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!

Fresh Takes on King Cake

by Daniel Harris, intern

The only time it's acceptable to accidentally bite into a baby, be it plastic or not, is when your slice of King Cake is the hiding space for the small trinket traditionally placed inside the cake.

Louisianans know King Cake as a large ring of cinnamon dough, sometimes with a fruit or cream filling, topped with icing and purple, green, and gold sprinkles, like this one from Calandro’s Market, one of our personal favorites at Bite and Booze.

The only thing getting us through this gloomy day? The promise of King Cake! Tag someone who's always down to split a King Cake 💜💛💚 #kingcake #calandros #mardigras #fattuesday #foodblogger #foodpics #yummy

A photo posted by Jay Ducote (@biteandbooze) on Jan 26, 2016 at 8:23am PST

But King Cake, like many things in the food world, is being constantly revamped to include an individual’s personal style and touch. This can mean transforming it into anything from a burger to a cocktail.

Keep scrolling for some of our favorite takes on the King Cake!

Copeland’s King Cake Cheesecake

#TBT to the time in 2013 that @jayducote posted this King Cake Cheesecake on the Bite and Booze Facebook page and then three years later it went viral! Great stuff from @copelands! #nomnom #tastelouisiana #kingcake #cheesecake

A photo posted by Jay Ducote (@biteandbooze) on Jan 14, 2016 at 6:44am PST

I like King Cake, and I like cheesecake, so why not combine the two? That’s exactly what Copeland’s did with their King Cake cheesecake.

Fat Cow’s King Cake Milkshake

Fat Cow's King Cake milkshake

Fat Cow has some of the best milkshakes in town, but this one takes the cake!

Twin’s Burgers and Sweets Boudin King Cake

Boudin stuffed King Cake topped with bacon and Steen's syrup

When you get tired of sweets, swing over to Twin’s Burgers and Sweets in Lafayette to get your savory fix with their Boudin King Cake.

Tiger Deauxnut’s Maple Bacon King Cake

First bite of the legendary Maple Bacon King Cake from @tigerdeauxnuts of the season! Who wants a slice? #goBR #carnival #foodpics #foodporn #kingcake #tastelousiana

A photo posted by Jay Ducote (@biteandbooze) on Jan 6, 2016 at 12:58pm PST

Bacon makes everything better, and King Cakes are no exception.

Next time you have a craving for King Cake, why not branch out and give something new a try, because Mardi Gras is right around the corner, and they won’t be around much longer!

Treat Yoself: A Sugary Sweet Dessert Roundup

by Sydney Blanchard

Much to the horror of my dentist, I love to eat sweets. Gummy, stick-to-your-teeth candies rank the highest for me, followed closely by pastries, cookies, chocolate, and anything else that triggers tooth decay. 

I'm not alone in my addiction to sweets. Jay and Chuck P are almost as bad as I am when it comes to sugary delights. Jay has, to my knowledge, never passed up dessert at the end of a meal, and Chuck P could eat nothing but doughnuts for the rest of his life and be happy. 

So I'd like to dedicate this post to all those sugar fiends like me who crave the sweet and will pass on the salty. Here's some of the prettiest desserts we've encountered. Some have made it to blog posts, some have been featured previously on social media, and others are debuting in this very post.

Screw your New Years' Resolutions, your diet starts tomorrow!

First It's Sour...

Sour Patch flavored sorbet in Orange Beach

How gorgeous is this scoop of Sour Patch sorbet from Fisher's in Orange Beach, Alabama? The chefs there churn out candy-inspired ice creams as part of the dessert menu at Fisher's Upstairs, and we got to try all of them (including the Barq's root beet flavored ice cream and the candy corn flavored ice cream). This sorbet tasted exactly like the Sour Patch candies that destroyed my tastebuds as a child!

It's a Piece of (Cheese)Cake

strawberry #cheesecake at McEwen's in @visitoxford has got us missing #1 cheesecake fan @jayducote! #visitoxfordms #yummy #mcewans #oxford #lrctrip

A photo posted by Jay Ducote (@biteandbooze) on Nov 11, 2015 at 12:59pm PST

Chocolate? Check. Cheesecake? Check. My favorite Southern city? Check. This delectable dessert came from McEwen's in Oxford, Mississippi, the perfect spot to share desserts and cocktails with friends.

