Month of Salads #3: Oscar's Ice Cream & Pizza Joint

Oscar's Ice Cream & Pizza Joint's Chef's Salad

It doesn't take science to figure out what you should go to Oscar's for. Oscar's has some creative and beyond delicious pizzas, a decent craft beer selection, and homemade ice cream; that's all you need right? Wrong--they're also home to great starters and hearty salads. I tried the Chef's Salad, a gorgeous mound of baby spinach, romaine, tomato, cucumber, mozzarella cheese, pepperoncini peppers, red onion, kalamata olives, grilled chicken, and ham. I'm a big guy, but I can dig on some salad and the best part of this plate was the heaping helping of chicken and ham that overtook this salad. You will not go hungry at Oscar's if you choose something a little more green!

The Glenlivet 12: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Lock & Key

The Glenlivet 12

Whisk(e)y Wednesday needed a return to Scotch and there are few more quintessential brands for a representation of Scotland than The Glenlivet 12 ($6 at Lock & Key)! It starts off simple and clean on the nose. There's no overwhelming peat or briny sea mist. Just grain with subtle floral and fruit notes. As you sip on the whisky it presents a smooth, incredibly drinkable flavor. It is hard not to be pleased. The easy rider swirls around the taste buds more like a dram of apple juice spiked with a splash of Scotch. The flavors are subtle but welcoming. The fruit characteristics with the heavy barley flavorings and a touch of honey create an approachable every-day or introductory whiskey that a pro can enjoy and a beginner can fall in love. The whisky presents an exceptional balance but a lack of complexity. While it goes down easy it doesn't really excite the drinker beyond getting him or her drunk. But for $6 it is hard to argue with bellying up to the bar and getting a pour!

Also, don't forget about the Cutthroat Kitchen viewing party at Lock & Key this Sunday, August 10th at 7:30 PM!

The Glenlivet 12 Year
Average Score: 65.0

Whisk(e)y Wednesday is a blog post series on Bite and Booze sponsored by the Lock & Key Whiskey Bar. Lock & Key has one of Baton Rouge's best selections of bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and other whisk(e)ys available for on premise consumption. This WW feature was scored by Jay Ducote from Bite and Booze, Arthur Lauck from Lock & Key, and Jordan Lewis from tommysTV. Scores are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, and Balance and Complexity using our own proprietary scoring system. Marks are then added and averaged, leaving us with a final score out of a 100 point scale. Our scale should be looked at on the full range of 0-100 rather than an academic range where 70 is passing and anything less is failing. A 50 should be considered a very mediocre whisk(e)y (though not undrinkable) while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss and anything above 80 is rather extraordinary and anything above 90 is world class.

Sample the Big Easy without Breaking the Bank: We Live to Eat Restaurant Week is Back!

We Live to Eat Restaurant Week in New Orleans takes place during the week of September 8-14, 2014! This is the one week you won't want to miss--two-course lunches for $20 or less and three-course dinners for $39 or less at premier New Orleans eateries. Over 50 restaurants are participating in the Louisiana Restaurant Association's WLTE event in partnership with Eat Fit NOLA including Chef John Besh establishments – Domenica, Lüke, Borgne, La Provence and August; New Orleans culinary institutions Galatoire’s, Arnaud’s and Commanders Palace; Drago’s Seafood Restaurant; Mr. B’s Bistro; Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse; Galatoire’s 33 Bar & Steak and many more.

This year's installment of We Live to Eat Restaurant Week in New Orleans will begin with a kick off celebration at The Chicory on September 3rd where guests will be able to sample culinary creations and get a "sneak peak" of some participating restaurant's menus. All ticket sales to the kick off celebration benefit the Louisiana Restaurant Association Education Fund.



We Live to Eat Restaurant Week makes for the ideal foodie vacation with hotel and flight packages. Feel free to check back regularly to the WLTE Restaurant Week website for updates on participants, sponsors, travel packages and deals. Restaurant menus will be available online beginning August 1, 2014.

Month of Salads #2: Juban's

Juban's Marinated Seafood & Avocado Salad

When one thinks of Juban's, the words fine dining, hallelujah crab, and honey bourbon typically come to mind. While Juban's has been a staple and a standard for fine dining in the Baton Rouge area for over 30 years, they're also a phenomenal lunch spot. Their salads are crazy good and this Marinated Seafood and Avocado salad is one of my favorites. There's nothing better than fresh Louisiana Seafood over some crisp greens on a hot Baton Rouge day. Putting avocado on salads is something I've recently come to really enjoy. It's smooth and buttery, but it also adds a unique texture and brightness to a salad that I find refreshing. Throw some fresh bell peppers and cracked pepper on top and call it a win!

Month of Salads #1: City Pork

City Pork House Salad

Throughout August, Bite and Booze will be featuring salads from restaurants all over Baton Rouge. Our goal is to find the best salads around town, eat them, and then blog about them. While I am keenly aware that salads aren't the usual fare, during the month of August I'm going to try to eat more of them. It'll be an adventure! Oh, and if you're interested, I did a Month of Salads last August too. Dig through the archives and find the posts!

The folks at City Pork Deli & Charcuterie are best known for their ability to crank out some serious house-cured meats, but there isn't one dish on their menu not worth getting. They have a few salads on their menu, and the House Salad boasts enough porky goodness for me to eat it every now and then. Mixed greens lightly coated in a balsamic vinaigrette are speckled white with crumbled bleu cheese making for a spot on salad. It wouldn't be City Pork without some bacon. Who needs croutons when your salad can be riddled with large cubes of house-cured swine? No one, that's who. Having that said, there are fresh cherry tomatoes and some lovely toasted bread slices... feel free to make your BLT and wash it down with an ice cold Tin Roof Juke Joint IPA!