Reality TV becomes vehicle for Hermosa’s Rajun Cajun
Stephen Domingue shows off his truck that is soon to be TV famous. Photo 
The Creole charisma of Stephen Domingue, the indefatigable owner of Rajun Cajun Café on Pier Avenue, will be on display in the reality TV show “The Great Food Truck Race,” set to premier on Food Network Aug. 15.
“You know, it’s a reality show, so they got me on lockdown,” said Domingue, a Lafayette, La., transplant who has been serving up Cajun cooking in Hermosa since 1992.
But he offered a tidbit or two.
“I’m the star of the show,” he said with a characteristic lack of shyness.
Domingue auditioned for the show in Hollywood, bringing family members, his cook, a “lady fiddler” and “six of the most beautiful girls in Louisiana” wearing New Orleans Saints football-themed outfits. The fiddler played, and the Saints girls danced.
“You know how you can jazzercise? Well they Cajunized,” Domingue said.
It was a hit.
“They went crazy, man,” Domingue recalled.
One necessary component for the show, a food truck, came as an afterthought.
“I went to the audition and I told them I had a food truck. I lied. So I had to get a truck in a day and a half,” Domingue said.
He put together a truck, and began seeking security clearances to bring it to area businesses such as large aerospace plants.
“I don’t want to be like those other guys with trucks, and work the streets like a ‘ho.” I want to bring the truck in behind the gates,” he said.
Domingue also has found the truck to be popular at special events.
“I did the X Games at the [Los Angeles] Coliseum last weekend,” he said. “That was crazy, man. We sold out everything on the food truck.” ER