Eyes on the Pies

We are keeping our 👀s on the 🍰s at @strawnseatshop! This strawberry ice box pie is to die for! What's your favorite ice box pie? #tastelouisiana #strawn #iceboxpie #strawberry

A photo posted by Jay Ducote (@biteandbooze) on Sep 25, 2015 at 12:41pm PDT

Featured as one of my Best Bites of 2015, this strawberry icebox pie from Strawn's Eat Shop haunts my dreams. I've tried and failed to find a comparable pie around Baton Rouge. Sure, there's City Pork Kitchen & Pie's version of the strawberry icebox pie, and of course there's Ambrosia's famous strawberry cake (which has been served as my birthday cake every year since I first discovered it), but nothing around here tastes quite like what they've got going on up in the Shreve.

Fruit Sorbet, Yummy Yummy

Dessert at Chef John Besh's Lüke in New Orleans

Sorry, but to me this dessert constitutes as health food. Look at all that fruit! This is practically a salad, for all intents and purposes. This berry sorbet topped with a berry sauce and covered in fresh blueberries and peaches from Lüke in New Orleans tasted about as good as it looked.

Strawberry Tarts Forever

Strawberry tart from L'Auberge in Lake Charles

As if they didn't feed me enough when I visited Lake Charles! One night back at the hotel, I wanted a little post-dinner snack, and I opted for this strawberry tart from L'Auberge Lake Charles. Pretty much instantly, this picture blew up on social media. Enjoyed with a little wine by the fire, it was a pretty good end to a great evening. 

Snow Day

Grape snowball from Snoman Snoballs in Baton Rouge

The best thing about snowballs is that everyone has their "thing," either a special combination of flavors or a classic topped with condensed milk or stuffed with ice cream. Some lunatics even like sour spray on this classic summer cool-down treat. Of course Blair likes plain grape, but I always combine wedding cake and ice cream flavored syrup and top the whole thing with condensed milk. I live for snowball season.

With a Cherry on Top

Forever dreaming of this cherry topped cheesecake from @notjustpie in Monroe! Cheesecake is hands down one of my favorite desserts. Where is your favorite cheesecake in town? @pizzagirlfriend insists the best cheesecake is at Piccadilly's...not sure I agree. Thoughts? #cheesecake #dessertporn #yummy #foodpics #monroe #notjustpie

A photo posted by Jay Ducote (@biteandbooze) on Aug 25, 2015 at 11:22am PDT

I've had plenty of cheesecake in my day. It's my go-to dessert at most restaurants. And don't come at me with that "cheesecake" powder mix, or a frozen boxed cheesecake. I like the fluffy ones made from scratch. Despite my favorite cheesecake being Piccadilly's, hands down, this cherry-topped slice from Not Just Pie in Monroe, Louisiana, had that perfect fluffy texture I love.

Float On

Root Beer Float at City Pork Deli

City Pork Deli never ceases to impress me. Once for lunch we happened to drop in unwittingly on National Root Beer Float Day, and CP was serving up this gorgeous root beer float made with Swamp Pop Filé Root Beer and rimmed with crushed candied pecan dust. Mark your calendars for August 5. Hopefully they'll recreate it this year!

Beignet? More like Beign-Bae

Beignet? More like beign-bae! You can never go wrong with beignet fingers from #coffeecall in #gobr! #tastelouisiana #comehomela @visitbatonrouge @louisianatravel @louisianacookin @louisianaculinarytrails #nomnom #foodporn #donuts #sugar #nomnomnom #beignetmoster

A photo posted by Jay Ducote (@biteandbooze) on Dec 15, 2015 at 7:58am PST

Last week I was up late watching Chef with my girlfriend, and we saw a scene where the main characters ate beignets at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans. Without talking, we exchanged a meaningful look, put our shoes on, hopped in the car, and headed straight to Coffee Call for a bag of their beignet fingers. As we sat covered in powdered sugar, we thought aloud, "Where else in the world can you crave beignets and acquire them pretty much instantaneously?" Our answer? Only in Louisiana!

