Ragin' Cajun Staff `Show The World' That The Deaf Can Run A Successful Business -- Restaurant Wines, Dines And Signs

Jennifer Bergeson greets her customers with a smile and passes them lunch menus. She introduces herself, recommends the gumbo and then waits, pen in hand, to take their orders.

She is friendly and calm in the midst of the bustling lunchtime crowd, and nothing seems unusual about her service or about the Ragin' Cajun restaurant, which is located outside the Pike Place Market.

Nothing, that is, until Bergeson's assistant, Sean McIntyre, begins motioning with his hands, translating the customers' orders for gumbo and red beans into signs Bergeson can understand. Suddenly, it becomes clear why the volunteer from Seattle Central Community College is standing next to the waitress.

Jennifer Bergeson, head waitress and manager trainee, is deaf.

"I didn't realize she was deaf until (the interpreter) started using signs," said Robin Willborn, a lunchtime customer. "Then I talked to him and he talked to her and it worked really well."

Bergeson, who has been deaf since birth, is one of six workers with disabilities at Ragin' Cajun, 1523 First Ave. That group also includes the owner and chef, Danny Delcambre, who is deaf and legally blind. There is a deaf and blind weekend dishwasher, Robert Terrazas, two other deaf waitresses, Sandra Gordon and Ali Hamar, and Sam Fournier, a 55-year-old developmentally disabled man, also a dishwasher.

Bergeson can read lips and speaks clearly, but Delcambre and the other waitresses rely solely on interpreters like McIntyre and Tahoma Riekerk - volunteers from Seattle Central Community College - or on other employees, all of whom must know sign language to work there.

"We want to make the restaurant unique," Bergeson said. "We want to show the world that the deaf can do anything to set up a business and make it successful."

Delcambre, 34, is a Louisiana native who has been deaf since birth and has severe tunnel vision, which means he can see only what is directly in front of him. He opened Ragin' Cajun in April after realizing no other restaurant would hire him because of his disabilities.

"They all wanted me to start out as a dishwasher, and I knew if I really wanted to work as a chef I would have to do my own restaurant," Delcambre said through his wife and interpreter, Holly Delcambre.

Delcambre studied culinary arts at Seattle Central Community College for a year and then interned for New Orleans chef Paul Prudhomme for a few months before coming back to Seattle to strike out on his own. He said a counselor from the Small Business Association helped him through the tough process of getting a loan and setting up the business.

Delcambre's restaurant is small and diner-esque, with booths along the wall, stools at the counter and, on nice days, a couple of tables outside. The shaded windows protect Delcambre's eyes, and the kitchen is perfectly ordered so he can easily grab the utensils and spices he needs to cook. He works with his back to customers, but turns around to answer questions about his past, the food and the restaurant.

Ragin' Cajun gathers a good crowd at lunchtime, when Bergeson and another waiter, Chris Burnett both work. The waiter can hear, but uses sign language to talk to Bergeson and Delcambre, and McIntyre watches the waitress in case she needs him. They all survey the room from the counter, on which there is a jar for contributions to the Seattle deaf and blind community.

Most customers don't notice anything different about the restaurant at first. Sometimes, Bergeson tells them right away that she is deaf and introduces her translator so they know what is going on. Other times, she lets them figure it out for themselves.

Either way, patrons are impressed.

"They look up with a wide reaction when I tell them," Bergeson said. "Then they really seem to like it. They want to learn to say `thank you' and `delicious' (in sign language)."

Delcambre hired Bergeson to wash dishes through SCCC's Program for the Deaf and then brought her out into the restaurant to help deaf customers, who came in droves to support the new restaurant, Holly Delcambre said. Soon, Bergeson became a full-time waitress, and now she is training to be a manager.

Danny Delcambre said he plans to hire more deaf employees because they memorize the menu faster, work harder and make better tips. He added that their presence "puts everyone at the restaurant on an equal footing."

The Delcambres said they want to keep the restaurant small so Danny Delcambre can manage it, adding that they didn't open Ragin' Cajun to make a lot of money, but to give the chef a place to use his skills.

"I'm not surprised by how well this worked out," Delcambre said. "I know deaf people can succeed. It's other people who are surprised."