Your Nominations, Please!

Dear Friends and Fans,
225 Magazine just released their nomination form for their annual Best of 225 Awards which highlights people's favorites restaurants, shops, and personalities in Baton Rouge. Please take a moment of your time to fill out the nomination form, which I have linked below. You may fill in the form with the people and places of your choosing, and please feel free to contact me if you need some ideas about restaurants, but I'm asking for special consideration in a couple categories:

1) Best Blogger/Columnist - Jay Ducote of biteandbooze.com. How great would it be if I was nominated for this? I would really appreciate your support!

2) Best Steak - Fleming's. My buddy Eusebio (most of you know him) is the Sous Chef at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar, and does AMAZING work. If you've never been, you should!

3) Best Sandwich and/or Best New Restaurant - Jimmy John's. My friend Kyle recently opened up the only Jimmy John's in Louisiana on Perkins Road. You should definitely stop by for a sandwich and tell him that Bite and Booze sent you! One day last week he gave everybody that said that a 10% discount!

4) Best Visual Artist - Hannah Lane. Hannah is an amazing painter and operates out of her studio right here in Baton Rouge. Her work can be seen all over the city... and she is an amazing person!

Here is the link for the nomination form: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3BSLKVQ

Thanks so much for taking a moment to fill it out. Make sure to keep checking http://www.biteandbooze.com/ for the latest on all of my culinary and indulgent adventures! Also, sorry to anybody that I did not mention here that I should have... let me know and I'll try to give you a shout out as well. Finally, please feel free to share this with all of your friends! It is really easy to do with the button below.  Let's make this thing go viral!

Jay D. Ducote
http://www.biteandbooze.com/

Acadian Frame and Art for a Hannah Lane Paintings, Wine, and Dine

Here's my favorite thing about art shows: free wine and food!  A little while back I had the pleasure of attending a show featuring Hannah Lane's work.  Hannah is a great childhood friend and local Baton Rouge painter and illustrator who does amazing work on the canvas.  This past show took place at the Acadian Frame and Art in the Drusilla Shopping Center where the wine and food did not disappoint.

Jambalaya in Front, Fried Catfish Fingers to the Back

Free food is always a good method to draw a crowd and I was impressed with the spread at Acadian Art.  The jambalaya shown above was a classic chicken and sausage Cajun dish that hit the spot.  Equally tempting were the catfish fingers in the background.  These catfish fingers were fantastic, fresh, and crispy finger foods that dipped well into the accompanying tartar sauce.  But, the real reason I attended the show was to see Hannah and the art!

Hannah's Painting on the Wall of the Acadian Art Gallery

You can't see Hannah in this picture but she is back there showing off her paintings to some art show guests.  This wall featured a lot of her work including the crab, pelican, and pear paintings that you can see here.  It is always great to catch up with her and her family, of which saw Papa Robert and Mama Elaine as well as Chelsea at the show.  One member of the family that was not present was the younger Robert who happens to be in New Zealand right now.  You can read about all of his adventures here!

Blueberry and Cherry Cheesecakes

The cheesecakes for dessert were without a doubt the culinary highlight of this evening.  As good as the other foods and wines were, these homemade cheesecakes took home the prize.  The blueberry cheesecake tasted like a slice of heaven in my mouth and I knew from the first bite that I would need to blog about it.  Each additional bite reinforced how creamy and wonderful this treat can be.  I was impressed to say the least.  Thanks for the invite Hannah!

Dining at DeAngelo's with Fantastic Friends

Another day, another lunch!  This time I met Hannah, Robert, Kevin, and Shawn at Louis DeAngelo's Casual Italian Dining on Jefferson Highway.  DeAngelo's is a Baton Rouge original with multiple locations around town.  They offer a pretty traditional Italian menu with various pastas and pizzas.

DeAngelo's on Jefferson

We met for lunch as a follow up from the previous dinner at the Romero's house and the lunch at the Roux House.  It was certainly great to see Robert again before he heads off to New Zealand, and it is always a pleasure to hang out with Hannah Lane, artist extraordinaire.  Kevin and Shawn were still in from Chicago, so we had quite a fantastic group.  I ordered the Nona's Lasagna because I had been craving some of the layered Italian dish and wanted to compare DeAngelo's variety to others around town. 

