Moving Up in Mid City: Our First Impressions of Gouter Restaurant in Baton Rouge

by Chuck P

Chef Chris Wadsworth and I go back. I've known him and his wife Sommer for around five years, ever since Jay and I used to record the Me & My Big Mouth podcast at Restaurant IPO downtown when Chris was the Executive Chef there.

Since leaving IPO I’ve patiently waited for Chris to get back in the kitchen, and it’s finally happened with Gouter Restaurant, his new venture into the ever-growing Baton Rouge culinary scene.

Before you ask, it's pronounced "goo-tay," and it's the French verb for "to taste." It's an unusual name for a restaurant, but Chris Wadsworth isn't a usual kind of chef.

Not interested in following culinary trends, Chris marches to the beat of his own drum. Gouter's menu represents his love for everything outdoors. If you can hunt it, trap it, catch it, or fish it, there's a good chance he'll be serving it up at Gouter.

I've had the chance to visit his new place a few times during the soft opening phase, and each time, I've been impressed with the interior and overall vibe. Hungry patrons sit at hand-cut wooden tables built by Chris waiting for their lunches to arrive (dinner service will begin within a few weeks). Corrugated tin lines the walls. The open kitchen allows restaurant goers to catch a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes action. Near the open kitchen is a six-top Chef's Table where Chris plans to serve special dishes and chat with customers.

Duck 3 Ways at Gouter

Looking over the menu, there's something for everyone (even me with my shell fish allergy). One of my favorite small plates so far is the Duck 3 Ways, three boiled duck eggs filled with a duck bacon mixture and topped with duck cracklin. The three textures play well together, making for one tasty and balanced bite. 

Fried redfish poboy with house made chips at @gouterrestaurant. I'm not upset about this decision! #gobr #tastelouisiana @laseafoodboard @eatgulfseafood

A photo posted by Jay Ducote (@jayducote) on Mar 16, 2016 at 10:50am PDT

I've also tried the Fried Redfish Poboy served with house made chips. This big poboy is packed with crispy fried strips of redfish and dressed with lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. The chips were also surprisingly noteworthy. It's rare for me to get excited about a house made chip, but Chris' are perfectly crunchy and salty, some of the best I've ever had.

#nofilter necessary for the Crawaffle at @gouterrestaurant! Still dreaming of the #yummy lunch we had there today. Looking forward to trying out their dinner menu soon! Have y'all been to Goûter yet? #yummy #crawfish #waffle #crawaffle #foodpics #foodblogger #gobr

A photo posted by Jay Ducote (@biteandbooze) on Mar 16, 2016 at 2:14pm PDT

When in doubt, go for the Crawaffle. A spicy crawfish tail mixture tops a soft, warm waffle drizzled with sweet syrup. It's a Louisiana plan on the traditional chicken and waffles, and it works surprisingly well. Both Sydney and Blair have ordered the Crawaffle as a meal, and they refuse to share even a bite.

Fried chicken and red beans and rice at Gouter

One of the best things I've eaten at Gouter so far has been the Red Beans & Rice plate lunch with Fried Chicken. Don't think Blue Runner red beans from a can, folks. These are full of flavor with just enough of a spicy kick. The Tempura battered chicken is extra crispy on the outside yet juicy on the inside.

I'm sure Chris still has plenty of kinks to work out before Gouter begins dinner service, but if the lunch menu is any indication of what's to come for dinner, I couldn't be more excited for this new addition to Mid City.

P.S. Chris has been getting creative in the kitchen playing with using our Louisiana Molasses Mustard and Barbecue Sauce on his menu, so stay tuned for that!

When in Nola...

by Sydney Blanchard

Looking back, 2015 was a big year for Bite and Booze. Jay nearly won season 11 of Food Network Star. I became the third member of the team. We all had the chance to travel, eat, and drink all over the country. Not too shabby, right?

Some of the best things we got to eat (and some of the best times we had) were in New Orleans. From sipping cocktails at Compère Lapin to watching Food Network Star at Sac-A-Lait to jamming out at Jazz Fest, we owe New Orleans for some fond 2015 memories.

