Making it Reign: King Cake Takes around Baton Rouge

by Hannah Wilson, intern

When I moved to Louisiana, there was a certain degree of culture shock. There were all of these new celebrations and everything was something to toast to. Something I learned early on was one of the delicacies that Mardi Gras season is best known for is King Cake. King Cake can be eaten for any meal, at any time without judgment and for that, King Cake will always hold a special place in my heart.

If there’s one thing Louisianan’s know, it’s how to celebrate. Over the years, different restaurants and companies throughout Louisiana have found different ways to incorporate King Cake into their menu to celebrate Carnival in new and creative ways. Here are some of the most tasty ways I’ve seen to enjoy King Cake.

Fat Cow King Cake Milkshake

This is something people crave all year. Fat Cow’s milkshakes are already amazing, but the festive flavor pairs well with their Parmesan and Duck Fat Fries or any burger.

It's finally here. Ring in the New Year the Louisiana way with the King Cake shake! Available beginning January 1st. #Fatcow #kingcakeshake #mardigras #geauxbr #eatproper #eatlocal

A post shared by Fat Cow Burgers And Salads (@fatcowburgers) on Dec 31, 2015 at 1:07pm PST

Cupcake Allie King Cake Bites

This bite size way to enjoy King Cake is easy to pop in, grab, and savor on the go!

Happy Friday!! Come pick up a cupcake, kingcake, cakebite cake, or some chocolate dipped strawberries!!

A post shared by Cupcake Allie (@cupcake_allie) on Jan 20, 2017 at 6:49am PST

Rösch Bakehaus King Cake

These artisanal cakes are few and tasty. With flavors like Dark Chocolate & Lavender, Ginger & Walnut and Raspberry Frangipane, they’re a uniquely delicious, hand-crafted way to celebrate Carnival.

It's #kingcake season! @bloup3 grabbed this candied ginger and walnut creation from @rosch.bakehaus. Where do you find your favorite king cakes? #carnivalseason #mardigras #tastelouisiana #gobr #eatbr

A post shared by Bite & Booze (@biteandbooze) on Jan 24, 2017 at 9:58am PST

City Pork King Cake Brulee

A unique take on a classic, crowd favorite. This festive treat pairs well with any of their special cocktails, especially the Hummingbird.

Bistro Byronz King Cake Bread Pudding

These two very tasty things merged into one is what dreams are made of. Trust me.

Get it before it's Gone. Real Gone. #kingcakebreadpudding #midcity #willowgrove #shreveport

A post shared by Good. Real Good. (@bistrobyronz) on Feb 19, 2015 at 10:57am PST

Tiger Deaux-nuts Maple Bacon King Cake 

Salty and sweet, what more could you want? This King Cake gets decadent with crumbled bacon, making all of your tastebuds happy!

What are you waiting for? {reference: pictured is our SMALL size} #repost from our buddy @chuckp23: can't go wrong with a maple bacon king cake from @tigerdeauxnuts!

A post shared by Tiger Deaux-nuts (@tigerdeauxnuts) on Jan 11, 2017 at 5:57am PST

Everyone has their own traditions and different ways they celebrate Carnival and Mardi Gras. Over the years, I’ve realized that no matter how you celebrate it’s always a memorable experience. These are tasty, local ways to mix it up this season.

8 of Baton Rouge's Best Restaurant Hacks

by Sydney Blanchard

If you've lived anywhere long enough, you'll become an expert on the area. And if you eat anywhere long enough, you'll learn the area's top secret menu tweaks to level up your favorite dishes.

We rounded a few of our favorite local restaurant "hacks" and threw in some of your suggestions through social media to come up with this list of our best Baton Rouge restaurant hacks. We didn't include fast food (except for Cane's because they started in Baton Rouge) or chain restaurants in this list, because that's not our style.

If you've got any restaurant hacks or know of any secret menu items at local restaurants, let us know in the comments!

Sammy's Grill

This one is Jay's: substitute pickled for fried mushrooms when ordering the Coach's Plate at Sammy's Grill.

The Chimes

The Ale Runner recommends ordering a blackened alligator poboy or a buffalo shrimp poboy at The Chimes.

No better appetizer than blackened gator

A photo posted by BBQ614 (@bbq614) on Apr 29, 2016 at 9:47am PDT

Bistro Byronz

On Instagram, @eatbatonrouge suggested adding the bleu cheese sauce to the debris sandwich at Bistro Byronz.

Beausoleil Restaurant and Bar

According to @gsweathers on Instagram, ordering Beausoleil's truffle fried oyster appetizer on a bun is a recipe for success.

