I know a lot of people love the ribs at TJ’s, and some people are into the steaks, but a couple of years back I went with some friends for happy hour and we got the sampler plate with ribs, brisket, sausage, and bbq chicken, and I was really impressed with the chicken. BBQ is a hard thing to sell all day. It takes a lot of time to cook, and it’s hard to hold it on line without drying it out. You see ribs a lot of places because they reheat quickly and you can make up for any dryness by wrapping the ribs in foil and saucing them heavily then popping them in the oven. That’s also one of the reasons that wings and boneless skinless chicken breasts have taken over the menu from bone in chicken (except fried of course, and even that is starting to be dominated by “tenders”} so finding a really good half chicken somewhere has gotten kind of tough. There’s Jay’s, and Podnah’s, and Sonny’s, and whoever has the shack on Government this week, and there’s a lot to be said for all of their ribs and brisket, but chicken that still has some juice to it is a rare find. I suspect that TJ’s has found a workaround in sous vide. That’s where you brine the chicken first to get some extra flavor in, then seal it in a plastic bag and bring it up to temp in water. Kind of like boil in bag, but you never actually come to a boil. You can hold whatever it is almost indefinitely, then take it out of the bag and finish it on the grill or in the oven, sauce it and serve it. Not sure that’s what TJ’s does, or if they have some other magic at play, but the result is outstanding.
TJ’s underwent a renovation about a year ago and they transformed from a kind of almost upper end, country club style to a straight up sports bar with a lot of draft beer and TV’s. Luckily they hung on to all the memorabilia, including Billy Cannon’s Heisman, so I think they did exactly what they hoped to do–update the setting for the younger crowd without alienating the old folks. By now the old folks have probably internalized the changes and think the place always looked that way. Here’s a peek inside the new TJ’s.
When I saw they had changed the Friday fried pork chop special to fried fish for Lent, I just had to check it out. That’s their picture on top. Mine below. I guess I’m always looking for an excuse to hit Phil Brady’s for lunch because it reminds me of going over to the Bayou as soon as the lunch shift was over at The Gumbo Place (whether I was on schedule for a double that night or not} and just hanging at the bar with a Bud, or High Life, or PBR waiting for someone else to show so we could shoot pool. Back when I used to work at The Chimes, people would come in and talk about how they remembered going to The Chimes back in ’68 or ’69. I’d never bother to tell them that it was still a drugstore then, that they were conflating Chimes with Magoo’s or The Library or The Bayou or The Gumbo Place. Maybe even The Brass Rail and The Bengal and The White Horse. In a way, all those cool dark bars are portals to the past. Times we’re desperate to remember, and also times we’re glad are long gone. Hard to think of any place better to deep dive into nostalgia than a bar stool in a bar that reminds you of a bar that you used to know.
I’ve been looking at Frankie’s for the past five years and finally wandered inside to try them out. The place looks a little funky from the outside, but I had no idea how into it they were until I was inside the place. You order up front and they find you later with whatever you ordered wherever you are in the eclectic seating area/patio run. It was spring so the whole place was open air. The next surprise was the full bar. The shakes were a little unexpected but welcome as I jumped on the chocolate peanut butter shake, loved the fact they had tots as a side, and went with the standard chili cheese dog to see if they were any good at this. They were. Nathan’s franks, slightly toasted bun, rich mild chili and a whole lot of grated cheese.
Kinda wish I’d discovered this place earlier–kinda glad I found a new place now. They’ve got a lobster dog I have to try and I almost went with the gator sausage, but I really wanted a chili cheese dog right then and there. Not sure if this place is going to keep me away from Sonic and Der Wienerschnitzel, but that chocolate peanut butter milkshake sure tilts the scales in their favor. Oh, and the guy who owns the place brought me my shake, and then a few minutes later brought me another half shake saying he’d made too much and wasn’t going to sell it to anyone else so here you go. Really made my day. Dug the dog, dug the Dawg house, and very, very happy to have tots and a shake on a gorgeous spring day!
