All Wrapped Up: Chowing Down at Go Ya Ya's

by Sarah Grimball, intern

When I was a senior in high school, we had to do a job shadowing project and link it to something that is relevant to our community. I chose to shadow Luca D Martino, the former owner of Latte e Miele.

My time shadowing Luca opened my eyes to the importance of using fresh, natural and local products. I eventually did my final project on the subject of supporting local farmers and restaurants, and I’ve been enthralled with a good farmer’s market ever since.

It’s not often that I’m able to make it out to the farmer’s market on Saturday mornings, so it’s an absolute treat when I find the time to do so, and I try to make a whole morning of it. Along with the gorgeous selection of bright red strawberries and leafy greens, the Red Stick Farmer’s Market features many delicious food stalls where you can order breakfast.

My absolute favorite place to eat in the Main Street Market is Go Ya Ya’s Crêperie. For breakfast they offer both sweet and savory crêpes and omelets along with a coffee bar. I was fortunate enough to sample the Vietnamese, muffaletta and bananas foster crêpes.

The Vietnamese Crêpe had shredded pork, bean sprouts, onions and lettuce. It was like pho in a crêpe. The crunch of the lettuce and bean sprouts nicely accompanied the savory flavor of the shredded pork.

The Muffaletta Crêpe had all of the fixings and flavor of this traditional sandwich without the thick bread. Therefore, all of the mouthwatering olive and meat flavors were able to shine and were accompanied by a nice crunch from the crêpe outer shell. All in all, these two crêpes were extremely tasty and worth the trip.






My absolute favorite crêpe of the morning was the Bananas Foster Crêpe; it’s to die for. It’s sweet, full of bananas and the rich brown sugar and buttery flavors really came through. What more could you want from a crêpe? Look at it; it’s beautiful.

Crêpes can be a treat that’s hard to find in Baton Rouge. Go Ya Ya’s is doing it right and doing it well. Definitely go get your own crêpes next Saturday at the Red Stick Farmer’s Market!

France: Street Food Bite and Booze of the World Cup

We're one bite closer to the end of the street food guide to the FIFA World Cup 2014! France is next on this delicious journey we've been taking! Known most for their breads, cheeses, wines and champagnes we're going to take a look at their simple street food and popular breakfast item the crepe and the even more familiar French 75.

Photo Credit: The Other F-Word

Most Americans have tried a crepe or five in their lifetime. It's a common street food in France and what we learned in Talladega Nights to be those "really really thin pancakes." They're incredibly easy to make and can be paired with almost any filling from savory to super sweet. This particular recipe is for Nutella Crepes. If you haven't had Nutella at this point in your life, I'm just not sure what you're doing. It's an amazingly scrumptious chocolate hazelnut spread that has a thick, but spreadable consistency and when heated, morphs into a hot fudge-like substance that is a million times tastier than hot fudge. I recommend combining any filling from Nutella to Jay D's Louisiana Barbecue Sauce in a crepe.

Photo Credit: Arnaud'sRestaurant.com

The French 75 is a popular cocktail in Louisiana and particularly in New Orleans. For a world class French 75 close to home head to Arnaud's French 75 in New Orleans and Chris Hannah will set you up! Arnaud's French 75 dates back to the 1800s and was originally for gentlemen only and in 1979 opened to the public. Featuring cognac and champagne, the cocktail is smooth, bubbly and slightly tart with a hint of fresh lemon juice. More common versions on the cocktail feature gin and champagne rather than cognac. Either way, it's a very simple, refreshing cocktail.

Martinique Bistro is a Gem in the Big Easy

Smoked Salmon Starter at Martinique Bistro

Every now and then I have a culinary experience at a restaurant which blows me away. With so many options in New Orleans for world-class cuisine, I've been equally impressed and disappointed over the course of time. It takes a unique combination of tradition and innovation to truly impress me these days. Not to say that I don't like almost everything that I get to eat. I most certainly consider myself to be a food and beverage enthusiast rather than a critic, but I mean to really impress me, it takes something special. To stand out to the point that I'll tell my closest friends that they have to eat somewhere. To meet a chef that reminds me about why the term culinary arts truly is an art, and why a master of kitchen magic is every bit an artist as someone whose medium is canvas or lyrics. Martinique Bistro on Magazine Street in New Orleans had that kind of impact on me. Sitting five blocks away from Audubon Park, it is a quaint gem with an outdoor seating area that is sure to bustle in the fall and an inside dining room small enough to shake everyone's hand from the center table. I got a spot with Aimee Abernathy next to a window overlooking Magazine. Chef Eric Labouchere greeted our table and told us to enjoy the ride as he prepared to unleash a flurry of his finest creations on the summer menu at us.

