Wining and Dining at "The Wild Truffle" in Lake Charles

by Sydney "Brown Nose" Blanchard

I think there's an often overlooked observation to be made about Louisiana cuisine. For every specialty meats store tucked inside an unassuming gas station, there also exists an extravagant, fine dining establishment that defies expectations.

In my recent travels to Lake Charles, Louisiana, I got to experience the best the area had to offer on both ends of the dining spectrum.

On our final night in the LC, we were loaded onto our party bus one final time and herded to La Truffe Sauvage. Jay had the chance to dine there back in 2013, and his write-up got me excited to try out one of Lake Charles' finest restaurants.

Chef Mohamed Chettouh along with Chef Arthur Durham opened the French-inspired eatery back in 1998. Prior to that, both enjoyed successful international and regional culinary careers.

Chef Mohamed combines his background in traditional French cuisine with a dedication to the local ingredients Louisiana has to offer to create mouth-watering, seasonal menus.

And our dinner at La Truffe Sauvage was no exception.

We started the evening off with French 75 cocktails topped with St. Germain foam, and soon after sat down to begin our five-course wine dinner.

Wild Gulf red snapper with saffron risotto and heirloom tomato confit 

First, the chef sent out pan roasted wild Gulf red snapper on top of saffron risotto and heirloom tomato confit. The delicate, flaky white fish and the buttery, fluffy risotto were paired with a 2010 Domaine William Fevre Chablis, which is a chardonnay with fresh, floral notes. 

Sunchoke velouté en crôute with duck confit

Next came the "sunchoke velouté en crôute" with duck confit, which amounted to a sunchoke soup with bits of duck in it served in a pastry-crusted teacup. Sunchoke, also known as Jerusalem artichoke, is a root vegetable not at all like an artichoke. This course was paired with a 2013 white wine called Vin Soave Classico from the Inama Winery in Italy. Fruity and sweet, it matched well with the delicate flavors of the sunchoke.

Chèvre chaud on roasted red and yellow beets

The next dish was a crowd-pleaser: chèvre chaud (fried goat cheese) atop roasted red and yellow beets, asparagus, and arugula swimming in a black truffle vinaigrette. This was one of the best things I have ever eaten. The aromatic cheese patty was crusted and had a distinct lemony flavor that balanced well. Paired with this dish was a Chilean pinot noir from the Indomita Duette Vineyard. The spicy flavor with hints of dried red fruit made it a perfect match for this course.

Filet mignon topped with foie gras

Last came the tournedo Rossini, or filet mignon topped with foie gras, with pomme macaire (a potato cake), carrot fondante, steamed young spinach, topped with sauce madère. Truly, this dish captured me. The sauce combined with the perfectly cooked cut of meat and the foie gras made for a delicious bite, and the potato cake and carrots were heaven-sent, providing a perfect palate cleanser in between bites of filet. This very French dish was paired with an award-winning Spanish red wine from Ribera del Duero.

Dark chocolate mousse in almond tulip

And finally, dessert. After eating four substantial courses, I doubted I was capable of eating another bite of anything. But when the dark chocolate mousse was brought out, I couldn't resist. The mousse sat in an almond tulip and was topped with orange curd. The vanilla cream sauce and orange segment were a nice touch, but the mousse was the real star of the show. Dessert was paired with a 10 year Tawny port by Quinta do Noval out of Portugal. The dried fruit and orange zest notes brought out the orange flavors in the dessert.

Just when we thought we'd finished gorging ourselves, we were brought a selection of truffles: white chocolate, dark chocolate, and milk chocolate. I couldn't bear to take one more bite, so I had mine boxed up to enjoy later that evening in the privacy of my hotel room.

La Truffe Sauvage is small and warm and quaint. It feels like eating at home, if you're able to cook fabulous French cuisine at your house (I'm not). I can't wait to go back!

