Do you remember: Peltier’s Catering, THE place for elegant events

Published 6:00 am Sunday, April 25, 2021

Time was, when you were getting married in New Iberia, you’d get your ring, set the date and call Wayne Peltier. Before the dress, before the church, before you decided on your maid of honor. Same with other important events. If your event was going to be festive, you had to have Peltier’s do it.  

In 1980, Wayne Peltier felt the need to make a career change. He’d been teaching school for ten years, and he wanted to do something different. “I was always cooking for friends, having dinner parties, and the idea of taking that to the next level appealed to me,” said Peltier. 

So, he took a leave of absence from teaching duties, got backing from a friend’s husband, and started Peltier’s Catering. He started cooking and designing the food for all the best events in the area, from its original location in Torrido Village. “After a year, I bought my partner out, I owned a catering business,” he said. 

Soon, he and his staff were traveling all over Acadiana for parties, weddings and other soirees. A particular wedding at Mintmere Plantation stands out in his mind. “It was Velma Perrodin’s daughter’s wedding. It was a beautiful wedding, but there were so many people in attendance. We parked the vehicles and got blocked in.  

We served the wedding, loaded up and headed back to Torrido Village. When we got there, the phone was ringing off the hook,” he said. “It was the answering service, with increasingly more desperate messages, from the president of State Bank.” 

“I’d booked his pool party for that same afternoon, and completely forgotten about it.” Peltier continues, “I had cooked all the food, but the date had slipped my mind. We called him back, told him we were on our way, and that we would make it up to him. We brought him an iced-down case of champagne. He later told me that was the best party he had ever had.” 

Another wedding story – this one, making the best of a soggy situation. “It was Stephanie Shea’s wedding, out on Jefferson Island. We set up three huge tents. There was no mention of rain in the forecast. We set up the wedding, and big drops started coming down. I saw the line of cars, I thought, ‘oh no.’ But the bride came up to me as we were discussing rain plans, and said, ‘Oh, well, let’s find a puddle and have fun!’ 

“We put the bars on the porches, and everybody had a blast. There were a lot of ruined shoes, but the best time ever was had by all,” relates Peltier. 

Twenty years went by, parties, weddings, meetings, events. Peltier’s moved to an elegant setting on North Lewis Street. In 2000, Peltier opened his restaurant, Clementine, on Main Street.  

“For a while, I kept both locations, but it got to be too much. I closed North Lewis, and brought the catering in-house at Clementine. We did a lot of catering there. When we would host an event, I always kept the bar side open for business, using the other side for the party,” he said. “That way, our Clementine patrons would not be turned away because of an event.” 

After twenty years of Clementine operating concurrently with Peltier’s Catering, one night, says Peltier, “I just walked away, put up a sign, ‘Gone Fishing’. I’d grown tired, had enough. With everything else that was happening in my life, I felt like I was done,” he said. “I do miss it sometimes, although I hardly cook any more. I miss the people.” 

We miss you, Peltier’s Catering. Our events just seem to have less swank without you around. Share your memories of Peltier’s Catering in the comments below!