Double Thyme at Martinique Bistro

Manager Jennifer Sherrod started me off with a Double Thyme to go with a couple starters before our main courses started flowing. The Double Thyme blended High West Double Rye whiskey, Meletti Amaro, Rothman and Winter Apricot, Lilet Blanc, and thyme. I do love a good, well balanced whiskey cocktail, and the Double Thyme worked perfectly to whet my appetite and prepare me for the ensuing gorge.

Chilled Watermelon Gazpacho with Cucumber-Lime Granita

Our meal began with the smoked salmon, a reimagined crostini dish on housemade brioche with vidalia onion, hard boiled Louisiana quail egg, flying fish roe, and caper aioli. The visually stunning dish put together expected flavors with a modern focus to create a couple fantastic bites of scrumptious salmon. At the same time chef sent out a cup of chilled watermelon gazpacho with Louisiana blue crab and a scoop of cucumber-lime granita. The cold appetizer beautifully blended the fruit flavors and it all worked well with the crab at the bottom. During a hot New Orleans summer, this is a go-to dish for a refreshing starter!

Socca

Our tasting menu kicked in with the Socca. A trio of chickpea crepes were garnished with chili oil and topped separately with field pea hummus, heirloom squash ratatouille, and feta. The creative pancakes were delicious savory bites that served as vessels for multiple mediterranean flavors. Next up came a fish dish featuring loup de mer or European seabass. The sauteed fish sat atop butter poached chanterelles and some tender greens. The mushrooms and fish played off each other in the red wine and butter sauce. The taste danced on my tongue as I took bite after bite. It truly is one of the best, more refined seafood dishes that I've had in awhile. It had nothing too complex. Nothing molecular happened to any element of the dish. It simply featured great products, simply prepared, seasoned wonderfully, and combined on plate to make a beautiful arrangement of complementary flavors. I want to cook like that.  

Loup de Mer with Beurre Rouge and Butter Poached Chanterelles

The meat course excited me from the moment I sat down in Martinique Bistro and laid my eyes on the menu. A boneless new zealand lamb loin with cucumber and sweet onion pickles, israeli couscous, meyer lemon-watercress aioli, and tomato-sherry vinegar demi-glace awaited my taste buds. Anybody that reads enough Bite and Booze knows that I detest pickles. They are my arch-nemesis of food. But here, I almost, sorta, maybe looked forward to them. I certainly admired the choices that went into the flavor combination on the dish. There was a lot happening on one plate and I didn't want anything to overpower the lamb, but that didn't happen. The medium rare lamb loin took on the medley of gastronomy and came out a winner because of it. The dish had a certain tang to it for sure due to the vinegar in the pickles and demi as well as the lemon in the aioli and the garnishing tomatoes. Still, it worked. Every bite of lamb and couscous with accoutrement felt like middle eastern flavored fireworks exploding on my tongue. Bravo, chef. Bravo.

Boneless New Zealand Lamb at Martinique Bistro

Of course, with this much goodness, there had to be dessert. I wouldn't dare ruin an epic meal like this without giving it the proper ending that it deserves. Chef sent out a couple sorbets and a couple ice creams to kick off the sweet tooth rally. I don't actually remember what they all were, but I do recall that the ice cream on the far right below is a chanterelle mushroom ice cream. If that doesn't sound good to you, well, you'd be wrong. The earthiness of the mushrooms made love to the rich creaminess and sugar in the ice cream to create a truly unique and amazing dessert. Chef Labouchere had one last trick up his sleeve. He presented Aimee and I with a blueberry cornmeal tart complete with blueberry curd and lavender chantilly. Another splendid dish, this dessert hit right on the money balancing the natural sweetness from the berries with the nearly savory cornmeal crust.

