Reginald Robinson grew up on the taste of Southern food and wants to bring those special home-spun spice and seasonings to Kent.
“It’s not only a passion, it’s a need,” said Robinson, who opens Altha’s Louisiana Cajun Seasoning & Spices next Saturday. “We’re bringing a taste you can’t find anywhere else.”
The store, at 21235 84th Ave. S., is named after Robinson’s mother who raised 14 kids in New Orleans.
Robinson, who has lived in Kent for 30 years, is a box maker by trade who also owns teeth-whitening and janitorial businesses in the area.
Altha’s offers more than 500 different products, from salts, seasonings, powders, gumbo, bisque and jambalaya mixes, shrimp and crab boil, jalapeno mayonnaise and relishes, Cajun mustard, rubs, roux, hot sauces, gravy and seafood etouffé mixes and other bases.
All told, the specialty store carries more than 125 different seasonings, Robinson said.
A wide range of brands are offered, including Cajun Crawfish Swamp Dust and Slap Ya Mama’s authentic Cajun products. There’s hot pickled okra, green peppers, rice, red beans, peas, spicy green tomato pickles, even jellies and a sweet potato pancake mix.
On the beverage front, there are several choices, including the City Bar Bloody Mary Mix and Swamp Pop made from sugarcane.
Altha’s sells products made in and from New Orleans and other Southern state vendors.
“There’s nothing bulk. I want to get the real taste and the real flavor (of New Orleans-style food),” Robinson said. “There’s a big demand here for the taste.”
Products are labeled, explaining its contents an how to best prepare them. Altha’s also sells cookbooks.
Store hours are 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday; 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday.
For more information, call 253-719-2242 or visit althascajunspices.com.
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