Burgers with Chuck: Curbside's Anniversary Collaboration

by Chuck P

One year ago today my dream of once again having a Curbside burger became reality when owner Nick Hufft finally opened the doors to the Curbside brick and mortar on Government Street. Sitting next door to Calandro’s Supermarket, Hufft took what was once the most popular food truck in Baton Rouge and created the perfect setting for burgers, frites and boozy milk shakes anyone can enjoy either inside or on their awesome patio area.

Last week, to celebrate their anniversary, Nick reached out to a few of his culinary friends and with their help created five collaboration burgers that were available for a limited time. I of course took on the task of visiting Curbside during those five days to try each of the specialty burgers. Let’s take a look at the gloriousness of it all:

Monday: The Tiger D with Tiger Deaux-nuts

This was the perfect way to start off my week! Crispy chicken topped with sharp cheddar, honey sage sausage gravy nestled between two glazed donut buns in a happy dance of salty and sweet harmony. Hopefully, this one will show up from time to time on their brunch menu.

Tuesday: The Gov’t Burger with Gov’t Taco

I was really looking forward to trying our collaboration burger and it did not disappoint. A juicy patty rubbed with Chef Aimee Tortorich’s coffee/chile rub, melty chihuahua cheese, poblano pico with roasted garlic mayo and Hola Nola tortilla strips.

Every bite was a flavor party in my mouth. The poblano pico was exceptionally good.

Wednesday: The Pho Real Burger with The Overpass Merchant

The cool and overcast weather on this day made for an ideal situation for this burger. A pork patty topped with hoisin, pickled onions, sriracha mayo, bean sprouts and herb salad. The clincher was the cup of pho that came on the side to dunk the burger in. I was almost tempted to come back for dinner and get another one!

Thursday: The Get LIT Burger with LIT Pizza

Hands down my favorite of all the burgers! This was everything and more: a delicious hot Italian sausage patty with swiss and gremolata between two pepperoni pizza buns. I could literally eat this burger every day.

Friday: The Barbie Burger with Barbosa’s BBQ

Curbside ended the week strong with this offering from pitmaster Alex Barbosa. The fact that it starts off with being described double Texas hot gut beef patties should have you ready to dive in. Finished off with American cheese, smoked onion jam and a roasted poblano aioli, this was a fantastic burger.

A huge congrats to Nick and everyone at Curbside Burgers! Here’s to many more years of great business and great burgers!

Burgers With Chuck: The Brunch Burger at Tiger Deauxnuts

by Charles Pierce

When it comes to finding a tasty burger, one of the last places some people might think to look would be a donut shop. Unless, of course, you happen to stop by the newly renovated Tiger Deauxnuts and check out their revised menu which now features lunch options, including one very delicious Brunch Burger.

When I noticed there was a burger on their new lunch menu, my obvious first thought was “This thing better have donuts for buns.” I mean, how could it not? This is a donut shop and it would only make sense! Thankfully, I was not disappointed.

Sandwiched between two donut buns was a perfectly cooked patty that was seasoned to perfection. There was a nice crust on the top and bottom of the incredibly juicy patty. And of course, what’s a Brunch Burger without a fried egg. The egg was cooked just right with very little greasiness. The bacon was crispy without being overcooked and dry and the tomato marmalade was a nice touch to finish it off. My only suggestion would be to maybe drizzle a bit of glaze over the donut buns to give it that sweet and savory taste.

Owner Jeff Herman has been making some of my favorite donuts ever since he was operating out of a very small shop right off of Coursey Blvd years ago and I’m happy that he has continued to grow and be successful with his newly renovated location on Government Street. The next time you’re craving a burger and want to try something new, give the Brunch Burger at Tiger Deauxnuts a try.

Making it Reign: King Cake Takes around Baton Rouge

by Hannah Wilson, intern

When I moved to Louisiana, there was a certain degree of culture shock. There were all of these new celebrations and everything was something to toast to. Something I learned early on was one of the delicacies that Mardi Gras season is best known for is King Cake. King Cake can be eaten for any meal, at any time without judgment and for that, King Cake will always hold a special place in my heart.

If there’s one thing Louisianan’s know, it’s how to celebrate. Over the years, different restaurants and companies throughout Louisiana have found different ways to incorporate King Cake into their menu to celebrate Carnival in new and creative ways. Here are some of the most tasty ways I’ve seen to enjoy King Cake.

Fat Cow King Cake Milkshake

This is something people crave all year. Fat Cow’s milkshakes are already amazing, but the festive flavor pairs well with their Parmesan and Duck Fat Fries or any burger.

