Ruth’s Creole Kitchen is bringing thriving New Orleans cuisine to OKC.
Located on Northwest 23rd, the restaurant serves as a living tribute to the chef’s Cajun roots, family recipes and hard work.
When you walk into Ruth’s Creole Kitchen, you are transported to the chef’s hometown of New Orleans.
“I want them to feel like they’re walking into the French Quarter when the French Quarter,” said Chef Ruben Carey. “I miss the city, I miss home, I just want to bring New Orleans to Oklahoma City.”
This restaurant is Chef Ruben Carey’s first restaurant and you can find authentic, traditional New Orleans food like red beans and rice, étouffée and gumbo on the menu.
The name of the restaurant comes from someone near and dear to Carey.
“Ruth was my mom. She was my rock,” he said. “She was just, she was very special and very, you know, hard on me, making sure that I could follow my dream with cooking.”
Carey’s mom passed away before she saw him open his first restaurant.
“I know she’s up there smiling down, looking at me,” said Carey.
Chef Carey comes from a big family, and his passion for cooking started as a child.
“I have six sisters and five brothers. We have a big family, you know, and we was always cooking,” he said. “So while the other kids was outside playing, I was always a sous chef for my grandmother and my mom, cutting onions, chopping on bell peppers.”
He went to culinary school and worked under the famous chef Emeril Lagasse — then Hurricane Katrina changed everything, forcing him to find work elsewhere, and that eventually led him to OKC.
“I love it, I love it, I love it. Hands down the people, since I moved here the people have been so great to me. I love every bit of Oklahoma City,” said Carey.
When asked the difference between Creole and Cajun, Carey said, “Creole is a lot of tomato-based products, you know. So for my étouffée, I use a lot of tomatoes, gumbo, shrimp and sausage, Creole and Cajun. It’s just the spices, you know. So it’s kind of a a collab of both of them.’
All the food in the kitchen is made from scratch every morning.
Carey says he is proud that he makes food that others get to taste.
“Me getting my food out there to the world, I’ve been waiting to do something like this for a very long time,” he said. ” I know I’m a phenomenal chef and the recipes and the culinary skills that I have and the inspiration I got from my mom and my grandmothers, the world needs to taste this food.”
Ruth’s Creole Kitchen currently offers dinner and will soon offer lunch. Once a week, they have live music.
Dining and Cooking