At a tiny gas-station grill in suburban west Fort Worth, the chef’s mind is on June.

“Two years ago last week, I came to Fort Worth and I prayed to the Lord,” said Damian Crockem, a New Orleans native finding a Texas following for his Cajun cooking.

“And June is also when I lost my boy.”

In 2017, before Crockem came to Texas to marry now-wife Christina, he lost a son to gun violence in east New Orleans.

The start of the summer is still a time of heartbreak.

But now it also marks the month when he stumbled onto a vacant grill in a timeworn convenience store and turned it into a westside outpost of Cajun classics: Always Cooking NOLA, 5001 River Oaks Blvd.

Along with the usual burgers and tacos, Always Cooking NOLA sells shrimp, crawfish, etouffee, jambalaya, catfish, soft-shell crab, fried pork chops, boudin and po-boys on bread from New Orleans.

The name was his son’s idea, Crockem said.

“My son, bless his soul, said, ‘Dad, man, you’re always cooking!’ So that’s how I came up with the name Always Cooking.”

Crockem has been cooking almost nonstop since he opened, even with no sign except for a banner on the storefront of the 72-year-old gas station. And even that is lost among all the vape-shop signs and beer and cigarette ads.

First, River Oaks residents began talking up Always Cooking. Then Facebook foodie groups caught on. Now, the delivery orders are rolling in.

The ambiance is early Chevron.

The restaurant only has one Formica table in a junky storage area by the drink fountain. On the other hand, there’s a choice from 12 refrigerator cases of drinks.

The classic success story here for a gas-station grill is Chef Point Cafe, which started out serving duck a l’orange alongside motor oil in Watauga before moving to Colleyville.

Like Chef Point, Always Cooking is a stunning overachiever with a personable chef.

Crockem, a former cook in New Orleans casino hotels and French Quarter cafes, produces an incredible selection of specialties from a counter alongside customers buying lottery tickets.

He serves creamy Cajun pasta. barbecued shrimp, Cajun fried ribs and crawfish mac-and-cheese, plus little-known breakfast dishes here such as catfish-and-grits.

Side dishes include collard greens, spinach and Cajun-spiced boiled potatoes with Crockem’s own seasoning.

Even the tiny side salad is meticulously cut and looks much more appealing than in some midprice restaurants.

His “Treme Sixth Ward” seafood egg rolls combine crab with shrimp, crawfish, bacon and dirty rice.

If he’s closed the day you stop by or call, it’s to drive to New Orleans for more supplies and bread.

Crockem said he was in New Orleans two years ago praying for help and strength when, “20 minutes later, I had her number,” pointing to his wife, Christina.

When she had to take out a short-term title loan at a lender across River Oaks Boulevard, he saw the grill for rent.

“We’ve been busy ever since,” he said.

His recipes come from “the spirit in me,” he said. He dabbled with a half-dozen different combinations before settling on the recipe for the seafood rolls.

A fried catfish filet was huge and lightly breaded. It comes either as an entree or on a po-boy.

The greens are Southern sweet. The jambalaya is a standout, loaded with chicken and sausage.

Crockem said his next goal is to add a food trailer for events. But he wants Always Cooking to stay a two-person operation, not expand enough to need a staff.

He calls himself the “NOLA Cowboy Chef.”

“I became a Cowboy,” he said with a grin, holding up a New Orleans Saints victory sign and referring to a Saints fans nickname.

“But I’m still a ‘Whodat?’ fan all day.”

Always Cooking NOLA is open from 10:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays; 504-688-9548, facebook.com/alwayscooking.nola.