Blueberry Cornmeal Tart

My experience at Martinique Bistro came to an end but I know for sure that I'll be back. This uptown eatery impressed me immensely. I know they'll have a fall seasonal menu coming out soon, so your chances to try any of these dishes may be limited to only the next couple weeks. I'll have to make sure I get back there once the new menu is out. I can't wait to see what Chef Labouchere comes up with next.

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.

"Eat St." is Coming to Baton Rouge to Film for the Cooking Channel and Canada's Food Network!

Eat St., the popular television program on America's Cooking Channel and Canada's Food Network, will be coming to Baton Rouge this week for three days of filming and production with some of our favorite trucks!  The program travels around North America in search of the most inventive chefs in mobile kitchens.  The street food trend has been booming in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Austin, and now it is Baton Rouge's turn to get recognized for our "Food Truck Revolution."  This is a great opportunity for our city to showcase some of our local cuisine to an international audience!

The production schedule is as follows:

Thursday, May 12: Curbside Truck

Curbside is Baton Rouge's burger truck.  However, these aren't just any burgers and fries.  Curbside grinds all their own meat, blanches their own "frites", uses local produce and fresh, locally baked buns.  Their serving trays are made from recycled product and their cups are made from plants, not plastic.  Oh, and get the pork belly preserves if you can!  A couple weeks ago Curbside featured my homemade boudin on a burger and topped that with some fresh cracklins!  The Bite and Boudin burger was a huge hit!  Curbside will be stationed on Spanish Town Road in front of the State Capitol from 11-3 on Thursday, so go grab a burger and smile for the cameras!

Friday, May 13: GOyaya's Crepes

GOyaya's is a mobile crepe kitchen serving up fresh savory and sweet creations all around Baton Rouge.  They are truly one of Baton Rouge's most unique mobile food vendors and their crepes are always impressive.  Last week I had a "Chicken Mole" crepe and it blew me away.  It featured shredded chicken in a Mexican mole sauce that took seven hours to make!  The mole had some sweetness from blueberries, the richness from the Mexican chocolate, and a little nuttiness as well.  Topped off with some sour cream and avocado, this is one crepe I'd go back from again and again!  GOyaya's will be stationed downtown for lunch on Friday with the film crews.  Track them down and get your 15 minutes... or seconds... of fame!

Saturday, May 14: Taco de Paco

Photo Courtesy of Taco de Paco

Taco de Paco roams around the streets of Baton Rouge slinging deLiciousness in tortilla sized packages.  They have gotten more and more creative with their offerings and some of the tacos that they'll be serving on Saturday for lunch at the Neuromedical Center in Perkins Rowe look amazing.  Last week they came up with The Emilio: Roasted Duck glazed with Louisiana Sugar Cane, topped with Sweet Potato Hash, and finished off with homemade Peach Preserves.  deLightful!  I'll be out there on Saturday after the Bite and Booze Radio Show presented by Calandro's Supermarket celebrates American Craft Beer Week from 10-11 AM.  Come find me and feast for the Eat St. camera crews!

Photo Courtesy of Taco de Paco

GoYaYa's Chicken Caprese Crepe

The Baton Rouge food trucks are doing their part to spread quality food all over town.  If you haven't hit any of them up yet, you're missing out!  I recently tracked down GoYaYa's to try one of their flagship Grilled Chicken Caprese crepes.

GoYaYa's Mobile Food Station

The Grilled Chicken Caprese crepe highlights the GoYaYa's menu for good reason.  The combination of thinly sliced grilled chicken, Roma tomatoes, mozzarella, and their homemade pesto aioli is mouthwatering and every bit as satisfying as it sounds.  I suggest this crepe to any new-comer that is weary of going after a more exotic crepe such as the Cuban or the Vietnamese.  The Caprese is a star for a reason: it's really tasty.  Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

Curbside Truck and Go-Ya-Yas

The Curbside Truck

The Baton Rouge food truck craze doesn't seem to be slowing down, which is a good thing as there is still plenty of room for growth.  I've felt bad that I hadn't previously had the fortune of tasting the Curbside Truck or writing about  Go-Ya-Ya's, so yesterday when they announced that they were both setting up shop in United Plaza off of Essen, I knew this would be the right time to crash their street party.

