Smallbiz/26″ with box/mike1st/mark2nd

By DANIEL TAUB

Staff Reporter

Driving along a semi-industrial stretch of Venice Boulevard just west of La Brea Avenue a stretch populated by a welding shop, an electronics store and a roofing company it’s easy to miss Uncle Darrow’s Cajun Creole Eatery.

Yet during its nearly five years in business, this small shack of a place, with its catfish, jambalaya and red beans and rice, has attracted the likes of Johnnie L. Cochran, Quincy Jones and “ER” actor Eriq LaSalle as well as plenty of doctors and lawyers from the Westside.

“This is strictly a destination,” said Norwood J. Clark Jr., president and chief executive of Uncle Darrow’s Inc., which opened the stand in 1994. “This has turned into a mecca for people who love good Cajun Creole food and service.”

Even so, the stand’s location has proven to be a hindrance to growth. Last year, Uncle Darrow’s Inc., a 50-50 partnership between Clark and his cousin, Ronald Washington, generated $250,000 in revenues. This year, Clark projects $300,000. (Washington works full-time as a technical director at KABC-TV Channel 7, but puts in a few hours every day at Uncle Darrow’s.)

Clark is looking for bigger numbers say, $1 million in revenues next year and he has a plan for making it happen.

First, he wants to consolidate Uncle Darrow’s 600-square-foot stand and the company’s 1,000-square-foot kitchen, located nearby on Washington Boulevard, into a single, 2,700-square-foot location on Motor Avenue in Palms.

Currently, much of the food is actually made at the Washington Boulevard kitchen and then brought over to the stand (including the red beans and rice, which takes two full days). Other items, such as fried catfish and po’ boy sandwiches, are prepared at the stand itself.

Clark said the Palms location would allow him to bolster his Westside base, where most of his customers come from. But the main reason for the relocation is to secure more space for the operation that Clark expects will drive Uncle Darrow’s future growth selling products to other restaurants and retail stores.

Since earlier this year, Uncle Darrow’s cookies, teacakes, and turnovers have been available at the Starbucks in Ladera Heights. “The items are doing great,” said Leslie Chapman, manager of the Starbucks location.

Clark met with Starbucks officials last month to discuss expanding the line to other desserts (such as its praline candy, called Uncle Darrow’s Cajun Pa-Cawn Candy), as well as moving into additional Starbucks stores.

Clark also has cut a deal to start supplying Uncle Darrow’s Fatpocket Pies apple and peach turnovers to Fatburger Corp. beginning next month. The pies are to be made exclusively for Fatburger and are from an original recipe developed by Uncle Darrow’s.

Since Uncle Darrow’s Washington Boulevard location is so small, production of the pies will initially be subcontracted out, thus eating into profits. But as Clark puts it: “I’m looking at the big picture, because there are some other products I’m trying to get into Fatburger as well,” including a Cajun-style turkey burger. “The money is going to come later.”

Clark said he is also negotiating with Fred Meyer Inc.’s Food 4 Less chain of supermarkets to make potato salad for its service delis, and with Smart & Final to sell pre-packaged potato salad through its warehouse-style grocery stores.

The pre-packaged products would be sold under the label “Fresh From the Bayou” so as not to dilute the Uncle Darrow’s name, Clark said.

Uncle Darrow’s, named after a cousin of Clark’s, started out in 1988 by supplying upscale department stores and mail-order houses with Cajun-style praline candy and popcorn. The stand opened in 1994 and quickly supplanted the candy and popcorn portion of the business.

Today, 75 percent of the company’s revenues come from the stand, and 25 percent come from the mail-order business and Starbucks.

Much of Uncle Darrow’s food is based on Clark’s family recipes. For new items, such as the Fatpockets, Clark develops the recipes along with his partner and his cooks, most of whom are from the South.

In between negotiating various deals with restaurants and stores, the 42-year-old Clark spends much of his time at the Venice Boulevard stand, serving customers, shouting hellos to passersby and handing out jambalaya samples. Many of the customers that stopped by for a meal one day last week identified themselves as regulars.

“I’m originally from Louisiana too, so when you have mothers that cook that way, you know where to come to,” said Sandra Cox, a management consultant who has been eating at Uncle Darrow’s since the stand opened. “A lot of places serve gumbo, but it’s not really gumbo. There’s a very unique way of cooking gumbo. Either you have it or you don’t.”

Spotlight

Uncle Darrow’s Inc.

Year Founded: 1988

Core Business: Selling Cajun food through its own stand and other stores

Revenues in 1992: $100,000

Revenues in 1997: $250,000

Employees in 1992: 5

Employees in 1998: 10

Goal: To exceed $1 million in revenues in 1999

Driving Force: Growing niche market for authentic Cajun food