It's finally here. Ring in the New Year the Louisiana way with the King Cake shake! Available beginning January 1st. #Fatcow #kingcakeshake #mardigras #geauxbr #eatproper #eatlocal

A post shared by Fat Cow Burgers And Salads (@fatcowburgers) on Dec 31, 2015 at 1:07pm PST

Cupcake Allie King Cake Bites

This bite size way to enjoy King Cake is easy to pop in, grab, and savor on the go!

Happy Friday!! Come pick up a cupcake, kingcake, cakebite cake, or some chocolate dipped strawberries!!

A post shared by Cupcake Allie (@cupcake_allie) on Jan 20, 2017 at 6:49am PST

Rösch Bakehaus King Cake

These artisanal cakes are few and tasty. With flavors like Dark Chocolate & Lavender, Ginger & Walnut and Raspberry Frangipane, they’re a uniquely delicious, hand-crafted way to celebrate Carnival.

It's #kingcake season! @bloup3 grabbed this candied ginger and walnut creation from @rosch.bakehaus. Where do you find your favorite king cakes? #carnivalseason #mardigras #tastelouisiana #gobr #eatbr

A post shared by Bite & Booze (@biteandbooze) on Jan 24, 2017 at 9:58am PST

City Pork King Cake Brulee

A unique take on a classic, crowd favorite. This festive treat pairs well with any of their special cocktails, especially the Hummingbird.

Bistro Byronz King Cake Bread Pudding

These two very tasty things merged into one is what dreams are made of. Trust me.

Get it before it's Gone. Real Gone. #kingcakebreadpudding #midcity #willowgrove #shreveport

A post shared by Good. Real Good. (@bistrobyronz) on Feb 19, 2015 at 10:57am PST

Tiger Deaux-nuts Maple Bacon King Cake 

Salty and sweet, what more could you want? This King Cake gets decadent with crumbled bacon, making all of your tastebuds happy!

What are you waiting for? {reference: pictured is our SMALL size} #repost from our buddy @chuckp23: can't go wrong with a maple bacon king cake from @tigerdeauxnuts!

A post shared by Tiger Deaux-nuts (@tigerdeauxnuts) on Jan 11, 2017 at 5:57am PST

Everyone has their own traditions and different ways they celebrate Carnival and Mardi Gras. Over the years, I’ve realized that no matter how you celebrate it’s always a memorable experience. These are tasty, local ways to mix it up this season.

Glazed & Confused: Baton Rouge's Donuts, Ranked

by Sydney Blanchard

If Team Bite and Booze loves anything, it's a blind taste testing. At our staff meetings, someone's always pitching a blind taste test idea, like the one we did for Baton Rouge boudin balls and the one we did for pumpkin beers. They're super fun, informative, and the results are always surprising. 

To celebrate National Donut Day, we felt another blind tasting was in order.

An assortment of Baton Rouge donuts, ready to be tasted and ranked.

Research & Hypothesis

We came up with a list of donuts shops around town – some chains, some our favorites and some we'd never heard of before – and ordered plain glazed from each establishment. 

They way we saw it, if you can't pull off a plain glazed, you can't call yourself a donut shop.

Methodology

Blair moderated the tasting, with me, Chuck, interns Drew and Hannah, and Blair's brother Jake acting as the tasters. She brought out bites of donut from each of the 10 shops as well as a plated whole donut, and we were asked to rank the donuts on their appearance, fluffiness, texture and overall taste on a scale of 1 to 5, one being the worst and five being the best.

We then added up our scores in each category (appearance, fluffiness, etc.) and ranked the highest scoring donuts in order of worst to best.

Experiment & Conclusions 

Below you'll find our blind, unbiased conclusions. We found not all plain glazed donuts in Baton Rouge are created equal, but truly, all were tasty. Fried dough covered in sugar is hard to beat.

10. Dunkin' Donuts Overall Score: 63

It came as no surprise to anyone that Dunkin' Donuts ranked low, but I'll admit, I didn't think it would fall dead last. Dunkin' scored relatively high in appearance but low in fluffiness, texture and overall taste. In my notes I wrote "meh" next to this one, which pretty much summed up everyone's feelings.

9. Thee Heavenly Donut Overall Score: 67

Thee Heavenly Donut ranking so close to the bottom breaks my heart! These were the donuts of my childhood, and I was sure they'd come out on top. I don't know whether they had an off-day or if they've changed the recipe since I was a kid, but this was the most hotly debated donut of the day. Jake loved it, Drew and I hated it, and Hannah was on the fence. I wrote "nasty" on my scorecard, and couldn't finish my bite-sized piece.