Ember Grille and Winebar at L'Auberge Lake Charles

Gator Bite with Spiced Bayou Rum

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit the southwestern Louisiana city of Lake Charles. I've driven through the city countless times before on my to Houston and back from Baton Rouge, but other than a few stops at Darrell's for a Darrell's Special poboy (one of the greatest sandwiches in the world, by the way) and a handful of says at the L'Auberge property, I had never truly experienced the culture of Lake Charles. On the night I arrived with other food and travel writers we were greeted and treated to dinner at the Ember Grille and Winebar at our host hotel of the aforementioned L'Auberge Casino and Resort. The casino-driven destination is a one-stop-shop for a weekend getaway with a gaming floor, golf course, lazy river, spa, and plenty of culinary options. The Ember Steakhouse is the finest of them all and, having eaten there once before, I knew I'd be in for a treat! Upon arrival I met Trey Litel from Louisiana Spirits in nearby Lacassine and got a taste of his Bayou Rum in a refreshing cocktail. The Gator Bite had similar qualities to rum punch but utilized the spiced Bayou Rum to give it an extra Louisiana flair. After getting the night started with the cocktail, I readied myself for the onslaught of food that was about to come.

Foie Gras with Goat Cheese Stuffed French Toast

The barrage began with a round of appetizers that highlight the menu of Ember. We started with an amuse of lobster salad on endive. To the right is seared foie gras with goat cheese stuffed French toast and bourbon maple syrup. The dish seemed like an odd pairing but it worked incredibly well as savory richness met sweet richness to form an uncommon combination of succulence that needs to be experienced. Also present in the small plates round were the lamb lollipops that have been on Ember's menu since it opened as well as butternut squash ravioli stuffed with more foie gras and shaved white truffle on top. Quail and waffles were also presented as a play on the chicken dish but with a rosemary and roasted garlic waffle, micro cilantro, and vanilla syrup. To round out the appetizers we had the dish below, a pecan smoked bacon wrapped shrimp tossed in barbecue sauce with stone ground grits and white cheddar! All of the appetizers were incredible, and most of the table started to feel full after that course, but we had to power through three more courses of gastronomic delight like the pros we are!

Pecan Smoked Bacon Wrapped Shrimp over White Cheddar Stone Ground Grits

A Trio of the House's Most Popular Salads

To lighten things up our next course had a trio of the house's most popular salads. Starting on the left we enjoyed the mixed greens with Granny Smith apples and balsamic vinaigrette. Next up came a tuna tartare with avocado and cucumber carpaccio. Finally the Maytag blue cheese wedge with bacon crumbles filled the last spot. All three tasting portions were spot on with flavor profiles and pairings. I'd love to eat more salad courses like this!

After the salad my phone died and I had to put it on a charger for the next couple of courses. Needless to say, I didn't get many more pictures of the meal, but such is life! We had several main courses come out of the kitchen and on to our table. A piece of halibut accompanied by a porcini mushroom, port, and sherry reduction produced a lovely seafood option. I've loved halibut ever since I went fishing in Alaska in 2010! We also had a smoked rabbit loin

stuffed with panchetta over mashed potatoes. It packed a punch of flavor with the smokiness and tenderness of the rabbit. A couple side items came out as well like truffle mac and cheese and grilled asparagus. But the real highlight of the meal was a 40oz prime tomahawk ribeye, partially seen in the picture of me gnawing at the bone below. The gorgeous steak had a succulent flavor with superb marbling as it was cooked to a beautiful medium rare temperature. Thanks to Kerry Anderson at L'Auberge for snapping the photo!

Jay Gnaws on the Tomahawk Ribeye

Desserts by Chef Bill Foltz

As we moved to dessert I got my phone off the charger and was able to get a few more pictures. "Screw a trio," must have been the thoughts of pastry chef Bill Foltz as he came out with four tastings of signature desserts at L'Auberge. This guy has won serious pastry contests before, so I was pretty excited to eat his desserts which most definitely did not disappoint. On the left is the Key West, a key lime custard whipped cream with pound cake and mango. A little taste of the tropics, I could have eaten much more of that, but alas I just had to move on to the chocolate skillet cake with cream and caramel that sat to the right. Following that dish of gluttony came my favorite of the dessert options because of its originality, a citrus cheese cake mousse with pistachio twill and cherry sauce. The temperatures and textures all played off each other for a tremendous burst of flavor. Finally we had a creme brulee torched on the table.

