Cooking gumbo, a dish served at Roux-Ga-Roux’s, a new Cajun and Creole restaurant in Franklin operating out of The Mint cocktail lounge on Water Street.
Submitted photo
Lovers of knitting and Cajun food can get their fix in Franklin at two newly opened businesses.
The Knitting Otter, a new yarn and knitting supplies shop located at 111 E. Monroe St., in Franklin opened Sept. 1. Just a few blocks away, a new Cajun and Creole restaurant, Roux-Ga-Roux’s, opened its kitchen and dining room on Sept. 2 inside The Mint cocktail lounge at 40 N. Water St.
Both owners — though owning two different businesses — say they are excited to bring something new to Franklin.
A hobby turned storefront
Kristi Ott, owner of The Knitting Otter, has been knitting for years, since her first son was born 22 years ago. When her youngest child moved out to go to college this year, she thought of the idea of opening her own knitting and yarn shop, to sell supplies, offer classes, and give a community space for people who also enjoy knitting.
“It’s like therapy, to me … it’s an ever-evolving learning process. And I just want to share that with everybody,” Ott said.
Ott grew up and Franklin and later raised her children in the city. This shop was a need she saw for Franklin, which hasn’t had a local knitting shop nearby in years, she said.
“That has been reiterated by everybody who’s come through, ‘I’m so glad we have a yarn shop,’” Ott said.
The name, “The Knitting Otter,” is a play on Ott’s last name. “Otter” was a nickname her husband, and later their children, were given by a teacher while they were in middle school in Franklin.
At The Knitting Otter, people can come in to buy various colors of yarn, as well as knitting and crochet supplies. Once, the shop becomes more established, Ott wants to host knitting classes for all levels. She’d like to teach beginning knitting and crochet, where customers can learn the basics, as well as classes to learn to knit items like socks and sweaters.
Ott, and occasionally her husband, are running the shop on their own at the moment, without any other employees. Business has been slow, but steady since opening, with more business on the weekends.
Ott hopes the shop can become a community space, where people can enjoy hanging out. This is her first time owning a business, and every day she is learning, she said.
“I hope people feel like they can come in and sit in it during the day, even if there’s no classes, and they just are bored and need some somewhere to go,” Ott said. “I just think that would be great just to have a group of people come to sit in it during the day.”
A taste of New Orleans in Franklin
Cory O’Sullivan isn’t new to the small business world, but opening a restaurant in Franklin is a new venture for him that fulfills a longtime dream.
O’Sullivan — a lifelong Franklin resident — fulfilled one of his first goals by opening Electric Key Records in downtown Franklin a few years ago. With the success of that business, he moved on to his next dream project: bringing a Cajun restaurant to Franklin.
Roux-Ga-Roux’s is serving a taste of New Orleans with classic Cajun and Creole dishes, all out of The Mint’s kitchen on Water Street. An opportunity arose earlier this year for O’Sullivan to partner with the owner of The Mint — who is also a childhood friend of his — and get the restaurant idea going.
“He knew my desire to one day start a Cajun restaurant … just to try to get going this was like a great step,” O’Sullivan said.
Roux-Ga-Roux’s replaced The Mint’s original food menu, while the bar will continue to focus on bourbon and spirits. The right dining room at The Mint is dedicated to the restaurant, which is open for all-ages family dining, while the bar-area is 21 and over. Drinks and food can be ordered at both locations.
Customers can try numerous classic Cajun dishes, including po’boys, gumbo, jambalaya, boudin, crawfish pies and red beans and rice.
Since he was a kid, O’Sullivan has been fascinated with New Orleans and its food and culture. He described Cajun and Creole food as being uniquely American.
“It’s the closest thing to rock and roll that we have in our American cuisine. (It’s) exactly what America is; its culture is coming together to create something brand new,” O’Sullivan said.
The Roux-Ga-Roux’s name comes from an old French, and Cajun urban legend of a creature called the roux-ga-roux, or also spelled “rougarou.” It’s described in the Cajun legend to be similar to a werewolf, with the body of a human and the head of the wolf. O’Sullivan plans to play with the restaurant’s name a little by offering specific specials during the full moon. The restaurant menu even says, “always beware of the full moon” at the bottom.
Most of the menu is sourced directly from New Orleans. Proteins such as catfish, crawfish, and the different kinds of sausage, like boudin and andouille, are shipped from there.
The dishes on the menu stem mostly from what O’Sullivan enjoys cooking at home, and also from what he tried during visits to New Orleans. He is working on adding more vegan and vegetarian options to the menu, too.
They are starting small now to not get too overwhelmed, with a few dishes on the menu, the small dining space at The Mint and a handful of employees, O’Sullivan said.
He’s learned a lot about running a restaurant so far, from ordering food, to running a kitchen, to managing a restaurant staff. One of the hardest parts of opening a restaurant is finding proper staff, with fewer people interested in working in food service.
“That’s probably the hardest part. And I can’t say I blame them. It’s, there’s a bad stigma around it (food service) … they’ve taken the brunt of so much,” O’Sullivan said.
The goal is to keep growing the restaurant, and eventually leave The Mint. O’Sullivan’s big dream is eventually to find a space to house the restaurant on its own, and have live jazz music. He’d love to bring more of the lively New Orleans culture to the streets of Franklin, he said.
“I’ve always thought, I want that here. I want those things to happen here. And that’s kind of what I’m trying to do,” O’Sullivan said. “So hopefully one day, we’ll have a live jazz band while you’re eating your gumbo.”
