By Ashley McLeod, staff writer
Jan 8, 2016, 14:19
HOPEWELL — Cajun flavor has come to downtown Hopewell.
The Greedy Spoon, a new seafood restaurant, had a soft opening on Dec. 27.
Marilyn Craig is the proud owner of the new restaurant, which came to fruition following a business startup contest from the Downtown Partnership.
For years, Craig had been playing with the idea of sharing her food by opening a restaurant. It began years ago when Craig would have gatherings at her house. Craig is a military wife and has lived on several posts in her life. Her sons also joined the military. The military life brought many different people into her home, where she would cook for them. Her cooking seemed to fill a void in a lot of those soldiers’ lives.
“They would come over and say ‘man, I really miss my mom’s cooking,’” said Craig. “It seemed like every post we went to there was this sense of missing family, of missing home.”
Everyone who visited Craig’s home would gush about how good her food was, and how she should open her own place. After a while of hearing this, she began to agree with them.
“It felt good to provide them with a sense of home, a home-cooked meal. And it gave me a good feeling, so I said one day I’m going to open a restaurant, so you kind of can get that feeling all the time,” said Craig.
The idea for the restaurant began as just a small place that would be carry-out only, but then Craig entered and was one of the winners of the contest by the Downtown Partnership earlier this year. She received $15,000 to open the restaurant.
Craig grew up down south, in Jacksonville, Fla. Her grandfather owned a shrimp boat, and her parents were commercial fishermen. For six months of the year, the family lived in Florida, and for the other six months, they lived in Louisiana, where Craig learned how to cook southern food from her grandmother. And it’s also where the concept for the Greedy Spoon came about.
“The reason we went with seafood is because my family background is seafood,” said Craig. “That’s all I know is fish and fisherman. I know about everything in the sea, I’ve probably eaten everything in the sea.”
The restaurant, which will be run by Craig and her family, will feature seafood in a Cajun-style, going back to her roots in Louisiana. The menu includes a low country boil, Po’ Boys, fish tacos, fish and grits, fried oysters and clams, crab cakes, and chicken wings. If will also feature a Cajun gumbo, the recipe courtesy of her mother.
“Its authentic gumbo, because she learned a lot of her cooking down there in Louisiana as well,” said Craig. “I’ve got a Cajun, southern flair.”
The restaurant is located at 264 E Broadway in downtown Hopewell and will be open every day except Tuesdays.
“I’m excited to be open. I hope everyone in the area will at least give me a try, because I know if you try, you’re going to love it,” said Craig.
For more information, visit www.greedyspoon.com or call (804) 446-3154.