The entire meal may have put me in a food coma, but all I had to do afterwards was sleep then wake up and eat again all day. I'll have more of that to come because the following day included dining around Lake Charles complete with a horse and carriage ride, a Mardi Gras museum, and much more!

Heading to NYC: Ruffino's James Beard Preview Dinner

Katherine Lagow and I at the James Beard Preview Dinner

Chef Peter Sclafani, Ruffin Rodrigue, and everyone at Ruffino's have earned my round of applause.  Chef Peter has been selected to cook at the James Beard House in New York City, and I had a lucky spot at the 'Central Park' table at Ruffino's for the preview dinner.  “Cooking at the Beard House has been on my bucket list ever since I donned my first chef’s hat,” said Sclafani, Co-Owner and Executive Chef at Ruffino’s. “I am truly humbled that they have asked me to cook there, and I am exceedingly proud to represent Baton Rouge and Louisiana on the most prestigious stage in the American culinary landscape.”  The dinner in NYC will be this Saturday, April 6, 2013.  Chef Sclafini's take on 'French Creole meets Italian' is a winner, and I'm certain that it will please the palate of all who have the fortunate ticket to the amazing dinner.  Here's a little of what they're in for as Ruffino's brings Louisiana up north!

Hors D'oeuvres: Grits and Grillades

The hors d'oeuvres were served with a little bubbly to get the night started.  The Mionetto Prosecco NV got everyone's palates ready for the onslaught of Louisiana-inspired goodies.  Shrimp corndogs with honey mustard, crawfish arancini, charbroiled oysters, and a corn and crab shooter rounded out a bevy of seafood small bites.  All were fantastic.  The grits and grillades, pictured above in the Asian spoon, were right on the money.  I could have eaten a dozen of them!

Crab Cheesecake

For the first sit down course, Chef Peter pulled out one of his classic dishes: crab cheesecake.  The cheesecake is loaded with Louisiana crab meat and plated with all sorts of delicious sauces and crumbles.  I'm embarrassed to say that I hadn't ever had his signature crab cheesecake before.  Next time I'm there, I'll be looking out for it as an appetizer!

Heirloom Tomato "Caprese" Salad

Chef Peter is bringing a new twist to his award winning caprese salad course with him to New York.  The dish, which features heirloom tomatoes, burrata cheese, and balsamic caviar, will now also feature some foie gras mousse as well.  The foie gras is inside the burrata cheese, and when all mixed together, provides and excellent additional flavor to the exquisite tomatoes and the novelty of the sphere-ified 25-year-old balsamic vinegar.

Braised Mississippi Rabbit with Gnocchi

The third course of the dinner service brought on a locally inspired dish with plenty of Italian flare.  The braised rabbit is cooked down with plenty of aromatic vegetables until it is tender and rich with flavor.  The gnocchi, a popular Italian potato pasta, are fluffy and soak up plenty stock.  This is a comfort dish that I could eat a whole bowl of as a meal, but it worked even better as a course in this delightful dinner.

Head-to-Toe Pork

The James Beard preview dinner's main entree consisted of pork two ways.  Pork cheeks, one of the most succulent cuts of pork in existence, were served with Benton's bacon jam along side a butternut squash puree.  Also joining the plate were a pair of pork trotter tortellini.  The pork trotters are from the feet of the pig, and also provide good eating when cooked the right way.  Everything on this plate worked the right way.  From the tenderness of the pork to the flavor combinations with the bacon and butternut squash, I couldn't get enough.  Really.  I had to steal some off of the plate next to me!

Chicory Cafe Au Lait Panna Cotta with Chocolate Chip Beignets

Naturally, the Creole-Italian dessert featured coffee.  The delicious chicory panna cotta played with me senses and the bitterness of the coffee danced with the creaminess and sweetness of the gelatin-based dessert.  The beignets, when dipped in the chocolate sauce, added a nice change of texture to the dish.  I definitely left satisfied and filled to the brim.  Those folks in New York are in for a treat!

