By JAIME ANTON

The Post staff writer

The two are serving up northern cuisine with a cajun kick at their restaurant, the French Quarter Café.

"It's an authentic New Orleans influence," Kimberly said.

New Orleans, Ohio

So why the Cajun flair? Well, Kimberly (Francesangelo) Davis was born and raised in North Royalton. When she was a sophomore at Padua Franciscan High School, she went on vacation to Myrtle Beach with a friend's family. There she met Chris, who hails from Philadelphia, also on vacation with his family.

"We were dating long distance throughout high school. While I was earning a degree at Kent State, he moved to Cleveland for us to be together," she said.

The couple later moved to an apartment above Emeril Lagasse's restaurant Emeril's in the business district of New Orleans after Chris received an academic scholarship to Tulane University, where he studied business. Kimberly operated a restaurant/wine bar there just outside the French Quarter.

Her degree is in psychology and management, but she gravitated toward the food industry.

"I always enjoyed working with food and people. A restaurant seemed to be the perfect meeting place for these two interests," she said.

Kimberly and Chris returned to Ohio in 2005 for their wedding.

They went back to New Orleans, worked for a week, honeymooned and then the infamous Hurricane Katrina struck.

"We waited until the last minute to leave. We left Sunday afternoon, were in traffic for eight hours but only made it 20 minutes outside the city," Kimberly said.

After riding out the storm in the offices of a car auction Chris's father operated, Kimberly and Chris had nowhere else to go. They headed back north to her parents' home here in North Royalton.

"As newlyweds, we moved back into my childhood bedroom for three months," she said.

When they returned to their apartment in November, they were surprised to find all their belonging untouched.

The North Royalton Methodist Church offered the couple a home on its property to stay until they could get back on their feet. Kimberly and Chris were grateful but missed New Orleans.

"With my restaurant background and Chris going to business school, we decided to put our heads together and take the best of New Orleans and bring it here. We wanted to share a piece of it with the people here in North Royalton," she said.

Cleveland, Louisiana

Fittingly enough, on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina - August 29, 2006 - the Davises hosted the grand opening of the French Quarter Café. They are known for making such high-quality, made-to-order food that they earned the Cuyahoga County Board of Health's Be Food Safe Award. They were one of only six recipients in North Royalton to earn the award.

"Everything that goes out to our customers is something that we would feed our own family, no exceptions," Kimberly said.

The menu includes favorites like fresh fruit crepes; unique hot paninis; toasted wraps; large gourmet salads; specialty soups like chicken and sausage gumbo; lobster bisque; red pepper crab bisque; chicken, sausage and ham jambalaya; and a build-your-own pizza featuring none other than a spicy pizza sauce option.

Many of the meals, like the Armstrong Park Grill sandwich, named for the Louis Armstrong Park in New Orleans, are accompanied by the café's unique homemade potato salad or Zapp's chips. Zapp's are a New Orleans staple that Chris and Kimberly have shipped up from Louisiana. The Armstrong is a hot, baked chicken panini with roasted red peppers, red pepper sauce, lettuce, and pesto mayo served on grilled ciabatta bread.

Breakfast is served throughout the day, but it's not the traditional eggs, bacon, sausage and toast.

"We use all egg whites. With the whole menu, we try to use healthier items," Kimberly said.

Everything's made healthier but without sacrificing taste. There are bagel sandwiches, and a new menu item - turkey sausage patties, egg whites and spicy pepper jack cheese on a toasted Hawaiian sweet bread.

"It's proven to be popular," Kimberly said.

Don't worry, the kids aren't left out. The café's children's menu comes complete with healthy sides like sliced bananas or mandarin oranges.

The café also has a full coffee and espresso bar and fresh fruit smoothies.

And everything is reasonably priced. One person can walk out the door with a full meal and drink for under $10.

For customers' convenience, the café offers free wireless Internet access, call-ahead takeout and call-ahead dine-in ordering.

"We have a lot of local teachers and businessmen and women that take advantage of this. They are running low on time. They call in their order, and it's ready when they get here. All they have to do is pay," Kimberly said.

The café also brings New Orleans to its customers' backyards and special events through catering.

"We do panini and wrap trays, large order of our potato salad, gourmet salads and desserts trays - our fresh cookies," Kimberly said.

Home sweet home

The café has become a home away from home of sorts. When they were expecting their son, Austin, who will turn 1 on Dec. 15, customers shared in the pregnancy and birth. They still offer loving bits of parenting wisdoms and are always eager to hear how the baby is doing and visit him when he is at the cafe.

"Now we have an extended family with all our customers. They're not just customers, a receipt or an order. We know their families and keep updated on their lives," Kimberly said. "It's a comfortable environment."

And Kimberly and Chris make it a point to remember all who walk in the door.

"We remember people even if they've only been in one time and it was four months ago. We try to recognize people and welcome them when they come back," she said.

Because of this, the café has a great deal of word-of-mouth and repeat business.

The café is not work, it's home.

"It's not a place to go to work. It's a place where my husband and I can be together all the time doing what we love. And there is owner presence at any point in time. I think being there will help us to continue the successful path we are on," Kimberly said.

Despite their sweet spot for the Big Easy, Kimberly and Chris have no plans of making it their home again.

"We'll go for vacation, but now we have a son. It's not a place we'd want to raise a child. People say they can't wait to move away from Ohio, but they always come back," Kimberly said.

She believes Ohio is ideal to raise a family, even with winter threats from Mother Nature.

"Yes, we have snow, and it can be a burden sometimes, but everything looks so pretty and we have the change of seasons," Kimberly said.

For the Davises, life is as it should be.

They have their new son, are close to Kimberly's family, have their extended café family and may be on the verge of convincing Chris's parents, who live in New Orleans, to move up this way.

"This is the way it's supposed to be. Despite the hurricane being negative, it happened for a reason. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for the events that led to now."

The French Quarter Café's hours are Monday through Thursday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fridays 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturdays 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The café is located at 5540 Wallings Road at the corner of State Road and Wallings and is attached to the Discount Drug Mart.

"Don't give up looking for us, it is worth it. We are tucked away in the back corner of the parking lot," Kimberly said. "We look forward to meeting you and hope you make it in to taste a little piece of the Big Easy!"