8. Prince Donuts Overall Score: 69

I'm the one who picked up the Prince Donuts, and while I was super impressed with their spotless, tastefully decorated shop and selection of boba teas, no one was impressed with their plain glazed donuts. The appearance ranked high for me, but the overall taste scored a 2. My notes? "Gross." Really nailing the descriptive phrases lately.

7. Tiger Deaux-nuts Overall Score: 70

Creativity and interesting flavor combos abound at Tiger Deaux-nuts, but their plain glazed donut was a huge (literally, this thing was gigantic) disappointment. I gave its appearance a 5, fluffiness a 3, texture and overall taste a 2. This is another I couldn't bring myself to finish, which is a bummer considering how much I love their specialty donuts.

6. Southern Maid Donuts Overall Score: 71

I'd never heard of this Prairieville donut shop, but Chuck vouched for it. For me, the plain glazed ranked low in appearance but scored a 3 in overall taste; not shabby. A little to sweet for me (and perfectly sweet for Jake), we all agreed this one earned its spot in the middle.

5. Mary Lee Donuts Overall Score: 72

Mary Lee is a Baton Rouge institution. I'm sure this ranking will rustle the feathers of those die-hard Mary Lee Donuts fans, but I wrote "too doughy" on my scorecard, despite the fluffiness of the donut. The overall taste got a 3 from me. They weren't great, but I wouldn't turn down a Mary Lee donut either.

4. Coffee & Dough Overall Score: 76

None of us had ever heard of or been to Coffee & Dough, but this was my highest ranking donut. The appearance was nothing special, but I rated this donut a 5 in fluffiness, texture and overall taste. I might go out of my way to get these again.

3. Krispy Kreme Overall Score: 77

There's a reason Krispy Kreme has become a nationally recognized brand, and it's probably because they've gotten close to perfecting the art of frying bread and covering it in sugar. I'm so ethically and philosophically opposed to supporting chains, but that's where the blind taste test comes in handy. You can't let your biases cloud your taste buds' judgement. For this one, I wrote "too sweet" on my score card, and I gave its overall taste a solid 2. I definitely wouldn't make the drive to North Baton Rouge for these donuts, but they get the job done.

2. Crispy Donuts Overall Score: 81

In my college years, I lived close to Crispy Donuts, and I was obsessed with their kolaches. Little did I know, they're serving up the second-best donuts in Baton Rouge. This little shop located right next to a gas station impressed the tasters: its appearance scored a 5 and overall taste scored a 4. This was the last one we tried, and despite being filled to the brim with fried, sugary goodness, we all managed to enjoy this bite of plain glazed heaven.

1. Mr. Ronnie's Famous Hot Donuts Overall Score: 83

Coming in on top is Mr. Ronnie's! My only note for this one was "perfectly round," but apparently we also found it perfectly delicious. I gave it a 5 in appearance, and 4 in fluffiness, texture and overall taste. We couldn't agree on every donut, but we all agreed Mr. Ronnie's deserved the top spot in our list.

I'm pretty sure this tasting took a good five years off of my life, but count on Team Bite and Booze to ask and answer your toughest food questions.

Do you agree with our ranking? Are there any shops in and around Baton Rouge we missed? Let us know!

Pop. Up. Brunch.

We are less than a week away from my first ever pop-up brunch! Six courses of beer and brunch. How can it get better than that? This gathering of Baton Rouge culinary culture is going to see a lot of talent on display. Chef Chris Wadsworth of Louisiana Cookin' "Chefs to Watch" 2013 and Top Chef's "Padma's Picks" fame will be heading up the kitchen. George Krause, Executive Chef and head bartender at Doe's as well as winner of the 2013 Restaurant Week bartending competition, will be on hand making beer cocktails with Tin Roof Beer.

Actually, this will be first time EVER that all six of Tin Roof's commercially available beers are being poured at the same event. We have an aged keg of Coffee Porter as well as a reserved keg of Juke Joint IPA in addition to the Watermelon Wheat and Tin Roof's three flagship brews in cans.

In addition to this being the first time that one of my pop-ups has been centered around brunch, it'll also be the first time that we've opened it up for two seatings. We'll have our first wave of diners at 10 AM followed by the afternoon crowd at 1 PM. It should be a great time with beer, beer cocktails, and incredible brunch food. As you can see, the menu is to the right. We even got Tiger Deaux-nuts in on the action!

The event will be held in Crowntown, the LSU-themed bar area of Doe's Eat Place on Government St. in Baton Rouge. Only a limited amount of tickets were made available, and most of them have been sold, but as of right now there are still some to be had for each seating. Check out the event's site at http://popupbrunch.eventbrite.com for more information and to purchase your seats before it is too late! I can't wait to see you there!