Tio Javi's Fresh Mex Bar & Grill

According to insider sources, Tio Jave (formerly Ninfa's) has a secret third salsa that you can get only if you ask for it by name: the Molcajete.

Atcha Bakery & Cafe

Team Bite and Booze consumes more Atcha per week than anything else. Blair taught us this tip: substitute the rice in any combo plate for extra hummus.

Pluckers Wing Bar

This one was one of my favorites in college! Frachos: order the nachos but sub out the tortilla chips for waffle fries.

Want those boneless wings and lemonade... #pluckers #food #boneless #wings

A photo posted by Pluckers Wing Bar (@pluckerswingbar) on May 25, 2016 at 7:53am PDT

Raising Cane's

There are a number of Cane's hacks, but my favorite is that you can get your toast toasted on BOTH SIDES if you ask for it. Also, unbeknownst to many, they have honey mustard. (Formerly, everyone in the know knew to order the Cane's chicken sandwich with toast instead of buns for a cheaper, two-toast alternative to the three finger combo, but my sources tell me that Cane's caught on and no longer honors this substitution.)

If it can be dipped, it tastes better with #CanesSauce.

A photo posted by Raising Cane's (@raisingcanes) on Apr 11, 2016 at 4:53pm PDT

Insta-Worthy Cocktails in Baton Rouge and New Orleans

by Sydney Blanchard

I don't know about y'all, but any time I go out and order a cocktail, I feel compelled to photograph it and post it on Instagram. There's just something so fun and novel about ordering a pretty cocktail. And if it tastes great? Even better.

Louisiana (New Orleans, specifically) is the birthplace of the cocktail, and what better way to celebrate local cocktail culture than to make a not-so-comprehensive list of some of the most photo-worthy cocktails we've had in the Baton Rouge/New Orleans area?

Without further adieu...here's our list! What would you include?

Grapefruit Margarita at Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar

A little sweet, a little tart, and adorably pink, the grapefruit margarita at Jolie Pearl is perfect for pairing with oysters. 

Vodka Freeze at Bistro Byronz

This snow-white, boozy vodka freeze is a Bistro Byronz favorite.Topped with a cherry and a lime slice, it's also a guaranteed like-generator on Instagram. 

Blueberry Hill at Olive or Twist

You can't get an ugly cocktail at Olive or Twist. This muddled blueberry cocktail bursts with berry flavor and color, making it perfectly photogenic.

Sweet-T-Sway at Lock & Key Whiskey Bar

As gorgeous as it is delicious, Lock & Key's picture perfect Sweet-T-Sway combines sweet tea, pomegranate liqueur, muddled mint and hand-crushed ice. 

Jalapeño Pineapple Cilantro Margarita at Araña

Visually stunning chunky pineapple and bright green jalapeño bits make this margarita at Araña pop (and will make all your followers envious).

Damn Thistle at Sac-A-Lait

Sweet, syrupy, and adorned with an edible hibiscus flower, the picturesque Damn Thistle at Sac-A-Lait features Donner-Peltier's Oryza Vodka and tastes like a dream.

Bleu Cheese and Bread Pudding: The Bistro Byronz Stride

by Sydney "Brown Nose" Blanchard, intern

Heading down Perkins Road, not much revolutionary exists in the span of pavement between Bluebonnet and Siegen. In the last few years, neighborhoods and suburbs boasting large, stately McMansions have cropped up in the expanse, but Baton Rougeans in the area had little to brag about beside a strip mall or two,Perkins Rowe, and the oft praised Louisiana Lagniappe.

Bistro Byronz's famous Bleu Cheese Chips

I think Bistro Byronz sensed this. Their new location at Willow Grove offers a dining option where before options were limited.

The second Baton Rouge location opened for business a couple weeks ago at Village Plaza Court on Perkins Road, and the new location maintains a lot of the same atmosphere as the original decade-old Government Street location.

Old fans will be excited to hear the white and black interior mimics that of the original location, with tiled floors and low lighting setting the mood. Mirrors line the walls, opening up the space and making it feel much larger than it looks from the outside. 

But that’s the only optical illusion Byronz is pulling. The food is the real deal.

Redfish Meuniere

Legend has it, the only way to begin a meal at Byronz is with the bleu cheese chips. Go with the large, and don't turn your back on those chips for one second. Trust me, Jay, Blair and I were fighting tooth and nail for the last chip.