Jumped out of traffic and into Beausoleil and grabbed a quick chopped seafood salad on butter lettuce. Very refreshing. I was a bit startled when the server started things off with a small plate of pork skins. Hadn’t seen that before.
Lot of cool looking stuff on the menu, including a mushroom based lasagna that I’ll have to go back and try and a scallop dish that looked enticing–all in the theme of being French in Louisiana. I like the theme, the bistro, country aspect of slow food and wine, but I wonder why no one has tried to do the same thing with our Spanish heritage. Jambalaya is paella based and more Spanish than French. Spain has always reveled in ham and roasted pig and sausage, and it seems like tapas would do well in today’s more sophisticated BR market. Goûter was excellent while it was open, but didn’t emphasize the Spanish legacy of small plates. Oh well, maybe soon we’ll see something in that vein. Beausoleil keeps the bistro thing going with a small patio and spacious seating with real tablecloths and napkins. Will definitely be checking it out again soon.
It’s the little things that allow the bistro to make you feel like a guest rather than just a customer. The French striped cloth napkins wrapped around heavy flatware, the fact that the server brings not just a glass of ice water but a carafe as well, the lush, well kept garden patio, the worn but comfortable wood chairs, the impeccably dressed staff all sets the mood for the wonderful food to come.
Bistro Byronz is another Baton Rouge restaurant resurrection story. The original Byronz was a top notch sandwich shop on the corner of Government and Eugene. Way back then, early eighties, I was torn between Byronz and Nooley’s as my favorite sandwich place.
The Bistro has lovingly preserved the Big Byronz and the home made chips that made the original a destination. I really think the black olives are what puts this sandwich over the top. We’re used to olive mix on our muffs, but the sprinkle of black olives on this one really compliments all the hot ham and cheese and salami. And they’ve kept the original bread. But they’ve also surrounded the old school menu with a full scale bar and a French country/south Louisiana menu that is both rich and low key. The Back of the Stove Chicken is the best stewed chicken I’ve had in BR. The gravy is magnificent and the vegetables are a nice, but totally unnecessary addition. It really is that good. You don’t need any sides to distract your from the fall apart chicken and rice and gravy.
They also have fifteen (15) salads menued, along with pot roast, pot pie, and a killer cassoulet. I’m very impressed with the way they’ve pulled Louisiana cuisine back into the French countryside and also with how they’ve managed to preserve the core of the original Byronz while doing so. I’m going to finish up with lot of ambiance pictures, but don’t take my word for it, or my photos of it, you owe yourself at least one visit to check out the Bistro.
Saturday started with a trip to Pop’s camp on the Island side of False River to visit and drop a line in the water. Getting out there was a bitch because I got an early start and there was near zero visibility fog all the way out there. When you look for speeders to hide behind on the road, you call them rabbits. I was looking for bats that could use their sonar to find the way. Managed to stay close behind some big rigs and only had to pull off once to wait for the sun to finally come up. But, well worth it. Always good talking to Pop and my brothers and I managed to pull in three catfish like this and one of the biggest chinquapin I’ve ever caught. Didn’t weigh it but I suspect it was over a pound. Yes, huge. Didn’t feel like cleaning fish so they’re all back in the lake, waiting for you.
So I stopped in at Camile’s on the way back to town to see if their boiled crawfish were as good as I remembered. Not quite, but still good if you are in the area.
Actually there’s a lot of good food up around New Roads and St Francisville. Nothing worth a special trip for now that Joe’s Dreyfus Store in Livonia is gone, but Magnolia Cafe in St. Francisville remains a favorite, and when I used to teach up there at Rosenwald I’d often stop for an early supper at Morel’s right on the river in New Roads. Now if you’re out in that area and you see anyone in a hurry, you need to get up and run too because something is going down. I’m pretty sure the saying all in good time originated in Pointe Coupee Parish. That’s one of the of the things I like about the place. Camile’s offers a lot of other staples, but I’ve only ever eaten their boiled crabs and shrimp and crawfish. It’s a very comfortable and friendly joint with some interesting decor.