La Truffe Sauvage in Lake Charles, LA

La Truffe Sauvage in Lake Charles, LA

Lake Charles not only impressed me with the tour around town, boudin and cracklins, and seafood feasting, but at night we also got to experience a spectacular meal at Lake Charles' premiere fine dining restaurant. La Truffe Sauvage is a French style eatery that clearly puts a lot of passion behind their food. We went through a culinary journey on a wine dinner the night before Lake Charles' annual Rouge et Blanc wine festival. I'll attempt to walk you through all the courses as I salivate while I remind myself of all the deliciousness. The Hors d'Oeuvres, not pictured here, included octopus with extra virgin olive oil, lemon, and oregano, Parmigiana Reggiano crusted asparagus with sauce verte, white truffle macaroni and cheese with beef tenderloin, and duck confit with onion marmalade. Served with some bubbly, a Gosset Brut Excellence, the passed appetizers prepared us for our sensational meal from Chef Mohamed Chettouh and wine pairings by D.C. Flynt.

Louisiana Jumbo Lump Crab Cake and Shrimp Bourek

Our first seated course came in the form of a shrimp stuffed Turkish pastry atop a luscious crab cake and a red, green, and yellow tomato relish. The dish paired with a Fevre et Fevre 2011 Chablis. I really appreciated the combination of flavors and techniques between south Louisiana and a dish like Bourek which dates back the Ottoman Empire.

Crispy Red Snapper, Porcini Mushroom Risotto, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Lemon

Course two stayed in the seafood category and again combined a classic Louisiana protein with a European starch. The creamy porcini mushroom risotto gave an earthy flavor that contrasted the brightness from the lemon and the acidity in the wine, a Meursault Clos du Cromin 2011 from winemaker David Moret in the Burgundy region of France. The dish really dazzled even more due to the true crispiness of the skin on the red snapper. It added a depth of texture next to the risotto and flesh of the Gulf fish.

Double Duck Consomme, Poached Quail Egg, Rice Noodles, Asparagus Tips, White Truffle Oil

For a soup course we feasted on a duck consomme. The flavorful broth conjured up memories of duck hunting and my childhood... not that I ever ate anything quite like this growing up. A couple 2010 wines from Roland Rapet were served with the duck conomme: a Aloxe Corton and the Corton Grand Cru. Both were stellar accompaniments to the delicious consomme. The poached quail egg also added a great richness in the soup.

Colorado Lamb Two Ways: Roasted Rack & Braised Shoulder, Spanakopita, Ratatouille, Natural Jus 

I looked forward to this lamb course the most and fortunately it did not disappoint. Getting back to eastern European flavors, Chef Mohamed used lamb to create a magical dish. The spanakopita is a Greek style savory spinach pie, which this time also included braised lamb shoulder. The ratatouille came wrapped in cucumber and the lamb chops were delightful. I love lamb. I think I remember sneaking another chop off somebody else's plate to get more. They were full already anyway! The lamb course also came with a pair of wines for us try. This time from Bernard Gros, we had the Vosne Romanee 2008 and the Clos Vougeot Grand Cru "Musigni" 2006. I need to learn more about French wine. I just know it was red and delicious.

Warm Montrachet with Thyme, Heirloom Tomato, Arugula, Herb Cracker, Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette

The salad and cheese course finished off the savory part of the meal. I liked having the salad toward the end as opposed to at the beginning of the feast. I still had a little room for some greenery, so I made it work. The warm cheese worked extremely well with the green tomato and the spicy arugula with the roasted shallot vinaigrette. 

Rum Savarin, White Chocolate - Passion Fruit Mousse, Almond Tuile

The savarin is a yeast cake soaked in rum (or it could be a different hard liquor) and filled with cream. I personally did not find the texture to be all that appealing as it was like a soggy donut, but the flavors were certainly well conceived and delicious. The dessert came served with the Kracher Trockenbeerenauslese. Yes, that's really what it is called. Mr. Kracher is apparently one of the bigger names in Austrian wine and the Trockenbeerenauslese is a style of German and Austrian wine making that produces a very sweet dessert wine from dried grapes with high sugar content. Like I said, I could really use some lessons in European wines, so if anyone is reading this and wants to send me on an adventure around Europe doing "professional development," just let me know!

