Melissa Martin, chef and owner of the famed restaurant Mosquito Supper Club, is not only serving the Cajun home cooking that she grew up on, she’s also working toward a more sustainable future for the restaurant industry.

Martin was born and raised in the bayou town of Chauvin, Louisiana. She created Mosquito Supper Club as a way to bring people together, taste the food of her people, and share stories about Cajun culture.

Oyster soup, photo courtesy of Mosquito Supper Club

The restaurant, located in an old house in Uptown New Orleans, is unique in that it only holds two seatings each evening—one private and one communal, and reservations must be made, and paid for, ahead of time. It’s Martin’s way of taking care of her staff as well as creating a spirited atmosphere for dining patrons.

“I wanted to gather small groups of people so that they could sit together at a table and talk,” Martin said. “I wanted to share stories with people about growing up on the bayou and being Cajun.”

Martin’s menu is unique in that it’s true Cajun food. The ever-changing pre-fixe menu includes bayou delicacies such as shrimp-and-okra gumbo and Velma Marie’s oyster soup, which is named for Martin’s grandmother. She also enjoys making salads from any fresh, local ingredients she can find at farmer’s markets.

“People always asked me where they could get Cajun food in New Orleans, and I never really had a place to direct them,” Martin said. “I wanted to take the delicious food that is usually behind kitchen doors and put it on the table.”

At Mosquito Supper Club, the feel is relaxed. There’s no table turnover and there’s no rush to get through the meal as quickly as possible. The dinner is an experience where customers are encouraged to take their time and enjoy the food and the moment. The experience is akin to a big family dinner table, although Martin was forced to temporarily abandon that concept during the pandemic.

Another of Martin’s priorities is taking care of her employees. The restaurant is only open four days a week and the staff are given holidays off and a break in the summer.

“We strive to pay above the minimum wage and it’s important that we provide a living wage,” she said. “I was a single mom in the restaurant industry and my pay was ridiculous. I know that the price of living in New Orleans has changed drastically since Katrina; we want our employees to make a living wage.”

Prepaid reservations not only ensure that the staff will be paid well, but the right amount of food will be cooked for the expected crowd. The goal is also to reduce food waste as much as possible.

Martin explained, “It’s prepaid and we choose the menu, so when you get here, there won’t be a lot of decisions to make. You get to just enjoy the meal.”

If you’re not ready to make the financial commitment of a full reservation, Mosquito Supper Club allows people to come and sit at the bar and enjoy a snack. The bar menu includes five to six items that customers can enjoy with a cocktail.

In April 2020, Martin took her culinary expertise from the kitchen to the printed page when she published her cookbook, Mosquito Supper Club: Cajun Recipes from a Disappearing Bayou, through Artisan Press. The book is packed full of Martin’s Cajun recipes and stories. In October it was named Best American Cookbook and Cookbook of the Year by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. It serves as both a tribute to her Terrebonne Parish roots and a record of the culture and women who made Martin who she is.

“It was a process of writing down all of the stories I would tell at Supper Club and include all of the recipes that are important to me and the place where I grew up,” she said. “Chauvin was really hit hard by Hurricane Ida and the book is a way to make sure that this place and this culture are memorialized.”

Mosquito Supper Club, 3824 Dryades St., (504) 494-9777.

Hours: Thursday through Sunday, two private seatings at 7 p.m.; one communal seating at 7:30 p.m. Mosquito Bar is open from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Reservations for Mosquito Supper Club can be made here. The cookbook Mosquito Supper Club: Cajun Recipes from a Disappearing Bayou can be ordered through Garden District Book Shop here.