"Gourmet Street Food" just about sums it up.

At lunch time I made my way down to the "curb" to give some gourmet burgers and crepes a "go".  The Curbside Truck serves up burgers and fries, but it is far from your typical fast food.  Promoting themselves as "gourmet street food", they take their ingredients very seriously.  They grind all of the beef themselves for guaranteed fresh burger patties.  Their potatoes are cut into fries each morning, and their lettuce and tomatoes come from local organic farms or the farmers market.  They even make their own pickles, if you like that sort of thing (if you are a regular reader, you know at pickles are my arch nemesis).    

Don't forget the swine!

The Curbside Truck has a few other practices that set them apart even more.  First, their buns come from an artisan bakery in town, not a large commercial bakery that throws extra preservatives in their "enriched" flour.  That bakery is top secret as the bun is often what sets one burger apart from another, but Chef Nick did tell me that it is a mix between a kaiser roll and Hawaiian style bread.  They also make their own pork belly preserves.  Yes that's right, pork belly preserves.  Basically they take a little pork belly, season it up shallots, garlic, and spices, then render it all down until it is just a porky paste that is left.  The preserves are used as a spread on the burgers, which you'll see below.  Not to stop there, they also supply bacon for their burgers in the form of praline bacon.  They basically take really good bacon, cook it until its crispy, and coat it in a homemade Louisiana praline mixture that includes pecans and plenty of sugar.  The sweet and savory condiment is as delicious as any sandwich topping I've ever had.  And I mean that.  It goes to the top of my list.  I even think praline bacon is one better than the previously mentioned on Bite and Booze bacon praline.  You seriously have to get your burger with the pork belly preserves or praline bacon... or if you are like me, you can get it with both!

Curbside's cheeseburger with pork belly preserve spread and praline bacon on the side along with some fresh cut fries

A compostable "plastic" cup filled with Arnold Palmer

At the end of the day though, it really all boils down to whether or not the burger is worth a damn.  Fortunately, it is worth way more than that.  The ground beef is well seasoned and the patty is most certainly substantial without turning into meatloaf on a bun.  Mine was cooked to a medium temperature and juices ran down the back side of my hand as I consumed the succulent sandwich.  The pork belly preserves highlighted every bite in a perfectly complementary way as they were sufficient to taste but by no means overpowering.  And then I added some praline bacon... and... I... became... borderline... speechless.  The sweet, nutty, savory mixture of the praline bacon combined with the garlic-y pork belly preserves and the beef patty and the cheese and lettuce on that slightly sweet, still salty bun... let me tell you friends, next time you think about going to "Five Guys" or some other burger joint, pick up your cellular telephone, access facebook or twitter, and find out where Curbside Truck is set up.  Oh, and while you're there, grab an Arnold Palmer to drink.  It is half lemonade, half tea, but all delicious.  Crap, I forgot to write about the fries.  They were pretty damn tasty.  I recommend them.  There.  Got that covered.

Still, with all that talk about Curbside, there were actually two street food vendors at United Plaza for our dining pleasure.  Go-Ya-Ya's also brought out their gourmet food truck to sell some crepes to the hungry office workers around Essen.  The crepes are stuffed with various combinations of meats, cheeses and vegetables to provide some unique and rather tasty creations.  I took Chef Kevin's suggestion and ordered the Vietnamese crepe.  This overstuffed pasty of sorts came with shredded pork, sautéed onions, bean sprouts, and some garnish with a Vietnamese sauce.  The crepe was certainly enough to fill one's stomach for a lunch on the go.  It is also a very unique street food and I certainly take my hat off to the outside the box thinking.  I really enjoyed the Vietnamese crepe but I think I'd try something else next time.  I found the shredded pork to lack a little it of seasoning and the bean spouts didn't add anything until I got all the way to one side of the crepe.  Perhaps I should have opened it up to even everything out a bit before diving into it.  Still, the fresh crepe on the outside tasted just fine and the overall flavor and concept of the Vietnamese crepe was certainly there.  I'll be excited to try Go-Ya-Ya's again because I definitely believe in their product, but they didn't hit a home run like the Curbside Truck did.

