Pull up in front of yancy's on a weekend night, and you'll likely find yourself dodging stretch limos. Surrender your keys to the valet parking attendant -- since Yancy's opened in November, chances of snagging a convenient parking space have dwindled from slim to none -- and watch as a swooping spotlight beam casts the image of co-owner Harvey Yancey up and down the sidewalk.

That image -- broad, grinning face wearing a fedora hat and chomping on an ever-present (and never lit) cigar -- is familiar to many longtime Raleigh residents. Yancey cultivated a following in the early '90s, when he was chef at the erstwhile Black Dog Cafe in City Market. By the time Yancey's Jazz & Blues Cafe, his first venture, closed in 2003, Harvey Yancey had become an iconic figure in downtown Raleigh, known as much for his larger-than-life personality and his support for local musicians as for his distinctive Cajun and down-home Southern fare.

It's fitting, then, that the opening of Yancy's (a joint venture of Yancey, Mark Valentine and Kevin Ingram) be accompanied by lots of showbiz hoopla, and that a bandstand shares the spotlight with an open state-of-the-art kitchen in the new restaurant. (The restaurant's name lost an "e" and, courtesy of the new restaurant's marketing department, gained an exclamation point.) As the slogan on the front door -- "Good Music, Great Food & Large Times!" -- implies, Yancy's is at least as much about the show as it is the food.

That's not to say that returning fans of Yancey's cooking will be disappointed. His famous gumbo, which he'll proudly tell you is still made from a recipe he learned many years ago from an old woman in Louisiana, is as authentically brick roux-thick and soul-satisfying as ever. His jambalaya is still chockablock with andouille sausage, shrimp, chicken, peppers and onions in a brassy tomato sauce. And his Cajun-spiced oyster stew is a must.

Po' boys come generously filled with any of a variety of fillings (oysters, shrimp, crawfish, turkey barbecue or sausage) on a soft hoagie roll - my only quibble being that the bread isn't the more substantial French loaf that is customary. The half-and-half po' boy combination of oysters and shrimp that's popular in Louisiana (where it's sometimes known as a "peacemaker") isn't listed on the menu, though they'll make you one if you ask for it.

Those with a hankering for a taste of the South outside Louisiana's borders will find satisfaction, too. (A note of caution: Don't be misled by the "shrimp and grits" listing. It isn't the Lowcountry specialty you're probably expecting, but a tomato-sauced dish that would more accurately be labeled "Creole-style shrimp and grits.") Thanks to a gas-fired hardwood smoker (part of that state-of-the-art-kitchen), the new Yancy's turns out smokier ribs than the old Yancey's ever could.

Fried chicken is moist and toothsomely crunchy of crust, and fried seafood is usually likewise rewarding. I say "usually" based on an experience in which a combo platter of flounder, catfish, shrimp and oysters was too salty across the board; given a second chance, the kitchen responded with beautifully cooked and perfectly seasoned seafood.

I'm inclined to think that the oversalting is a symptom of an overextended kitchen. Indeed, few restaurant kitchens could keep up with the five dozen or so listings (which, in addition to those I've already described, range from pulled pork to grilled rib-eye to Southwestern style chicken) on Yancy's menu without an occasional slipup. A newly assembled staff, cooking for a nearly always full house in a large restaurant such as this, is almost guaranteed to stumble. Besides the oversalted seafood, my encounters with such missteps included cold, oil-soaked pita wedges served with a shrimp and crab dip, and mussels splashed so liberally with Sambuca that the dish tasted like a bowl of licorice stew.

Still, hits outnumber misses by a fair margin. And once again, Harvey Yancey's food, his larger-than-life personality, and live music (jazz most nights; gospel for Sunday brunch) are proving a harmonious combination.

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