I've compiled a list of my favorite New Orleans-centric posts from the past year. Hopefully 2016 will bring plenty more New Orleans blogspiration.

Happy Hour at Johnny Sánchez

Al Pastor taco at Johnny Sanchez

"The restaurant, situated in the CBD, resulted from the combined efforts of Chefs Aarón Sánchez and John Besh. Together, the two established a Mexican-style taqueria utilizing the amazing local ingredients available in New Orleans."

Getting festive at Jazz Fest

Crawfish at Jazz Fest in New Orleans

"Thanks to the festival gods, we find ourselves in the midst of crawfish season during Jazz Fest. There's no smell as tantalizing as a fresh pot of boiled crawfish. It's not a five pound tray of crawfish, but it's enough to get a taste."

It's in the stars at Ursa Major

Tuna and peach slice at Ursa Major in New Orleans

"Ursa Major was opened recently by the same people who opened Booty's Street Foods, one of my favorite New Orleans restaurants. But Ursa Major is astrological themed – with each rotation of the zodiac calendar, they switch up their drink list and their menu to items inspired by that zodiac sign."

Not the scary kind of spider at Araña

Queso Fundido at Araña in New Orleans

"Araña is everything I want in a Mexican restaurant. Their presentation is beautiful, the flavors are on fleek, and it’s simply built for a good time."

 Brunch with your buddy Lüke

Tomato salad at Lüke in New Orleans

"Lüke's heirloom tomato salad consists of sliced heirloom tomatoes, garden herbs, burrata, and country ham. Heirloom tomatoes just taste better. In recent years, this non-hybrid tomato has become more readily available, and I can't get enough of them."

Barbecue Bites: Crawfish Fritters

Nothing makes a Southerner happier than rolling stuff into balls and frying it. Breaking open a warm, fried ball of cheesy goodness does a body good. 

These crawfish fritters by Chef Eusebio Gongora utilize crawfish tails from Indie Plate as well as BBQ aioli made with Jay D's Louisiana Barbecue Sauce, available online here. 

Be sure to look here for more BBQ recipes!

Crawfish Fritters with Jay D's Louisiana Barbecue Aioli. Photo courtesy of Maria Do at Indie Plate. 

Crawfish Fritters

1 lb Crawfish
1 cup yellow onion, ¼” diced
½ cup Bell pepper, ¼” diced
½ cup Celery, ¼” diced
1 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp garlic, minced
1 cup Cornmeal
2 Eggs
1 cup Smoked cheddar cheese
2 cups Slap Ya Mama fish fry
1 cup BBQ Aioli (see recipe below)

Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Melt butter and add onion, bell pepper, and celery and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes until the vegetables start to get soft. Add garlic and crawfish and sauté for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Remove cooked vegetables and crawfish from heat and place in a mixing bowl. Add cornmeal, eggs, and cheddar cheese and mix until balls can be formed. Heat oil to 350 degrees. Form balls and roll them into the fish fry. Drop fritters into heated oil and allow to fry for 3 to 4 minutes until they are golden brown. Pull fritters from the oil and place onto a paper towel lined plate to drain excess oil. Serve with a side of BBQ Aioli for dipping.

Jay D's Louisiana Barbecue Aioli

1 cup of mayonnaise
¼ cup of Jay D's Louisiana Barbecue Sauce
3 teaspoons of Apple Cider Vinegar
1½ teaspoon of Slap Ya Mama Original Cajun Seasoning
¼ teaspoon garlic powder



Combine all ingredients and let chill for at least 30 minutes.

Barbecue Bites: Crawfish Nachos

Peanut butter and jelly. Macaroni and cheese. Cookies and milk.

What's missing from these classic combos? 

Nachos and crawfish, duh.

Crawfish Nachos

This recipe by Chef Eusebio Gongora combines two of our favorite things, crawfish tails and nachos. With high quality, local ingredients from Indie Plate, and Jay D's Louisiana Barbecue Sauce, of course, this recipe makes for a perfect appetizer. Pair with a cocktail, a glass of wine, or a beer and enjoy!