Assorted Truffles

Second dessert? Yes, please! The meal didn't fully end after the rum savarin course. We still had time for coffee, and along with coffee came some assorted truffles for our dining pleasure. I ate a couple for research purposes, but by that time I had reached my limit and was stuffed. What an amazing meal. Thanks to Chef Mohamed, D.C. Flynt, and everyone at La Truffe Sauvage for having me, as well as the Lake Charles CVB for lining it all up for us. The next day we were off to Rouge et Blanc. More on that later.

Brash Brewing/Clown Shoes Beer Dinner at Juban's

Brash Brewing and Clown Shoes Brewing Beer Dinner at Juban's

Please pardon the quality of these photos due to lack of lighting, but I think you'll see that you still wish you were at this beer dinner.  Last month, Juban's Chef Jaime Hernandez put together a beer dinner with daring beers from Clown Shoes and the Brash Brewing Company.  A beer dinner with brews as bold and adventurous as this has not been done in Baton Rouge, to the best of my knowledge... and I would know... or this.  There were a couple beers that I had never tried before, like a sneak peak at the Texas Exile, a bourbon barrel aged brown sugar porter with coffee.  These breweries have good stories like this one told by Todd Price.  And more importantly, they have good beer!

 Belle Ecorce Farms chevre tempura, banana jam, dark chocolate

Chef Jaime started us off with an assorted charcuterie board as well as the above bad boys.  Local goat cheese fried in a tempura batter with banana jam and dark chocolate, inspired by the The Bullocks Imperial India Pale Ale.  With hint of banana and clove in the beer as well as rich dark fruit, the little ball on a stick paired very nicely.

Orecchiette Puttanesca: Fresh pacific sardines, marinated olives, fresh jarred tomato sauce

The sardines were served with the Clown Shoes Tramp Stamp, and Belgian Indian Pale Ale with and odd combination of yeasty and hoppy flavors.  The sardines themselves were fried to a delicate crisp and partnered with mouth-watering pasta and tomato sauce.

Roasted Bone Marrow: Honey bourbon brine, market pepper chow chow, crostini

Our third course featured roasted marrow straight from a bone.  It had been brined in Juban's signature honey bourbon and served with chow chow and some crostinis.  The fattiness of the marrow led to a succulent flavor that was cut by the bitterness from the Item 9 American wheat beer from Brash with an astonishing 80 IBUs.  The dish and beer were downright delectable. 

Pork Tamale: Braised Iverstine farms pork shanks, pecan mole sauce, wrapped in fresh banana leaves

With the Clown Shoes Chocolate Sombrero Mexican chocolate stout came Chef Hernandez's take on an authentic Mexican inspired dish.  Using local pork from Iverstine Family Farms in Kentwood, Chef created a banana leaf wrapped tamale with pecan mole.  The nutty and chocolate-y sauce partnered with the pork and made a dish packed with different flavors.

Fromage et Saucisson: Sharp white cheddar and pimento mousse, rabbit boudin blanc, satsuma marmalade

The cheese course, served with spectacular rabbit boudin, also came with the Clown Shoes Clementine 1.5 Double White Ale.  The cheese mousse had a sensational flavor and worked incredibly well with the boudin.  The addition of the satsuma marmalade tied the dish together with the citrus-y white ale.  Well done, Chef.

Red Velvet Cake: Nanette Mayhall's famous cake, cream cheese icing, toasted pecans

The dinner wrapped up with the most anticipated beer of the evening: Flight of the Pimp.  This beer features a combination of Pimp, a blending of Clown Shoes and Brash Brewing's brown ales, and bourbon barrel aged Blaecorn Unidragon, a Russian Imperial Stout from Clown Shoes.  The beer... amazing.  I need another.  And the red velvet cake didn't disappoint either.  I kept eating, devouring the chocolate and cream cheese flavors, and matching it against the ultra complex Flight of the Pimp.  Needless to say, everyone went home happy!