When it comes to choosing an entree, you can’t really go wrong with any item on the menu. Jay opted for the Redfish Meuniere, a pan-seared redfish filet topped with a meuniere sauce – a tasty take on a classic. Interestingly, it is served with a risotto cake and asparagus. Jay made a happy plate, so I'll take that as a thumbs up from him.

I ordered the stand-out on the menu – the Abita Pork Chop – a thick, French-cut chop glazed with Abita root beer and served with roasted potatoes and asparagus. The syrupy glaze paired well with the juicy pork chop. I had to stab my fork at Jay and Blair to keep them from swiping my chop.

Abita Pork Chop

Bistro Byronz serves up a handful of yummy dessert options, but to dine at the bistro in Carnival Season and not have the King Cake bread pudding would be a mortal sin.

In my experience, bread pudding tends to fall short of impressive, but this unique take on a traditional Louisiana dessert is something to write home (or blog) about.

And, word on the street is, Byronz will soon be serving up some sweet potato fries with a similar twist. Be on the lookout!

A relaxing evening in a dimly lit, newly-built restaurant is tough to top, and Bistro Byronz surely delivered in this first experience at their newest location.

Month of Salads #8: Bistro Byronz

Bistro Byronz Blackened Shrimp Salad

Bistro Byronz presents a lovely dining option nestled sweetly in Mid-City Baton Rouge. I brunched there the day after Fête Rouge with the ladies from Visit Baton Rouge as well as the great group of food bloggers that took to the town for the weekend. With a lot of water and several cups of coffee, I seemed to be on the way to Fête Rouge recovery. We also devoured plenty of bleu cheese chips and french toast beignets to get started, which certainly helped. Since August is the Month of Salads, I felt the blackened shrimp salad calling my name! Spicy shrimp atop a spritely bed of mixed greens were accompanied by Mandarin oranges, feta crumbles and one of the most gorgeous sliced avocados I've seen. The salad presented crunchy, spicy, and sweet flavors with an orange rosemary vinaigrette and served as a nice pick me up from my wine hangover!

A Culinary Adventure on Government Street Part I: Bistro Byronz

Wednesday evening Eusebio and I were hungry and bored... usually not a good combination. For us, however, it was just a good excuse for a culinary adventure. I had heard of a few things that I needed to eat since I started this blog and we decided to go give them a try. Bistro Byronz on Government Street was our first stop. We walked in and sat at the bar, ordered a couple drinks, and looked over their menu.  The restaurant is fairly small and creates a cozy atmosphere for its diners.  We were there to try the Blue Cheese Chips... a plate of freshly sliced, thin cut, golden fried, unsalted homemade potato chips that is topped with a creamy blue cheese sauce and chucks of crumbled, fresh blue cheese and garnished with some green onions.

Blue Cheese Chips at Bistro Byronz

Let me tell you friends, they were worth they hype.  I'm not going to sit here and type that they were the best things that I've ever eaten or that they deserve a Nobel Peace Prize or anything, but they were pretty damn tasty!  The potatoes were everything you want in a homemade chip.  They were light and crunchy with the perfect thickness to provide a great dipping mechanism.

We also ordered a couple of other items just to give them a try and give us a little variety.  The two dishes we tried were the carrot souffle and the Abita chili.

Carrot Souffle at Bistro Byronz

Abita Chili at Bistro Byronz

The carrot souffle was sweet and smooth, although in my opinion was a little too runny.  It tasted like candy in the same style as candied yams during Thanksgiving but the texture was almost more of a thick soup than a creamy souffle.  Still, the taste was great and being an item that you can't order everywhere in town, was worth a try.  The Abita chili was a little disappointing.  It had no flavor of any Abita beer whatsoever.  The taste was fairly ordinary even with the addition of cheese, sour cream, and chives, and would be easy to duplicate at home.  On tap of that, the chili was served at a luke warm temperature which was not even enough to melt the shredded cheese.

Bistro Byronz also makes a dessert that we wanted to taste but we were going to sample some dishes at another place on Government Street as well so we got it to go and ate it when we were back at home.  The Bistro Bread Pudding was a delicious dessert that had blueberries baked in and was covered with a vanilla cream sauce.  The texture was not as firm as I would like and felt like it may have needed a little more time in the oven.  It almost had a custard texture which seemed odd for a bread pudding of that nature.  The vanilla sauce was good but not out of this world.  The Bistro Bread Pudding was certainly a good treat but not the best bread pudding I've ever had.

I enjoyed our samples from Bistro Byronz but we weren't there to eat a full meal as we had another place to go try.  We left still hungry and made our way to Opie's Cajun Cafe for some more.  To read about that part of the adventure go to the next post.