Check out more delicious dishes made with Jay D's Louisiana Barbecue Sauce online. You can purchase a bottle of sauce here.

Crawfish Nachos

1 lb crawfish, cooked from favorite boil

1 bag Tortilla chips

BBQ Queso (see recipe below)

½ cup red onions, diced

¼ cup jalapeños, diced

1 cup tomatoes, diced

2 tbsp Lime juice

¼ cup cilantro

Sour cream (optional)

Place one layer of chips on a serving tray. Ladle half of the queso over the chips and place more chips over the queso. Top the second layer of chips with more queso and scatter the crawfish tails around the nachos. In small mixing bowl combine the tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, cilantro, and lime juice. Top the nachos with the vegetable mixture and sour cream if desired.

BBQ Queso

2 onions, julienned

2 jalapeños, minced

2 tbsp roasted garlic

½ stick butter

¼ cup flour

1 cup Jay D’s Louisiana Barbecue Sauce

2 cups milk

2 cups heavy whipping cream

2 cups cheddar cheese

Heat a medium-large pot on medium high heat, add the butter and allow it to melt. Add onions and jalapeños to cook for 3-4 minutes until the onions become translucent. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute stirring constantly. Add in BBQ sauce and roasted garlic and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes. Whisk in the milk and cream and allow the mixture come up to a simmer. Add the cheddar cheese 1/2 cup at a time, whisking continuously. Whisk until all the cheese has melted completely into the sauce.

Barbecue Bites: Crawfish Roll

Crawfish roll, photo by Maria Do of Indie Plate

This crawfish roll is our answer to the North's lobster roll. Chef Eusebio Gongora came up with this recipe for a flavorful summer sandwich that's sure to be a hit at your next party.

Of all the things you can do with leftover boiled crawfish tails, this is one of our favorites (and one of the yummiest). Or, if you don't have any spare tails lying around, Indie Plate can hook you up.

Pair this cold sandwich with an ice cold beer to beat the summer heat! Find this recipe and more at hugjayd.com.

Crawfish Roll

1 lb crawfish, cooked from favorite boil
½ cup BBQ Aioli (see recipe here)
1 tsp Slap Ya Mama seasoning
¼ cup green onion, chopped

¼ cup celery, diced

4 soft buttery rolls
2 tbsp BBQ butter (see recipe here)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 1 tbs of BBQ butter on each roll and toast the buns for 3-4 minutes. In a mixing bowl, combine crawfish, aioli, green onions, celery, and seasoning until all ingredients are incorporated. Fill each roll with the mixture and enjoy.

Goin' Up on a Tuesday: Best Tuesday Eats in Baton Rouge

by Sydney"Brown Nose" Blanchard

If you're like me, weekends can be as busy and stress-inducing as any weekday. Washing and folding laundry, grocery shopping for the week and running errands sometimes leaves me and my squad no time to party on the weekend.

The only solution, then, is to go up on a Tuesday.

Certainly, ILOVEMAKONNEN and Drake feel me on this.

If goin' up on a Tuesday sounds like something you want to make a weekly tradition, you're in luck. These Baton Rouge eateries and watering holes have Tuesday specials that will make Tuesdays your new favorite night of the week.

After all, Goin' Up on a Tuesday > Thirsty Thursday. 

The Rum House

Beer, lamb and veggie tacos at Rum House

It seems like every restaurant that serves tacos does some form of Taco Tuesday, which is ideal. Tacos were made for Tuesdays. At Rum House, Taco Tuesdays mean $2 draft beer and $2 tacos. Throw in a side of fried plantains if you're feeling crazy because, hey, you deserve it.

The Chimes (both locations) & Parrain's

The Chimes & Parrain's are owned by the same company, and they get one thing right: half off raw oysters on Tuesday... ALL DAY. Usually, a dozen costs about $10, and every day besides Tuesday, they're half off only between the hours of 4 and 7 p.m. That's what makes Tuesdays so magical. You can get your raw oyster on at your leisure. 

