These two men might be educated in medicine, but they are passionate about food.

Published 8:00 am Friday, July 9, 2021

BRADLEY CRUICE

Handy Stop Market & Café

444 Jefferson Street • Downtown Lafayette

It doesn’t take long visiting with Bradley Cruice to discover he is at the very heart of Handy Stop Market & Café – both in operations and spirit. The neighborhood grocery and deli opened last year to much support from locals living and working in downtown Lafayette, who welcomed the long-awaited accessibility to fresh foods.

It had been 20 years since downtown had a grocery store, and the area became known as an FDA-designated food desert: a neighborhood with no accessibility to fresh food or healthy options within one-half mile. Additionally, statistics suggest a vast majority who live in the area don’t own vehicles and some fall on the lower end of the socioeconomic bracket. “You put those together, and it makes it difficult for individuals to access healthier food and live a healthier lifestyle,” he says.

Cruice is a nurse by trade, but he’s also an MBA and the son of a New Orleans grocer. Prior to opening Handy Stop, the Kenner native was a community health and wellness consultant, helping businesses and government agencies create healthier environments. As part of that initiative, he founded Healthy Acadiana, an organization he calls the “Chamber of Health for Lafayette.” It was through this work he saw a place for Handy Stop.

Cruice not only stocks healthy food options for the people that live and work downtown; he is also committed to curating locally sourced goods and carries over 300 items from 50 local vendors. “Nearly every time I go to the farmer’s market, I come back with a new product,” he says.

Cruice has been fiercely loyal to his original objectives and is pleased (and surprised) with the results. “I did research for over a year and would’ve never anticipated the impact this grocery store has on the community.” The examples are plentiful. The woman who told him, “You changed my life.” The man who no longer has to ride a motorized wheelchair for hours to get to the nearest store. The residents of Evangeline Hotel, many with physical challenges, who now come in several times a week. “I am truly blessed to do what I love to do.”

ROBERT AUTIN

Acadian Superette

600 Lamar Street • Freetown Lafayette

Acadian Superette has been a well-known food destination in Lafayette’s Freetown area since the 1950s, but since Dr. Robert Autin bought the building and business in 2017, it’s becoming something more of a community centerpiece.

Autin, a general and bariatric surgeon and Lafayette native, honed his love for food in college and medical school. “I developed an intense passion for cooking, but I never questioned what I was going to do for a living. I always knew I wanted to be a doctor.”

Still he dreamed of owning a restaurant, but always assumed he would retire into it at a much later age. Then, when he bought a rental house next door to Acadian Superette, he discovered the restaurant was for sale. He at first dismissed the idea, but then realized the potential and made the leap.

He bought the property and partnered with Toby Rodriguez, who also stayed on as chef. When Rodriguez and Autin eventually parted ways, the surgeon had a decision to make. “That was the real crossroads as to whether or not I wanted to keep it going,” he says. “I realized the reason I wanted to run a restaurant was to actually run the restaurant.”

Autin doubled down, built two wood smokers and embraced the two parts

of the business he most enjoyed: creating an environment where people want to hang out and making the smoked and crafted meats. In fact, until recently, he made all of the meats sold at Acadian Superette and only just hired and trained some people to help. “Pastrami, bacon, ham, smoked sausage, boudin, smoked turkey, breakfast sausage. All the meat items are made in house. One hundred percent,” he says. “We like to take the fresh meats and turn them into a Cajun product.” Autin has also invested in a lovely, new outdoor space at the Superette, where patrons can relax, eat and have a drink.

Aside from his interest in the Superette, the doctor also invests in the neighborhood he loves, having bought several properties in Freetown with the idea of creating a welcoming walking community. “It is definitely an ongoing interest of mine in trying to continue to have the neighborhood evolve in a way that is more enjoyable for everybody,” he says. “A goal of mine would be to bring smaller retailers near and around the Superette so it gives a walkable vibe. I want this to be a highly sought-after neighborhood where people would love to come to live and work.”