It’s all about love at Amour Café & Co.
“Amour means love,” says owner Laurie Kash. “And I feel like at the café we’re all about love, from the second you walk through the door.”
The shop soft opened Jan. 8 at 40051 La. Highway 42, Suite F, in Prairieville. A grand opening is in the works for April, when cocktails will be also be introduced. The menu includes loaded waffles with toppings like Fruity Pebbles, strawberry crunch and Oreos. Specialty lattes lean into of-the-moment flavors like Dubai chocolate matcha, Lotus Biscoff cookie and strawberry toasted marshmallow. Refreshers, like watermelon lemonade and Amour punch, and hot and cold coffees and teas are on offer, as well.
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Amour’s coffee beverages are made with New Orleans-style Creole coffee.
“It leaves a very smooth taste in your mouth; it isn’t bitter,” Kash says. “You don’t need to add any sugar or syrups or anything like that.”
But just because you don’t need to add anything doesn’t mean you can’t. Some of Kash’s favorite drinks on the menu are the French Quarter Delight, the strawberry macchiato and the honey vanilla matcha. With thick cream tops or piled-high toppings like cookies or cakes, the drinks are primed for Instagram.
And the interiors are just as Instagrammable. Splashes of pinks and golds adorn the space, with a funky hot-pink couch, a rose wall, a gilded mirror, and bookshelves shelves styled with decor and popular reads. Patrons are welcome to sit on the couch and chat with friends, read or get work done.
A true romantic, Kash wants everyone to have the “amour experience”—and the family is all in on the love, too. Kash’s children work with her at Amour, which was named after her granddaughter.
This isn’t Kash’s first time as a business owner. She was the owner of a hot brunch spot in Thibodaux, Urban Eats Café, before it was damaged by Hurricane Ida. After the hurricane, she had to make the decision to either rebuild or start anew. At that point, she had spent two years commuting from Prairieville to Thibodaux. She wanted to bring business closer to home.
“I didn’t look at it as taking a loss,” she says. “I looked at it as me being able to take that time to rebuild and start over in the area where I lived.”
Kash works remotely as a licensed loan officer and owns her own financial firm, so she spends plenty of time in cafés. She had the idea to bring a locally owned coffee shop to Prairieville.
“I wanted to offer somewhere for the community to come and relax and let their hair down in a peaceful but vibrant environment,” Kash says.
She chose a spot that had been empty for fifteen years—and she found an espresso machine inside. Those were all the signs she needed to move forward.
“I was no barista,” she says. “I just loved coffee.”
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Reception from the neighborhood has been amazing so far, Kash adds.
“It’s all about the love in the community,” she says, “and we appreciate all the love and support that we’ve gotten thus far.”
Amour Café & Co. is open Monday-Saturday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sunday, 7 a.m.-3 p.m. For more info, find it on Facebook.