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.

Oscar's Pizza & Ice Cream Joint

A new restaurant recently emerged on Perkins Road in Baton Rouge, so Eusebio and I decided to give it a try.  Oscar's Ice Cream and Pizza Joint combines an original pizza place with Louisiana flair and a ice cream parlor that serves home made frozen goodness.  It is a combination that can hardly go wrong!

Oscar's Ice Cream & Pizza Joint

Once inside Oscar's, Eusebio and I had a seat at the bar where we took a glimpse of their booze selection.  Oscar's offers several beers on tap and a number of wines by the glass or bottle.  The bartender alerted us to a deal, so we obliged.

At the Bar in Oscar's

I'm not usually a big Heineken fan, but it is hard to argue when they are two for one, so we each ordered a pint, took a sip, and let out a sigh of appreciation for the cold, refreshing brew.

Two for One Heineken

The chef at Oscar's kindly brought us a couple cups of their duck and sausage gumbo to sample.  The soupy cajun concauction came served with rice and topped with green onions.  The roux was dark and rich, flavoring the gumbo well as the duck and andouille sausage also added to the terrific taste.  I scarfed down my cup of gumbo and readied myself for some fresh and unique pies.

Duck and Sauage Gumbo

Eusebio and I knew we couldn't eat it all, but it only made sense to order two large pizzas.  The price point is much more favorable when ordering the large, though overall these pizzas aren't cheap.  We wanted to try at least two varieties, so ordering only one pizza was not an option.  Our choice were made before the chef brought us out some gumbo, but I don't think it would have changed our mind since the gumbo was fantastic.  Our pizza decision: "D and A Gumbo" and "Perkins Pesto."

Large D and A Gumbo Pizza

The D and A Gumbo Pizza (Duck and Andouille, much like the actual cup of gumbo) screamed originality and declared its Louisiana flair.  This is the first time that I've ever seen or heard of a gumbo-flavored pizza, and it did not disappoint.  The pie began with a home made, hand tossed dough that baked to a soft and chewy crust on the outside while leaving a thin layer under the toppings on the inside.  Generously layered on the crust sat the smoked duck, alligator sausage, andouille sausage, and green onions with a roux based tomato gravy as the sauce.  The pizza had great, non-traditional flavor and added the right amount of Louisiana flair to an ordinarily Italian dish.

Perkins Pesto Pizza

Eusebio and I chose the Perkins Pesto as pie number two.  Strewn all-over the hand-tossed crust with a pesto base were plentiful portions of shrimp, sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, and toasted pecans.  This pizza offered a true medley of flavors that came together on one tantalizing bite after another.  If the D and A Pizza tasted great, the the Perkins Pesto tasted triumphantly amazing.  The pizza contained every bit as much pizazz and flair as the first one while providing just as interesting of an array of toppings.  Every shrimp gave a seafood kick, the sun-dried tomatoes provided a hint of sweetness, and the goat cheese changed things up a bit while the toasted pecans provided a clever texture that I had never experienced on a pizza before.  Unique and delicious... hard to go wrong!

Assorted Ice Creams

We couldn't go to "Pizza and Ice Cream Joint" without trying delightful frozen desserts.  Every cream that Oscar's serves is churned in house with quality ingredients to make even the pickiest ice cream critic happy.  The chef brought out three flavors of ice cream for Eusebio and I to try out, so try them we did!  Our ice cream assortment consisted of cookies and cream, buttered pecan, and banana nut.  Up front is Oscar's version of cookies and cream.  The flavor of the cream stood out, but there was a lack of cookies mixed in, especially when compared to the mixes of the other ice creams we ate.  On the top right is the banana nut ice cream that had a great banana-pudding-like flavor and came loaded with large pieces of walnuts.  Being a big fan of banana pudding and banana nut bread, this ice cream hit the spot.  Finally, in the top left we have the buttered pecan.  Buttered might have been and understatement.  This ice cream exploded with a buttery taste and was loaded with pecans in every bite.

All in all Oscar's won me over with both their pizza and ice cream.  The pizzas strayed away from traditional toppings with their mixture of specialty pizzas which made my mouth water just from reading about them on the menu.  There were plenty more to choose from, so there's no doubt I'll be back soon!