipes, Chloe’s has all of these and a healthy selection from which to choose.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Lessons learned from the Covid crisis are still mounting and, I imagine, will continue to do so. Nowhere on our risk register had we addressed “pandemics” and the affects on the workplace. Luckily, with half of my O&G career focusing on asset builds, repairs and preservation, and with my wife being a detail oriented person, we are always trying to stay 3 steps ahead of the next supply chain issue or mini-crisis.
Contact Info:
- Email: store001@chloescajunmarket.com
- Website: www.chloescajunmarket.com
- Facebook: @chloescajunmarket.com
- Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/chloes-cajun-market-webster
