Kudzu Cuisine @Provisions on Perkins

This place grows on me a little more every time I visit. I like the spaces they’ve created inside, the diversity of the menu, the staff, and the wonderful wall art. I always like the music they’re playing as well. Just a really nice commitment to style in every aspect of the establishment. And it’s not like they hit you over the head with it. Just very comfortable and tasteful. I’m going to share a bunch of interior photos and then explain what I mean by the phrase “kudzu cuisine.” Bear with me a minute, because I really like the interior of this place–even the men’s room has a bit of class and style to it.

So I use kudzu cuisine to describe how here in Louisiana we will appropriate any kind of food we run across and make it ours. Even if it’s already deeply Southern, we make it ours. I mean, do you want to eat low country shrimp and grits or Louisiana shrimp and grits? Only one of many examples. The Chimes has a fried catfish taco lunch special on Fridays dressed with remoulade slaw and corn maque choux with red beans on the side. Provisions took the ever popular chicken and waffles and translated it into the Froglegs and Beignets appetizer pictured here.

The frog legs were excellent. Perfectly fried and tossed in a sweeter than usual version of buffalo sauce. The beignet was a little denser than most with a bit of bleu cheese sauce to set it off. Really good stuff. I also had the Duck Breast with Tasso Fried Rice, a serious play off the Peking version of duck and fried rice.

As much as I loved every bit of the froglegs, the duck breast was screamingly better. One of the best dishes I’ve had this year. Perfectly cooked duck breast, the gingered brown butter with just a touch of sirachi complemented both the duck and the tasso jambo. I really recommend you check out the menu online and see if something doesn’t catch your eye enough to draw you in. I guarantee you’ll be glad you went.