Cocktails and Fine Dining at Galatoire's Bistro in Baton Rouge

Not too long ago I dined at Galatoire's Bistro in Baton Rouge for a great evening with a couple buddies.  Galatoire's Bistro is another location of the legendary Bourbon Street restaurant.  After Hurricane Katrina in 2005 the owners quickly opened a venue in Baton Rouge and it has been serving great food ever since.  I had the pleasure of being joined by Chef Eusebio Gongora from Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar, and Brian Thom, bartender extraordinaire at Galatoire's.  So what happens when you put a chef, a bartender, and a food writer all at the same table to enjoy a luxurious meal?  Well, you're about to find out!

Galatoire's Bistro in Baton Rouge

Our evening began with some custom cocktails at the bar.  Brian knew a thing or two about the adult beverages at Galatoire's first hand so he pointed us in the right direction... not that there is a wrong direction.  I began with a New Orleans Belle Martini.  The fruity concoction had a pleasant taste without an overpowering sweetness.  The martini featured Absolut Vodka infused with mango and white pepper, cointreau, pomegranate, and fresh lime juice.  The Absolut with white pepper provided a nice little kick that usually isn't found in martinis.  I followed that up with a classic New Orleans cocktail: the Sazerac!  The glass came lined with Herbsaint (an anise-flavored liqueur from NOLA) and carried a mixture of bitters, simple syrup, and rye whiskey on the rocks.  Believe it or not, this was my first ever Sazerac, but it surely won't be my last.  The tasty cocktail sipped fairly easy but with a bite to let me know it wasn't playing around.  Just what I needed to get the festivities started right!

Left: New Orleans Belle Martini

Right: Classic New Orleans Sazerac

I had another beverage at the bar consisting of Crown Royal, basil, strawberries, simple syrup, and a squeeze of lime before heading to the dinner table.  Galatoire's Bistro starts all of their guests out with some fresh New Orleans French Bread.  There's a funny thing about French Bread.  Like beer, it takes on characteristics of the water used to produce it.  Small variations in the water can lead to totally different tastes in the finished product.  For that reason, Galatoire's actually brings in their French Bread from New Orleans instead of baking it in Baton Rouge.  That NOLA water really does French Bread right!  

Left: New Orleans French Bread

Right: The Prisoner 2008 Napa Valley Red from Orin Swift Cellars

Once we got to the table the three of us made a shift from cocktails to fine wines.  Our first choice came from Napa's Orin Swift Cellars.  The Prisoner, a 2008 Zinfandel blend, featured a big fruit taste with its dark red color and hints of berry and cherry.  My kind of wine for sure!  We couldn't make up our minds on an appetizer so we did what anybody should do: we ordered four!  We chose the Galatoire Gouté, Oysters Rockafeller, Sweetbreads, and the Duck Crepe.  The Galatoire's Gouté included a duo of shrimp remoulade and crawfish maison.  The maison sauce on the crawfish tails included green onions, capers, lemon, and creole mustard.  Both items were served cold with reasonably light sauce.  The beauty of the dish is that it didn't try to do to much or pretend to be anything else.  Quite simply, the dish provided great shrimp and crawfish and allowed the diner to actually taste them... and they were fantastic!  

Left: Galatoire's Goilet - Shrimp Remoulae and Crawfish Maison

Right: Oysters Rockafeller

I've had a lot of Oysters Rockafeller lately, but I don't think any have come close to matching the mollusks we consumed at Galatoire's.  The gulf oysters were huge, and the spinach topping created a creamy compliment to the salty oysters.  As Brian said, "I can't imagine a better way to have spinach."  I have to agree!  Next up were the sweetbreads.  If you aren't sure what sweetbreads are, let me begin by saying that they aren't really sweet and certainly aren't bread.  Sweetbreads is the term used to describe food that comes from an animal's pancreas or thyroid glands.  Obviously if they called them that, people wouldn't order them very often.  Once you get past the thought of eating digestive or throat organs, you'll find that these tasty parts are most certainly worth eating.  The sweetbreads were sautéed with mushrooms and a little lemon.  I actually found Galatoire's sweetbreads to be tremendously flavorful with an incredible texture that I'd love to eat again and again.

