Caviar Service, New Orleans — Starting at $3,200
Passed caviar service for private parties, weddings, and corporate events across Greater New Orleans. We shuck, cook, and serve it ourselves — no kitchen required.
The moment
It's twenty past seven. The room is full but still finding itself — people holding drinks, working out who they know.
Then a tray comes through: warm fried chicken, a spoonful of crème fraîche, and on top of each one a small dark mound of caviar catching the light.
Somebody laughs. Somebody says wait, is that — and reaches. Ten seconds later the tray is empty and the room has changed temperature.
That's what you're booking. Not a table with tins on it. That moment, eight times across an evening.
Or call Clayton directly — (504) 666-2527
The moment
It's twenty past seven. The room is full but still finding itself — people holding drinks, working out who they know.
Then a tray comes through: warm fried chicken, a spoonful of crème fraîche, and on top of each one a small dark mof caviar catching the light.
Somebody laughs. Somebody says Wait, is that — and reaches. Ten seconds later the tray is empty, and the room has changed temperature.
That's what you're booking. Not a table with tins on it. That moment, eight times across an evening.
What it costs
Nobody in this business publishes a price. We do.
For 75 guests, passed service across two hours, three bites per guest:
Caviar Price
Mississippi River paddlefish $3,200
Kaluga $4,200
Golden Osetra $5,110
Every tier includes the caviar, accompaniments, both of us on site the full evening, all equipment, cold-chain shipping, setup, and breakdown.
No service charge stapled on at the end. No rental line you discover in week three.
Smaller parties cost less. Larger ones cost more.
Choosing your caviar
The service is identical no matter which you pick. Same two people, same trays, same hours. The only thing that changes is what's in the tin.
Mississippi River paddlefish
The one we recommend first, and not because it's the least expensive. Paddlefish comes out of the Mississippi basin — small, dark, clean, buttery, with none of the aggressive salt that ruins cheap caviar. Serving Mississippi River caviar at a New Orleans party is a better story than serving something with a French name. That's not a compromise. That's the point.
Kaluga
Larger bead, glossier, more of the classic sturgeon richness people picture when they hear the word. The step up most guests notice on the first bite.
Golden Osetra
The showpiece. Amber-gold beads, nutty and long. The tier where people photograph the tray before they eat off it.
How we serve it
Passed — servers moving through the room with trays. Bites come out in waves, roughly every fifteen minutes, which gives the evening a rhythm. Best when you want guests circulating.
Stationed — a dedicated caviar bar. Tins on ice, pearl spoons, the full display. It becomes the visual centerpiece of the room.
Both — a station as the anchor, with a passed tray working the room in the first thirty minutes while guests arrive. This is where a lot of hosts land.
We'll build any of the three. One thing we insist on: if you want a station, we put a person behind it.
An unattended caviar station gets stripped in the first forty minutes. Six guests find it early, spoon accordingly, and everyone who arrives at 8:15 finds an empty tin and a very expensive bowl of ice. Staffed, the tin lasts all night, every portion is right, and your guests get a moment with someone who can tell them what they're eating.
How much you actually need
A passed bite carries four to five grams. Over two hours, with other food in the room, guests take about three each.
75 guests × 3 bites × 4g = 900 grams. We buy a full kilo for cushion.
That number surprises people. It's supposed to. If a competing quote looks dramatically cheaper, ask how many grams are in it — often it's a third of this, and the caviar runs out at 7:40.
About the fried chicken
Yes, we do it. Yes, it's as good as you've heard.
Caviar on hot fried chicken with crème fraîche and a chive works for a reason that isn't just novelty. Caviar wants salt, fat, and something warm underneath. A blini does that politely. Fried chicken does it emphatically.
It's also the fastest way to take the starch out of a room. Nobody quite knows how to behave around a caviar service until the first tray goes by — then everyone relaxes, because you've told them this is a party and not an audition.
Prefer the blini? We'll do the blini. But when someone asks what we'd serve at our own party, it's the nugget.
No kitchen? No problem.
Most of the best rooms in this city were built before commercial kitchens existed. Greek Revival houses in the Garden District. Courtyards in the Quarter. Historic buildings where the fire code says no and the kitchen is smaller than yours.
This is where traditional caterers start apologizing.
We run completely self-contained. No kitchen required, no power required, no water required. We prep in advance, finish on site, and leave your house the way we found it.
Two things we'll ask before quoting: your kitchen's electrical situation, and whether another vendor needs that space at the same time. Two caterers fighting over one outlet at 8pm is how good parties go sideways — and it's entirely avoidable if somebody asks in advance.
We're the ones who ask.
Who's actually coming
Rougarou Shuckers and Crawfish is Clayton and Shahinoor, out of the Lower Garden District.
We shuck and cook every event ourselves. There is no crew you've never met showing up at your house.
Preferred vendor, Race + Religious
Preferred vendor, Derbès Mansion
Best New Crawfish Pop-Up, New Orleans 2026
When to book
Caviar has to be ordered to land fresh in the days before your party. This isn't a service you add on Thursday for Saturday.
Two weeks minimum. Two windows fill early:
October through April — oyster season, which is also wedding, gala, and holiday-party season. Want a December date? Ask in September.
Carnival. The 2027 season is short: Twelfth Night January 6, Fat Tuesday February 9. Five weeks instead of eight, so every krewe party, ball afterparty, and visiting-family dinner compresses into the same handful of nights. Carnival dates get claimed in the fall.
Questions
How much does caviar cost for a party of 50?
Roughly $2,400 to $3,800 for passed service depending on the tier. The service cost stays flat; the caviar scales with your headcount.
Can we have a caviar station?
Yes. We build the display, the ice, the pearl spoons — the whole thing. We staff it rather than leaving it unattended, which is what keeps the tin going all night instead of vanishing by eight.
Can you do caviar and oysters together?
Yes, and they belong together. We quote oysters as their own line so you can see exactly what it adds rather than burying it in a per-person number.
Do we need a kitchen?
No. Fully self-contained — no kitchen, power, or water required on site.
How far in advance should we book?
Two weeks minimum. For October through April, and for anything during Carnival, considerably more.
What are your payment terms?
Fifty percent holds your date. The balance is due fourteen days before the event.
We've never done this before. Is that a problem?
Most of our clients haven't. Tell us the date, the room, and roughly how many people. Nobody gets made to feel like they should already know.