The Bouillabaisse Diaries: Tallulah Crafted Food and Wine Bar

by Paige Johannessen

I must say, until recently I had not heard much about Tallulah Crafted Food and Wine Bar, or even knew where it was located. To be honest, I had never stepped inside of the Renaissance Baton Rouge until visiting Tallulah last month. It’s beautiful in there! I typically refer friends and family who are coming to visit to stay downtown, but on the corner of Bluebonnet and Anselmo is a hotel with a stunning interior and a surprisingly good wine bar and restaurant.

I went to meet a friend at the wine bar for a glass of wine before sitting down for the dinner tasting and y'all, I thought I walked into heaven. There was bottle after bottle of wine on tap. Tallulah uses an Enomatic Wine Serving System, which in layman's terms means a fancy way for preserving open bottles of wine which allows them to serve lots of different wines by the glass. To top all of this off I was pleasantly surprised to find out it is half off glasses of wine on Wednesdays AND there was live music. We were off to a good start.

After gabbing, having more wine than we planned, and catching up about life and love and our growing waist lines we finally sat down for dinner.

The restaurant is small and intimate, located directly behind the bar. You could still hear the live music playing in the bar area and we had a lovely view of the outside patio thats full of patio seating around fire pits (note to self: drink wine on tap next to a fire this winter).

From left to right: Tuna Poke Lettuce Cups with a citrus soy marinade, Creole Oysters served over duck bacon and topped with rockefeller butter, Crab Cake served over corn maque choux and a remoulade drizzle

Once settled we were presented with a collection of appetizers. Tuna poke delicately presented in lettuce cups, fried oysters over duck bacon and crab cakes served on a heaping pile of corn maque choux. I could not pick a favorite from these because they are all so different but the fried oyster over duck bacon stood out the most. The oysters were delicately battered and the duck bacon was not chewy or dry. I could have popped one after another of those suckers and not felt the least bit guilty.

Next, we were brought a sandwich duo. A three cheese grilled cheese filled with bacon and red onion jam and a duck BLT. Duck bacon in a BLT. Hallelujah! Duck was a common theme throughout the dinner tasting and I was pleased to learn from Jace Schexnaydre, Tallulah’s Sous Chef, that his staff takes a lot of pride in not wasting any parts of the ingredients that come through their kitchen. If they have duck on the menu, they are going to do their damndest to use all parts of the duck in other dishes, nothing goes to waste. 

Duck Bacon BLT: house made duck bacon, arugula, tomato, pickled red onion, remoulade 

Up next was a trio of entrees. Cold smoked fried chicken served alongside a four cheese cast iron mac and cheese, a steaming bowl of bouillabaisse, and a vegetarian eggplant dish with shiitake mushrooms stacked high over quinoa. 

Let me interrupt here for a quick story: When I first moved to Baton Rouge from Las Vegas, Nevada, needless to say, I had never experienced true cajun cooking. My grandfather who has lived his whole life in Findlay, Ohio had taken a trip to New Orleans many, many years ago and apparently had one of the best dishes of his life, a bouillabaisse. Every time I talk to my grandfather, he asks me if I have had a bouillabaisse yet. And for eight years I have had the same answer, “I can’t find it anywhere”.

Well, I finally got to try a bouillabaisse and maybe I am being sentimental here, but I was so impressed by this rich, flavorful dish. The head on shrimp, chunks of delicate redfish and mussels all soaking in the creole broth mixed with the hunks of andouille made for a truly spectacular dish. I could not wait to call my grandfather the next day and rave to him about my bouillabaisse experience. So, thank you Tallulah, for ending my eight year quest! 

Bouillabaisse: head on shrimp, redfish, mussels, andouille, creole broth, wild rice

Last, but certainly not least a single, hearty slice of cheesecake topped with chunks of praline, a honey drizzle and sprinkled with blueberries finished off the night. Just when I thought I could not take one more bite...but who can resist cheesecake?




I left that evening with a parting bag of duck cracklins in hand and incredibly impressed by this tucked away gem on Bluebonnet that I had never visited. Believe me, if there is a restaurant in town serving half off glasses of wine and rich bowls of bouillabaisse, you will see me there again.

Cheers!