Chicken Shack

Golden fried chicken at Chicken Shack

Everyone who's anyone in Baton Rouge knows about Chicken Shack. And if you're pining for fried chicken on a Tuesday, you can't beat their two-piece Tuesday deal: a fried chicken leg and thigh for $1.45. Once you try Chicken Shack, no other fried chicken will do.

Olive or Twist

Whether or not it's National Burger Month, a $5 hamburger always gets my mouth watering. Olive or Twist offers a $5 burger each Tuesday. While you're chowing down, grab a cocktail or wash down your burger with a cold beer. 

Tin Roof Tap Room

Yoga on the brewery floor at Tin Roof

Okay, this isn't really "eats," but Tuesdays at Tin Roof combine two of my favorite activities: drinking beer and contorting my body in ways that are unnatural. Both are great ways to relax the mind, body, and spirit. Every other Tuesday from 6 to 7 Tin Roof and Purusa yoga team up to make the ~good vibes~ and beer flow. After a little downward dog and child's pose, grab a $3 half-pint of Turnrow from 7 to 10 p.m.

Pat's Seafood & Cajun Deli

Pat's is new to Baton Rouge but well-respected in Cajun country. On Tuesday, Pat's might just have the best deal on boiled crawfish in town: $3/pound! Plus, for $15 they'll give you a bucket of beer to wash down the spicy tails. Crawfish needn't be relegated to weekend-only fare.

Lucy's Retired Surfer Bar

Battered fish tacos at Lucy's Retired Surfer Bar in downtown Baton Rouge

Lucy's Retired Surfer Bar's Taco Tuesday goes down from 4 to 11 p.m. They do $1 beef and veggie tacos, $2 chicken tacos, and $3 fish tacos. Plus, they offer a two-for-one special on $6 margaritas and specialty draft beers. The best way to do this is to get an assortment of the tacos and share them with friends.

Rock-n-Sake

LSU roll at Rock-n-Sake

This is the deal of the century. Rock-n-Sake's LSU roll, normally about $14 a pop, is only $5 on Tuesdays. And the roll is everything I love in a sushi roll: tempura shrimp and cream cheese rolled with layers of snow crab crab topped with tuna and avocado and drizzled in Rock-n-Sake's housemade eel sauce.

Jazz Feast: The Food Festival within a Festival

by Blair "B-Rex" Loup

Squeal BBQ's Smoky Bacon Greens and Jazz Fest favorite Fried Green Tomatoes

Though the Jazz Fest line-up changes every year, there are a couple of things that typically remain consistent: the crowds and the food vendors. It’s been a long-running joke that a food vendor has to die before another new vendor gets the chance to dish out grub to hungry music fans.

Blair Loup and her brother Jake at Jazz Fest waiting to see Hozier play.

As it turns out, this year a handful of food vendors chose to retire, bringing a few new bites to the food market. I dragged my older brother Jake to the festival opening day to help me eat…and to see the devastatingly beautiful Hozier play.

We enjoyed some of the classics: fried green tomatoes, cochon de lait po-boy, sweet potato turnover, etc. But the smoky bacon greens from new food vendor Squeal landed at the top of our list.

There are a lot of classic Jazz Fest foods, and while we didn’t get the chance to eat all of them, I finally tried one of the most famous of Jazz Fest bites for the first time. I have been a fest goer for a little over half a decade and had never tried crawfish bread. After one bite, I’d be willing to get a heart tattooed on my shoulder with crawfish bread inscribed at its center. Below are a handful of the foods and beverages I saw and had the pleasure of ingesting:

Rose mint tea at Jazz Fest is one of those things I can't live without. It's herbaceous and sweetened with local honey. It's the bee knees, and if you haven't tried it you need to reevaluate your life choices.