Nona's Lasagna at DeAngelo's

The lasagna was layered with plenty of cheeses from mozzarella to ricotta in addition to the meaty Bolognese sauce and the marinara.  The overall flavor was a mixture of sweet tomatoes and lots of basil.  It was good lasagna, but certainly not my favorite.  I felt like it lacked something in the texture and thought that it almost needed to be eaten with a spoon rather than a fork.  While it was good, I certainly did not think it was spectacular.  I was also able to sample a couple shrimp from Hannah's salad.  They were delightful little grilled crustaceans but the quantity did not meet the price in my opinion and they were rather small for a typical grilled shrimp in Louisiana. 

Banquet Room with Paintings by Hannah Lane

One of my favorite parts about DeAngelo's was the fact that the decorations around the restaurant largely consisted of paintings by Hannah.  Walking around the banquet room felt like taking a tour of Italy as Hannah's collection of paintings from her trip to the European boot were hung around the dining space.  Her artistic style is refreshing, colorful, and just the right amount of abstract to know that it requires a great amount of creativity and imagination.  I left DeAngelo's very happy after getting my fill of lasagna and an art show!

Cheesecakes and Assorted Sweets from L'auberge Du Lac in Lake Charles

My day of delivering delightful dishes to my neverending belly was not over after DeAngelo's.  When I got back to the office I found a box of cheesecakes on sticks and other assorted mini-cakes from the bakery at the L'auberge Du Lac casino in Lake Charles.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I opened the box lid to find such amazing treats staring back at me as if they wanted to be eaten.  Since cheesecake is one of my all-time favorite desserts, I picked out a good one and plunged it into my mouth.  Wow!  First, what a great idea!  Whoever thought of putting a cheesecake on a stick is brilliant!  Secondly, these were really good cheesecakes with a beautiful mixture of cream cheese and sugar.  I couldn't resist and had another.  And the next day, since nobody else in the office was eating anything, I had the carrot cake too.  It was pretty good, but not as amazing as the cheesecakes on a stick!

The Romero's House for a Dinner Reunion

Last weekend the Romero family invited some old friends over to their home for an outdoor gathering with plenty of food.  Robert Jr. organized the evening for us while Elaine and Robert Sr. supplied the food and beverages.  We were joined on the back patio by Hannah and Jesse Romero, Bret Blackmon, Sandra Hebert, Kevin Hebert,  Kevin's buddy Shawn from Chicago, and my brother Eric.  The Romero's back yard patio area is a great place to hang out and enjoy the Baton Rouge Fall weather.  They have an outdoor kitchen area, a bar, TVs, and a great covered porch area with ceiling fans to make the hang out space truly great.  I made it over there in time to catch the end of the Saints and Dolphins game, so I naturally started off with a black and gold Bud Light.

Black and Gold Bud Light

The evening's food started with a homemade mango salsa that mixed fantastic fruit flavors to create the perfect combination of sweetness and texture to scoop up on a salty chip.  The mango salsa served as a great appetizer to snack on while we watched the end yet another Saints victory!

Mango Salsa

Robert Jr. cooked a smorgasbord of meats on the backyard smoker.  He started with some pork loins and tuna steaks, then went on to do several varieties of ribs including a baby backs and whole racks of pork spare ribs.  Everything tasted really good but my favorite were the sauced up spare ribs.  They were large, tender to the bone, meaty ribs that made me remember why ribs are one of my favorite foods ever!

Smoked Pork Loins and Tuna Steaks

Smoked and Sauced Baby Back Ribs, Pork Spare Ribs, and Beef Ribs

There were also a couple of desserts available to the diners.  Hannah convinced me to try a chocolate cupcake with a peppermint topping.  It was a great cupcake that doubled as both a sweet treat and a breath mint!

Chocolate Cupcake with Peppermint Topping

The evening at the Romero's house reminded me of all the good friends I have and the true blessings that they are in my life.  We caught up with the crew in one place at the same time for the first time in several years.  The night also served as a bit of a sendoff for Robert as he readies himself for his journey to New Zealand!  I enjoy reunions among friends from out of town or that I don't get to see too often, so I'm really happy that we got a chance to catch up.  I only wish we could do it more often.