Le Creole and Roux Wine Team Up on a Wine Dinner

Le Creole recently teamed up with Roux Wine and Spirits to put on a Romantic Summer Dinner crafted by Chef Ryan Andre.  Fresh off the news of being named as one of the five 2012 Chefs to Watch by Louisiana Cookin' Magazine, Chef Andre picked a great way to show off his skills in the kitchen.  Myrna Arroyo from Roux Wine and Spirits paired each dish with amazing wines that are available in her shop on Airline Highway.  The match quickly proved to be magical with the onslaught of passed hors d'oeuvres and sparkling wine.  Chef's first dishes included a one-bite fried Gulf oyster with micro greens and spicy tuna toast that nearly melted in my mouth.  The Brut wine gave the diners an excellent excuse to toast each other, and it partnered very nicely with the seafood appetizers.

The friendly wait staff at Le Creole brought out the wild salmon crudo for our first course after being seated in the spacious dining room.  The plentiful slices of wild Atlantic salmon were topped with a salad of arugula, red onion, crispy capers, and white truffle salt.  Though the salad provided a whole meal of food, I can't complain about large portion sizes!  Plus, everything tasted so well balanced and flavored that I couldn't stop tasting... then tasting again.  The raw salmon had an ideal texture and the truffle salt provided just the right amount of flavor to compliment the dish rather than overpower it.

The next course is the one that I smiled about the most when glancing over the menu before the meal.  The "battling rabbits" featured a rabbit liver bruschetta with spicy tomato jam along side a rabbit boudin gallette.  The livers themselves were delicate and delicious, cooked down to a spreadable form over the crusty bread with a spicy tomato jam that could be bottled and sold.  Chef took his house-made rabbit boudin and formed it into patties before coating them in panko bread crumbs and flash frying them.  Add a couple pickled watermelon rind slivers, and we had quite a plate before us.  The gallette provided an excellent contrast of textures between the crunchy exterior and the moist interior.  I applaud the creativity of the dish as a whole, and it lived up to my high hopes.

The "bayou to nest" dish featured tempura battered and fried soft shell crawfish along with a roasted squab with patty pan squash and baby zucchini.  Another dish with plenty to eat, I tried my hardest to take the whole thing down.  Squab is a decent sized pigeon for one person, but I enjoyed the presentation of the entire bird on the plate.  It had a sweet sauce along with it that actually worked quite well.  And the soft shell crawfish were amazingly unique and delightful.

The meal ended with a mousse tuille duo conjured up by Le Creole's pastry chef.  The plate came with a Ponchatoula strawberry mousse along with a dark chocolate-espresso mousse.  The mousse duo dish provided a great way to end the stomach-stuffing meal.  They were light and refreshing enough to still enjoy them despite having very limited gastronomic real estate for them to go.

The dinner as a whole lived up to all expectations.  I'd like to congratulate Chef Ryan Andre and manager Clark Ellis on the phenomenal event hosting and the meal.  Also props to Myrna Arroyo for the wine pairings!  Though not mentioned much here, the wines were all exquisite and wonderfully paired with the cuisine.  I'd be happy to go to any tag-team dinner like this again.  Not to mention, I really enjoy two businesses in the food and drink world coming together to support and promote each other.  Nothing like some good collaboration!  Cheers!

Salmon, Arugula, Red Onions, Capers, Truffle Salt

Rabbit Liver Bruschetta with Spicy Tomato Jam, Rabbit Boudin Gallette, Pickled Watermelon

Tempura Soft Shell Crawfish, Roasted Squab, Squash, Zucchini

Chocolate Espresso Mousse, Ponchatoula Strawberry Mousse