Sweetbreads at Galatoire's Bistro

Our wonderful wait staff brought out the duck crepe as our final appetizer.  Roasted duck meat filled the pastry along with boursin cheese while a port-cherry reduction and pistachios smothered the crepe.  The dish had a unique flavor combination that paired awesomely with dark fruit flavors of The Prisoner wine that we continue to indulge upon.  As if I needed it, I also had a cup of Galatoire's crawfish bisque.  The bisque revealed a darker roux than I'm accustomed to with crawfish, and there were seemingly no crawfish to be found by looking at it.  However, I soon learned that the crawfish had been pureed to give the bisque a smooth texture while still delivering the flavor of the mud bugs.  The bisque had a nice spicy kick to it and some very earthy notes with the dark roux.

Left: Galatoire's Duck Crepe

Right: A Cup of Crawfish Bisque

Finally the time had come for the main course.  I opted for a daily special that made me salivate from just hearing the words.  The dish featured a fresh, fried, soft-shell crab topped with New Orleans-style barbeque shrimp.  Yes, a soft-shell crab TOPPED with barbeque shrimp!!  My heart may have skipped a beat as the special echoed in my mind, my mouth watered, and my decision process about what to order finished without ever so much as glancing at the menu.  The combination resulted in pure glee.  The Creole butter from the barbeque, the crispy fried exterior of the crab, the meat of the shrimp... it all laid there on my plate looking beautiful, and awaiting its gastronomic demise.  Devouring this entrée didn't fill my stomach, it filled my soul.  Fortunately the crab and shrimp were huge and I had plenty to share with Brian and Eusebio, though I found it difficult to part with even the smallest morsel.  I'm a good friend!

Galatoire's Special: A Soft-Shell Crab Topped with Barbecued Shrimp

Like many fine dining spots, Galatoire's does its sides a-la-carte.  We figured it would make sense to try a couple despite having no need for extra food.  The group opted for the classic Southern grits and the equally Southern smothered okra.  Both sides were nice, though certainly not the highlight of this feast.  Brian ordered the Grilled Poisson Provencal.  I don't recall which fresh Gulf fish it had that day, but I do know it was grilled with tomatoes, onions, olives, capers, and basil.  Quite tasty!

Left: Grilled Poisson Provencal

Right: Stone Ground Grits and Smothered Okra

Eusebio ordered the Veal Liver.  The entrée boasted two sautéed veal liver medallions and came served with caramelized onions and a couple strips of bacon.  Oops!  If you want to know what iron tastes like, you only need one bite of a veal liver.  That thing would have cured anemia (not literally, I'm sure).  Still, if you like the taste, or can at least appreciate the taste of a good piece of liver, this dish is a must.  I only had a couple bites of it, but I remember them fondly.  Each taste got better and better as I acclimated myself to the liver flavor.  

Left: Veal Liver Topped with Caramelized Onions and Bacon

Right: 2005 Amizetta Complexity, Napa Valley

Before the evening ended we had also gone through another bottle of wine.  We selected another Napa Valley red, this time a 2005 Complexity from the Amizetta Winery.  Complexity is a Meritage wine featuring mostly the Cabernet Sauvignon grape with a little Merlot and Cabernet Franc mixed in.  Once again, this wine was right up my alley.

Profiteroles With Ice Cream

Naturally, no good meal is complete without dessert.  Also naturally, we wouldn't be satisfied only getting to taste one of them.  The profiteroles included three pastries that were sliced in half and stuffed with ice cream, then topped with melted chocolate.  The puffy pastries were served cold and created a rather interesting ice cream sandwich.  However, I'd have to say they were bested by our second dessert.

Crème brûlée Cheesecake

The crème brûlée cheesecake combined two of my favorite desserts into one exceptional show-stopper.  I think cheesecake crème brûlée would have been a more appropriate name, but either way, the cream cheese filling worked well as a foundation, then with a torched top layer and selection of berries, Galatoire's found a great way to end my evening.  

There have been rumors circulating about them changing their location in Baton Rouge to somewhere a little closer to town.  That could mean great things!  For right now though, you can find them on Perkins near Highland Road.  Just make sure you bring your appetite!  Thanks to Brian and Eusebio for enjoying a great evening with me!

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