Cypress Cellar, Hendersonville

Cypress Cellar owner Renee Ellender brings family recipes from Louisiana’s Terrebonne Parish on the bayou to the restaurant’s creole menu. She and her culinary team flavor crawfish étouffée with a roux-based tomato sauce and simmer andouille sausage alongside shrimp, crab, and chicken in a rich Louisiana-style gumbo. They also prepare freshly shucked oysters in four ways and offer eight varieties of po’ boy sandwiches, ranging from classic catfish to smoked turkey. Ellender’s father handcrafted the restaurant’s furniture, including the bar and table, from cypress wood to offer a higher level of comfort than the moss-covered logs they were previously using.