Rose Mint Tea

While fried chicken and jambalaya aren't hard to come by in Louisiana, there are a lot of festival attendees from out of state. While we take it for granted, the food at Jazz Fest is an all new discovery for those who come from all over the country. I saw people chomping down on this crispy fried chicken all day and smiling ear to ear.

Classic Fried Chicken and Jambalaya

The cochon de lait po-boy is a must-have at Jazz Fest. This hefty fellow is packed with succulent pork that's perfect if you're planning on indulging in a few beers or daiquiris between shows...or throughout the day.

Cochon de Lait Po-Boy

Thanks to the festival gods, we find ourselves in the midst of crawfish season during Jazz Fest. There's no smell as tantalizing as a fresh pot of boiled crawfish. It's not a five pound tray of crawfish, but it's enough to get a taste. As previously mentioned, boiled crawfish is a delicacy to all, but curiously pursued by those who travel to the fest... hopefully with elastic in their waistbands. 

Boiled Crawfish

I noticed a man walking by with what looked like the ultimate trio of deliciousness. A crispy fried oyster po-boy accompanied by fluffy, savory crawfish beignets drowned in a cream sauce would be a sin to enjoy even if you stopped there. However, to also wash them down with a sweet blackberry cobbler... I love Louisiana.

From left to right: Fried Oyster Po-Boy, Blackberry Cobbler, and Crawfish Beignets

Squeal BBQ stepped up to the plate to replace a former BBQ vendor at the fest. The line outside their booth seemed constant throughout the day. Hopefully they'll be back next year slinging more of their tasty 'que to fest goers!

BBQ Chicken Sandwich (left) and BBQ Brisket Sandwich (right) from Squeal BBQ

Finally, after 24 years of searching, I found love. I don't know what I expected, but the crawfish bread at Jazz Fest lived up to every bit of hype I've ever heard. A religious experience within itself, crawfish bread is cheesy, spicy, buttery, and all I want until the end of time.

Crawfish Bread

Bite and Booze Bonus: Don't skip on the sweets. Most of the bands I go to see at Jazz Fest perform on the Gentily Stage. Along the way, a small booth laid tucked away from the crowd serving up some of the most delicious Macaroons I've tasted. Also, on your way to the market (heading from the Acura Stage to the Gentily Stage side) stop and grab a sweet potato turnover!

Louisiana Culinary Trails: Seafood Sensation

Dan Jones, Jay Ducote, Jordan Lewis, Fred Mince, and Tommy Talley interview Mike Krajicek inside of Botsky's in Downtown Lake Charles

Tommy Talley sips on a Bayou Rum cocktail
at the distillery in Lacassine

You can find boudin, cracklin, and crawfish across the state of Louisiana, but some of the best stuff originates from Southwest Louisiana. The Louisiana Culinary trails crew rolled to the lower left corner of the state and the city of Lake Charles to highlight the bold flavors and characters that make this part of the state sensational. We learned a lot about what it means to take slow down and savor the dishes with Mike Krajicek of Botsky's, Chef Lyle Broussard from L'Auberge Casino Resort, Jeff Benoit of B&O Kitchen and Grocery, crawfish farmer Burt Tietje of Tallgrass Farm, Trey Litel of Bayou Rum, and local food writer Eric Cormier. This is a serious destination for food in Louisiana, head over and see what's cooking!

Tallgrass Farm's Burt Tietje waits for his close up while his dogs take a snooze after running through the crawfish ponds

Dan Jones, Fred Mince, Jay Ducote, and Jordan Lewis getting footage at the Bayou Rum distillery

Louisiana Culinary Trails: Prairie Home Cooking

Kermit Lejeune talks to Jay Ducote as Fred Mince, Dan Jones, Jordan Lewis, and Blair Loup produce

Blair Loup helps feed the baby goats before we get back on the road

Filming the Prairie Home Cooking trail brought us away from New Orleans and the Northshore and to the more rural central part of Louisiana. Life slows down a little here but the food culture doesn't. Much of Louisiana's famous smoked sausages and other meats come from this part of the state. We visited smokehouses, slaughterhouses, and people's houses to capture the spirit of Prairie Home Cooking. We paid a visit to Chefs Cody and Sam Carroll at Hot Tails, Kermit Lejeune at Lejeune's Sausage Kitchen, Andy Fontenot and Willie Burson from the Eunice Superette, Marguerite Constantine from WesMar Farms, and Karlos Knott from Bayou Teche Brewing.