Driven by its mission “to celebrate, nurture and preserve America’s diverse culinary heritage and future,” the James Beard Foundation is dedicated to exploring the way food enriches our lives. The Foundation maintains the historic James Beard House in New York City’s Greenwich Village as a “performance space” for visiting chefs. A cookbook author and teacher, James Beard was a champion of American cuisine who helped educate and mentor generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled for Peter, and for our restaurant, to be invited to the Beard House,” said Ruffino’s co-owner Ruffin Rodrigue, who manages the front of the house and operations for the restaurant. “This is truly an amazing honor, and you can bet Peter will be pulling out all the stops to make April 6th a night that New York City won’t soon forget!”  I agree with Ruffin.  If he can pull off the dinner in NYC like he did for us at the preview dinner on his home turf, he'll be making Baton Rouge and all of Louisiana proud, that's for sure.

Cafe JoJo's in Morgan City

On a recent trip to the Louisiana Coast I had the pleasure of getting treated to a fantastic dinner at Cafe JoJo's in Morgan City.  The restaurant, which opened its doors in 2003, sits in downtown on the banks of the Atchafalaya River.  Fortunately the levee system saved them from most of the flooding after the Morganza Spillway opened this past summer.  Still reeling from the oil spill over a year ago, the Louisiana seafood industry is currently on a long path to recovery.  Morgan City was at the center of the storm, so to speak, during the whole fiasco.  With an ironically named "Shrimp and Petroleum Festival" as the city's largest annual event, it is easy to understand the strong ties of seafood and oil that bond the community.  I made commentary on the connection between Louisiana and Alaska in an earlier post based on seafood and oil, and thanks to Exxon and BP, the coastal communities became even more connected in a tragic way.

Dinner at Cafe JoJo's began with a fried crab cake in an artichoke and corn sauce.  The cake itself came packed with fresh Louisiana crab.  The artichoke and corn sauce impressed me as it had both an intriguing uniqueness  and an excellent taste to go along with the crab.

Course two saw an Oyster Rockefellar bisque.  While I admire the idea of turning a classic dish into a soup, this happened to be the only course that didn't overly satisfy me.  The fried oysters in the creamy bisque felt out of place and left an odd texture.  However, the flavor of the soup still had me eating the entire cup.  Maybe I'm just a fat ass.

The Cafe JoJo's staff brought out the third course.  A delicious seafood crepe came out loaded with shrimp and crab and smothered in an amazing buttery, creamy herb sauce.  I gobbled the crepes up in record time.  They had a great savoriness to match the sweetness of the seafood.  

By the time the fourth course came out almost everybody at the table had already gotten full.  Not me.  I knew what I had in store and I got my second stomach ready.  The main entree featured a grilled Louisiana redfish filet with green beans topped with an intoxicating pesto-chardonnay sauce.  The dish is one that I'd love to recreate at some point.  While the meal as a whole just continued to get heavier and heavier with butters and creams, this dish and this sauce stood out on their own.  I loved every bite of it and needed extra bread to soak up the sauce that remained abandoned on my plate.

And naturally, no meal is complete without dessert.  I tasted the turtle cheesecake (front and center), the bread pudding (far left), and my favorite, the homemade Chantilly cream (top right).  The cream had a light fluffiness that ideal rounded out the heavy meal.  I managed to have a few bites before bringing the rest back to the hotel with me.  All in all, Cafe JoJo's served up an outstanding and memorable meal, and I'd be happy to return any time I dine in Morgan City.

Marx's Foods Iron Foodie 2010 on Foodie BlogRoll

UPDATE: I was selected as one of the top 25 entries, so I'll get to compete in the challenge!  Stay tuned to see what I come up with!

The Foodie BlogRoll has presented a challenge that struck me at my core.  Partnering with Marx Foods, a company dedicated to providing premium restaurant supply food products that now sells straight to the public as well, they have given 25 bloggers the opportunity to create a custom dish with superb products.  I can only hope to be one of the chosen 25!  To enter, I have to respond to these five questions, so let's get after it.

• Why do you want to compete in this challenge?