LCI's Race to Cannes Final: Jeremy Campbell vs Bryan Poche

Jeremy Campbell (left) and Bryan Poche went head to head in the finals of the Louisiana Culinary Institute's Race to Cannes cooking competition.  When I judged Round 2, groups 3 and 4 earlier in the competition, I actually helped score both Jeremy and Bryan to victory.  Seeing both of them in the final got my mouth watering before I even knew what was on the menu!

Jay Ducote and the other judges prepare to be well fed

The chefs knew they would be working with the three main ingredients of Louisiana Pompano, Jerusalem Artichokes, and Fresh Fennel.  However, just before the start of the competition, both chefs were given the mystery ingredients of Smoked Mussels, Raw Pecans, Crab Butter (crab roe), and Assorted Fresh and Dried Chilies.  Both chefs were tasked with incorporating all of the ingredients into either their appetizer or entrée as a full ingredient, not just a garnish.  I love the added level of difficulty for the finals!

Judges taste Bryan's appetizer

Bryan Poche's "Creole Stewed Octopus and Fried Grits"

Bryan presented what he called a "unique play on the ever popular shrimp and grits."  He was certainly right about that!  The dish featured some morsels of octopus that had been slow-cooked in a bath of tomatoes, chilies, and more.  To add a little something extra to the grits, he molded them and then coated the grits with a batter before frying them to crunchy golden exterior.  I love the extremely creative play on a popular dish, as well as the balls he had to use octopus in his dish.  Everything tasted great, and I think the chilies he had to use as a mystery ingredient added a nice touch.  The one critique that I made was that the dish looked like a bit of a monochromatic mess on the plate.  I would have liked too see a few different colors or even a green garnish to balance out all the red and orange.

Judges try Jeremy's Salad

Jeremy Campbell's "Braised Squid with Warm Arugula Salad

Jeremy's appetizer consisted of a salad.  However, this was no ordinary salad.  Rather than fry his squid like so many others, he braised it in red wine and served it over warm Arugula tossed with lemon and black pepper vinaigrette.  He also added some pecans in order to use a mystery ingredient and provide a little extra crunch.  Each bite of the salad left me thoroughly impressed.  The fact that the Arugula was served warm and slightly wilted added to the unique factor.  Still, the highlight of the dish easily came from the beautifully cooked squid with that gorgeous purple color after it had been braised in red wine.  Compliments to the chef, for sure!

Jay Ducote readies himself for the main courses.

Bryan Poche's "Crabmeat Stuffed Pompano

My highest rated dish came from the plate of food that I would have most likely ordered again... or tried to cook for myself.  Bryan described his inspiration as taking two things he loved and putting one inside the other.  And why not put a crab cake inside a piece of fried fish??  He topped the expertly fried Pompano, which isn't usually a frying fish due to its oily nature, with a mixture of artichoke, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and pepper jack cheese.  The colors in the entree worked far better than they did in his appetizer.  However, the sunchoke gratin left a little to be desired.  It tasted slightly undercooked and a little bland, but still managed to be pretty good.  To wrap up the plate, the braised fennel that Bryan served had to have been the best fennel I've ever had.  The texture, color, and taste were all spot-on.  The dish as a whole really impressed both my eyes and taste buds!

Judges taste the Race's final dish

Jeremy Campbell's Pompano Bouillabaisse

Our final dish came from Jeremy and it packed some heat.  He plated a pompano bouillabaisse which featured fresh pompano simmered in white wine, sherry and tomatoes served over Louisiana popcorn rice.  The broth also included some chilies and smoked mussels from the mystery ingredients that added a really unique flavoring to the bouillabaisse.  Adding even more complexity to the stock, Jeremy added some brown sugar to round out the smokiness and heat.  Everything tasted spectacularly rich and it became difficult to put the fork down.  I would have liked to see some contrasting texture, but other than that, this dish proved to be a serious winner.

In fact, it did carry Jeremy on to the victory.  Scores as whole were extremely close, but Jeremy pulled out the win, and with it a trip to be part of the culinary team at the Cannes Film Festival in France.  I'd like to congratulate both Jeremy and Bryan on a job well done.  The Race to Cannes is a fantastic culinary competition and I can see plenty growth in its future.  To learn more about everything going on at the Louisiana Culinary Institute, check out their website at www.louisianaculinary.com!