Taco 'bout a Good Time at the Capital City Mac Fest!

by Paige Johannessen

Happy National Mac and Cheese Day! In honor of this glorious day, we thought we'd give you a look into Baton Rouge's innagural Capital City Mac Fest where our Gov't Taco team took home the People's Choice Award earlier this summer. Geaux Rouge presented the first ever Capital City Mac Fest at Curbside Burgers where 15 competitors showed up to present their version of mac and cheese and raised money for altBR.

A ticket to this gastronomic festival got you a one way ticket to cheese town where you could taste each competitors interpretation and cast a vote for the People's Choice Award. There was also a "Taste Award" voted on by a panel of judges and a battle amongst the competitors for The "Best Booth Award."

The competition was comprised of a heavy hitting list of some of the best places in Baton Rouge. This is definitely something you won't want to miss out on next year.

GOyaya’s Crêpes won the the judge’s “Taste Award” with their “Pot Calling The Kettle Mac,” a pot roast mac and cheese with caramelized onions and tomato confit with a lattice work pie crust.

photo by: Blair Thompson Photography, GOyaya's Crepes "Pot Calling The Kettle Mac" 

Gov't Taco won the People’s Choice award with their Clucks & Balances taco. The taco features pimento mac and cheese, smoked chicken thigh, nashville hot chicken skins and white BBQ sauce.

Peep the Clucks & Balances taco: pimento mac & cheese, smoked chicken thigh, #nashvillehot chicken skins and white #bbq sauce! Only the tastiest at this @visitbatonrouge shoot with @meshbr. #intacoswetrust #gobr #tacostacostacos #macandcheese

A post shared by Gov't Taco (@govttaco) on Jun 9, 2017 at 4:07pm PDT

The team had a blast and we hope this festival sticks around next year! p.s. we heard there is another mac and cheese festival happening in New Orleans this October with a very special celebrity guest judge...hope to see you there!

photo by: Blair Thompson Photography, Gov't Taco Team: Blair Loup, Chef Aimee Tortorich, Jennifer Breithaupt, Jay Ducote, Sophie Spring, Charles Pierce, Paige Johannessen 

The Big Cheezy in The Big Easy

by Hannah Wilson, intern

This past Sunday, while waiting on the Jazz Fest gates to open, my friends and I decided to hit up one of our favorite restaurants in New Orleans, The Big Cheezy in mid city. The staff is always so polite and welcoming. With three locations in mid city, uptown and in Kenner, it’s definitely something that’s become a NOLA must for me.

Each location has a slightly different menu, but our go-to favorites are the Big Cheezy, the Mac N’ Cheezy and the Flying Dutchman.

The Big Cheezy

The restaurant’s namesake is a great spin on the classic staple. Staged on Hawaiian Sweet Bread it’s a magnificent, triple decker sandwich comprised of not one, but six cheeses! The Gouda, Mozzarella, Cheddar, Pepper Jack, Monterey Jack and Parmesan all compliment each other for one tasty take on the Grilled Cheese. 

The Flying Dutchman

A more wild version of the grilled cheese, The Flying Dutchman, is a must try. Gouda paired with smoked turkey and applewood smoked bacon is topped off with honey mustard; the perfect amount of meat, cheese and all things good.

Mac N' Cheezy

This one is my absolute favorite. Their four cheese, bacon mac and cheese piled high with cheddar cheese on their country white bread is easily that most savory thing I’ve ever tried. The flavors all perfectly blend and are sure to leave your taste buds beyond content. We paired it with their sweet potato fries as a side and boy, were we in Heaven.

Although it was kind of a bummer that Jazz Fest was delayed due to the crazy weather, The Big Cheezy’s gourmet grilled cheeses were the perfect pick me up for our spirits and our appetites. Next time you’re looking for a savory twist in the Big Easy, check out the Big Cheezy!

Looking Back: Hot Chicken on a Tin Roof

by Marit Schroeder, intern

My first event as a Bite and Booze intern was Hot Chicken on a Tin Roof, and it was such a fun night! I wasn’t entirely sure about the amount of people that were going to show up and how the whole night would go down, but we had such a good time and it was a great start to my internship.

We did recipe testing at the #officehouse for about a week beforehand, so I got to try a bunch of spicy chicken recipes with different blends. I don’t usually get my lunch cooked fresh from a chef so I was living the high life. Some of the recipes were killer fire and some missed a key spice, but the final recipe was the perfect mix.

Hot Chicken Drumsticks

On the day of the event, we spent all day prepping food and getting stuff over to Tin Roof Brewing. It was also my first time in a brewery, and all the equipment was super cool to check out. (P.S., head over any time their taproom is open and take a free brewery tour.) I even got to try most of their beers that night and came away with a few favorites.

When the event started, I was pretty blown away with the nearly 400 people that showed up, and 20% of the food and beer proceeds went towards flood relief for the Great Baton Rouge Food Bank. We teamed up with some of the folks over at Roux 61. They helped us source food donations and came out to help cook the chicken and keep it rolling out all night. It was cool to see all the people that came out to Tin Roof and help serve food. I might’ve have dropped a few servings, it’s fine. My parents showed up to the event, too, just to make fun of me a bit while working, but they bought some trays of food so I’ll allow it.

Hot Chicken Plate complete with Mac and Cheese and Greens.

The event lasted for about 4 hours, and there was a steady stream of people coming and going all night. We served up hot or mild chicken, greens, mac and cheese and a dessert option of homemade banana pudding. The mac and cheese was definitely my favorite, and I loved the leftovers we got to take home after the event was over.

Overall, the event was a success and I’m still working here long enough after to tell my tale!