Jay with some Louisiana boiled shrimp

I love a good challenge.  Anything that will stretch my mind's culinary capacity and get me to be creative in the kitchen is a good thing.  The idea behind this contest, receiving a package of eight surprise ingredients and then having to create a signature dish using three of them, is really a foodie dream.  Oftentimes the best meals are spontaneous and just thrown together, showing off more art than science in the kitchen.  Being creative and playing with food is what it's all about, and I'd be excited to see what I could come up with the eight Marx Foods ingredients!  Maybe I'll get a little seafood online like from an online fish market. Perhaps there won't be any seafood at all, but instead a bunch of different herbs and spices for which I'll have to break out my professional cookware.  Only time will tell.  Either way, I'll make sure to cook up something great!

• Limitations of time/space notwithstanding, whose kitchen would you like to spend the day in & why? Julia Child, Thomas Keller, Ferran Adria, James Beard, Marie-Antoine Careme, or The Swedish Chef?

If I could spend a say in the kitchen with a chef it would be the late, great, legendary Justin Wilson.  Justin is in many ways the father of celebrity Cajun chefs.  He was an ambassador for Louisiana food for over 60 years contributing cook books, recipes, public television shows, songs, jokes, stories, and more.  Sadly, Justin, who was born in 1914, passed away in 2001.  If I could spend a day with him in his kitchen, I have no doubt that it would be a great time and that I'd learn a tremendous amount about Cajun cooking, "I garontee"!

• What morsel are you most likely to swipe from family & friends’ plates when they aren’t looking?

I like to get a little taste of everything at meals, so when I eat out at a restaurant or sit down to a big meal with family and friends, I like to sample as much as possible.  If somebody next to me or even across the table has something different than me, I'm gonna want a bite, no matter what it is.  Usually I'll offer to share some of mine in return for a bite off of their plate, but every now and then my fork just wanders over.  Sometimes it is something simple like a French fry or piece of buttery bread.  However, I've also been known to snag a shrimp, take a bite out of a burger, or swipe a morsel of juicy steak.  Don't worry though, it is all going to a good cause!

• Sum your childhood up in one meal.

Granny's pecan rolls

The meal to describe my childhood would begin with my mother's cheesy tortilla soup.  While I could eat it as a meal in itself, it would certainly have to be a starter to sum up my entire childhood.  The main course would be a Smörgåsbord of meats grilled over South Texas mesquite wood.  My father took me hunting a lot while I was growing up, and we always cooked outdoors at the deer camp over a mesquite fire with stars lighting up the Texas sky.  We'd grill steaks, ribs, venison chops, quail, dove, pork chops, and even an occasional rattle snake.  Mesquite barbeque would definitely have a place in my childhood meal.  For a side dish I'd have Granny's famous pecan rolls.  While typically a breakfast food, these sweet and nutty baked biscuits of deliciousness would go perfectly with the seasoned and smoky meats from the grill.  Finally, no meal is complete without dessert.  I'd give anything to end this childhood meal with one of Aunt Turtle's cheesecakes.  Her blueberry-banana cheesecake is a work of art, and if I'm not careful, I'll end up eating the whole thing even after this childhood memory feeding frenzy!

• The one mainstream food you can’t stand? 

People that are regular readers of Bite and Booze know one food I can't stand... pickles.  There is something about a cucumber soaked in vinegar that repulses me.  Pickles make me cringe at first taste or smell.  I can't even really watch other people eat pickles without my stomach getting a little queazy.  In Louisiana, we see a lot of fried pickles.  Everyone tells me that I'll love them... but I've given them a try, and nope, no good.  Dis-gust-ing!  Pickles often get misplaced on my burgers and poboys... and that is never fun.  The best thing for me to do is just avoid pickles at all cost.  Life is just better that way.

There!  I've done it.  Now I just hope that I'll be selected by the Foodie BlogRoll and Marx Foods as one of the 25 contestants!  Wish me luck!

Alabama's White Sand Beaches: Part III

After leaving Tacky Jacks, Eric and I had a few hours to kill before we needed to meet up with the group again for lunch.  Naturally, we used that opportunity to try to find a few craft beers that we can't get in Baton Rouge.  Since we were rolling around before 10 AM, finding an open liquor store proved to be a bit of a challenge, but eventually we spotted one with an open sign and walked on in.  After grabbing a couple of six packs we journeyed back to the Phoenix All-Suites West where Brett/Robinson Properties put us up for the weekend.  Thanks, guys!