Jordan Lewis, Fred Mince, Dan Jones, Jay Ducote, and Katie hope producing a great interview at the Eunice Superette

Jay Ducote checks out cheese curds at Wes Mar Farms

Dan Jones in the smokehouse at Lejeune's Sausage Kitchen

Kermit Lejeune and his faithful companion check the smokehouse at Lejeune's

Chef Sam Carroll of Hot Tails in New Roads talking about Prairie Home Cooking for Louisiana Culinary Trails

Hot Tails in New Roads: Dare to be Delicious

I caught Chef Cody Carroll (left) pulling out a fresh batch
of his famous boiled crawfish.

Hot tails is tucked away in New Roads, Louisiana which is about 45 minutes outside of Baton Rouge, and it is worth every second of the drive! Louisiana Culinary Institute classmates, turned chefs, turned married couple are the creators of Hot Tails. This is a casual yet hardcore Cajun place that has a lot more going on than it might appear. Each dish is prepared with an artful mind, a bold taste profile, and several smiling faces. In its inception, the primary reason for its existence was to be a crawfish house. Chefs Cody and Sam Carroll have a crawfish farm up the road of their own so they know exactly where the mudbugs are coming from. They then boil some of the most delicious batches of crawfish anywhere in the state.

Along the way Chefs Cody and Sam started to incorporate their flare into some of the dishes we all grew up loving. Everything coming out of the Carrolls’ kitchen is spot on. Every site, sip, and bite presents out of control deliciousness. They have been recognized as the Crawfish King and Queen by Louisiana Seafood and have been the subject of many write ups in various publications that adorn their walls at Hot Tails. Trust me--this place is worth checking out.

Here's a sampling of their menu so you don't have to take just my words for it, but you can also see for yourself. To taste and smell, though, you'll have travel to New Roads.

Blackened Alligator Po-Boy with Fried Okra and a pint of Tin Roof Blonde

The legendary Creole Crawfish Burger topped with sautéed crawfish, onions, mushrooms and pepperjack cheese.

The monstrous Gulf Platter with a fried soft shell crab, oysters, catfish, crawfish tails, and the most tender frog legs in existence.

The Seafood Muffaletta: sautéed shrimp, crawfish, mushrooms, onions, and garlic with Provolone.

Louisiana Seafood Gumbo.

Chef Sam prepared this beautiful and delicious Bloody Mary while Chef Cody made one of my favorites: fried rabbit with red beans and rice.

The Hot Tails boiled crawfish... legit!

Feast of the Crawfish: BRES's CrawFête

The Baton Rouge Epicurean Society is heating up for the third installation of CrawFête! I've attended this event for the past couple of years and I can't wait for another round. There's an all star cast of restaurants and chefs participating, sweet prizes lined up for auction, and plenty of bites and booze to go around at Mockler Beverage Company.

Auction items range from progressive dinners to a private crawfish boil from Sammy's Grill. The best part about this delicious event is all proceeds go towards local childhood health and nutrition programs. I love eating for a cause!

Participants for this year include: Bin 77 Bistro & Bar, Culinary Productions, Galatoire’s Bistro, Hot Tails Restaurant, Juban’s Restaurant, Latil’s Landing Restaurant at Houmas House Plantation, Mestizo’s Restaurant, Outback Steakhouse, The Pelican House, Ralph & Kacoo’s, Restaurant IPO, Ruffino’s Restaurant, Sammy’s Grill Catering, Stroube’s Steakhouse, and Sullivan’s Steakhouse.

Tickets are $50 per person and well worth it considering that's dinner, drinks, and a good time! Grab yours before they're gone--see ya there!