by Felicia LeDuff Harry

When people get together in South Louisiana, two things traditionally take place—eating and talking. And it’s not unusual for the talk to be about eating.

Tommy Thomassie and a few of his friends spent a lot of time doing just this, eating and talking about food. It was a natural progression, Tommy said, when he, Ellen Diedrich, Gino Battaglia and Cassie Braud decided to take their group conversations a bit further by starting a food blog on the Internet.

The result was “thecajunfoodie.com,” a Web site where people can read and write about Cajun restaurants, no matter the location. Visitors can share their experiences and favorite recipes, and also get information about food festivals.

The friends say their reason for starting the blog was based on three observations:
1. They like food.
2. They like to talk about food.
3. They really like to talk about food.

Tommy, who maintains the site from his home in Opelousas, describes himself as a “Cajun who likes his food.” He is also a regular contributor to the site. “It’s a good excuse to eat out,” he explains.

Ellen says she’s the “marketing guru” behind the site, and her job is primarily to get the word out to others. The Cajun Foodie currently has a presence on Facebook and Twitter, where those interested can view immediate feeds from the blog. Readers can also sign up on “thecajunfoodie.com” as subscribers.

The Cajun Foodie, which was launched in late February, now averages 1,000 page views and 9,000 hits daily from as many as 40 states and seven countries, Tommy said. The site is also No.1 in Houston and rising fast to No. 1 in New Orleans out of sites that rank food blogs.

“It’s exciting to watch the site grow and build up a following,” Tommy said. “The driving force is knowing people tell their friends, and then they visit the site and make comments.”

Ellen agrees. “It’s really cool to see the recipes and have someone who tries one of them, and they come back a few days later to say their family loved it,” she said.

Gino submits his articles from New Orleans, and Cassie covers South Louisiana. They also assist with the coding and editing.

Tommy says it’s not his intention to write bad things about restaurants, nor is he concerned about the ambience of these locations. “I don’t care if it’s a gas station in Krotz Springs or a fancy place in New Orleans. All I care about is what they put in front of me. Fancy silverware and tablecloths don’t mean a thing. It’s all about the food.”

The site features 12 to 14 contributors, in addition to its creators, who regularly post stories. This food team covers cities like Houston, San Antonio, Atlanta and Memphis. Any Louisiana restaurant, whether Cajun or not, gets front-page placement. Any reviewed restaurant outside Louisiana is placed on a special page, but those restaurants must serve authentic Cajun cuisine.

“Our contributors are people who know Cajun food,” Tommy explained. “Cajun food may not be the hardest type to master, but it’s the hardest type to replicate. Usually if there’s a successful Cajun restaurant outside Louisiana, you’ll find a relocated Cajun behind it.”

Maintaining the site takes a few hours a week, but Tommy considers it a lot of fun. “It may not be the best looking or the most comprehensive site out there, but it functions,” he said.

Tommy says the name Cajun Foodie is easy to remember and relevant. “Foodie” is an urbanized term, and it is juxtaposed against the “Cajun.”

There is no standardized way for contributors to write their stories, so what they submit varies. Tommy says the site is really “every man’s blog,” where anyone can participate or just read the posts. Some writers submit “contemporary posts,” he said, which means they post right from a restaurant when they’re dining.

Tommy has taken pictures of his meals right after they were served to accompany his stories. “I’m subtle with the picture-taking because I use my phone, even though I’ve gotten strange looks from other diners,” he said.

If the food isn’t good, he may choose to not write about it. Bloggers
will occasionally post negative comments about restaurants, though. The food is good most of the time, he said; it’s just that a person might like some things better than others.

For now, the Cajun Foodie is not a profit-making venture for Tommy and his friends, but he says when he checks the increasing number of page views and hits every day, “it’s like opening presents.” PoV