The View of the Oil-Free Beach from our Room at the Phoenix All-Suites West in Gulf Shores, AL

Once we got back to the room the time had come to pry open a few cold ones.  Eric, my beer-blogging brother, selected the Tommy Knocker Imperial Nut Brown Ale and the Bell's Two Hearted Ale for us to "research".  You can check the BR Beer Scene for some reviews of the beers themselves.  I will say that I really enjoyed the Two Hearted Ale as it fairly excellently combined malt with some great hops to leave a well balanced pale ale.

Tommy Knocker Imperial Nut Brown Ale and Bell's Two Hearted Ale

After bumming around and drinking a few brews, Eric and I headed to King Neptune's Seafood Restaurant for lunch.  King Neptune's is a local joint that has good character and some entrenched history of surviving hurricanes and now an oil spill.  They are known for their quality seafood and outstanding prices, as well as the royal reds that they serve up (deep-water ruby red shrimp).

King Neptune's Seafood Restaurant in Gulf Shores

I met Al Sawyer, the owner of King Neptune's, and chatted with him for a little while about his restaurant, the food on his menu, and his love for seafood.  He gave us a couple suggestions on what to order as well, though he naturally stressed that it is all good!

Jay Ducote and Al Sawyer Inside King Neptune's Seafood Restaurant

Al sent out a round of appetizers to get things started.  We began with some coconut shrimp and assorted baked oysters.  The shrimp may have been the best coconut shrimp that I've ever eaten.  I'm usually not a fan of coconut shrimp, but these were spot on!  The shrimp get dunked into a Coco-lopez batter then covered with shredded coconut and fried before getting served with a Creole Marmalade.  They oysters were certainly edible, but again they just weren't like the Louisiana oysters that I'm used to!

Coconut Shrimp at King Neptune's Seafood Restaurant

Four Kinds of Baked Oysters at King Neptune's

As an effort to not quit drinking, Eric and I each ordered a round of beers.  I opted for the Jimmy Buffett-inspired and Anheuser Busch-produced Land Shark Lager (which, due to the Parrot Head ties, is pretty much the beer of choice down there) while Eric ordered a Yuengling.  Ah, cheap, light swill.  I'll give Land Shark this... it is refreshing!  It tastes like a mix between a Budweiser and a Corona, for whatever that is worth!

Landshark and Yuengling... Enough to Keep Us Going!

As good as the coconut shrimp were, the highlight of the appetizers and really the entire meal had to be the West Indies Crab Salad.  The dish consisted of jumbo lump crab meat and sweet Vidalia onions that were drizzled in a special vinegar-based mixture.  The crab meat tasted fresh and absolutely delicious.  It may not be the cheapest thing on the menu, but it certainly is delightful and worth every penny!

The West Indies Crab Salad at King Neptune's Seafood Restaurant

For our entrées, as if we needed more food, Eric and I ordered shrimp just about every which way we could.  I figured it would be easier to make a decision that way!  My favorites were the boiled shrimp and butterflied shrimp.

 Starting at the Top Left and Going Clockwise: Boiled, Butterflied, BBQ Skewer, and Broiled (with Scallops and Flounder)

Finally, no good meal can be truly complete without dessert.  King Neptune's delivered with quite an interesting option: a deep fried cheesecake!

Deep Fried Cheesecake

I have mixed emotions about the cheesecake.  First, it was incredible.  The crispy exterior, the warm and gooey interior, the caramel and pecan sauce... I really wanted to like it for all the right reasons.  However, I'm a huge fan of cheesecake, and for some reason, something just proved interesting and mildly disturbing about eating a slice in this fashion.  On my first bite, the inside was so warm that it changed the texture of the actual cheesecake and some of it dribbled down my chin.  Hot melted cheesecake just isn't my thing!  However, as I got into the center the texture returned to normal and from that point on it was every bit as good as I had hoped.  Basically it is a frozen wedge of cheesecake that is coated in cornflakes and then flash-fried.  Interesting, yes, but that's just all the more reason for me to suggest that everyone give it a try!

Overall I had a very positive experience at King Neptune's and I would gladly go back.  The only think I really didn't enjoy were the skewed and barbecued shrimp.  Other than that, everything tasted great!  After King Neptune's it was on to a kayaking adventure, but I'll save that for the next post!

Things To Do
Gulf Shores