When I got back to town I headed to Cinemark in Perkins Rowe for popcorn, Coke, and Captain Marvel. Not only do we get to find out what happened to Nick Fury’s eye, but this movie is even more empowering than Wonder Woman. No spoilers, but if you have a daughter or granddaughter, take her to see the movie.
Camile’s isn’t spelled the same as the hurricane, but it certainly sounds the same. I remember the family driving through Biloxi the summer after Camille hit and it seemed everything was torn up and little had been put back together yet, but when you’re a kid, you don’t really understand the tragedy involved, just grasping the reality that everything can come apart in a storm is a big enough stretch while you’re still learning the basics of the world you live in. This poem goes after that sense of awe and wonder that also accompanies the big storms.
There used to be an Arzi’s right off campus at LSU on the corner of Chimes and Lake Streets. And there was an Arzi’s we used to hit at Nicholson and Lee. Lot of good times had at both places, but there might not be any place as old Baton Rouge feeling as the Arzi’s on Government, except maybe Roman’s just across the street, or Fleur de Lis just down the street. The food is all good. They do a great fried haloumi, and I really like the feta dinner salad that comes with almost everything. The rice pilaf is crisp and clean, the hummus exactly what you hope for, and they always offer me a Lebanese tea to go when I’ve finished and paid.
If you’ve got time at lunch, you should try the lamb kabob because they execute it so well. It does take a little more time than a shawarma plate though. And if you need to go meatless, this is a great place to do it. The fried haloumi, the falafel, baba ganouch, cabbage roll, spinach pies–you won’t even realize you’ve gone veggie. But I do love sitting in the exotically decorated dining room at lunch time with the sun glinting off the windshields of cars and trucks in the parking lot and the bank windows across the street and even though the view is all concrete and cars, it has that flavor of the Baton Rouge you grew up in, makes you remember Godchaux’s and Piccadilly and shopping for Christmas trees at Memorial Stadium. Don’t know why that’s so, but don’t care much. Love to sit in the light and sip the Lebanese tea and play with my phone at lunchtime.
The food is very “phresh” and it is very “re-phreshing”, but I’m not sure poke is something that merits it’s own concept. Even sushi bars are not so narrowly focused. Poke competes with sushi and ceviche and raw oysters on the half-shell, and in that same vein, crawfish, charbroiled oysters and boiled shrimp, so I’d never buy stock, but that doesn’t mean these guys aren’t putting out a really good product. I tried the Yuzu Phresh Trio, a sampler platter that is too much food for just one person, but perfect as an appetizer for a group of friends, especially if you’re also ordering from their sister store in White Market, Chow Yum Phat. In fact, I can kind of picture getting apps from both places for a picnic style lunch on the tables and benches outside the market this spring.
The guac had an interesting Asian twist to it, and went really well with the rice crackers. The counter guy said to let him know if I needed more crackers. The fresh tuna with micro-greens, seaweed salad, and tobiko was really livened up by some thin sliced red onion. And they had a really nice sauce on the shredded kani that made up the krab salad. They also have a few imported Japanese soft drinks and teas. I didn’t care for te one I picked out (should have gone for the matcha instead) but that doesn’t mean you won’t.
So if you find yourself in White Star, unable to decide what you want, Yuzu is definitely worth a try. There’s a good possibility that you’ll find something phresh and exciting that you’ll fall in love with right away.
This is a great place to get together with friends because the menu is so extensive and there are so many things to try. This is the only place I know of in Baton Rouge that has a complete Vietnamese menu and a full blown sushi bar. They don’t skimp on the fish when they make nigiri or sashimi or sushi rolls, and the Vietnamese menu has pho, rice and vermicelli dishes, banh mi, springrolls and a host of appetizers–and that lets you put together some pretty unique meal combos. Here’s a fried calamari appetizer, a shrimp spring roll with peanut sauce, a California roll and a four piece nigiri add on.
The other aspect of this place that I dearly love is the colorful, laid back atmosphere they’ve created. The staff is super attentive and very friendly. Now I’m not saying you can’t go by yourself and have a good time, but it lends itself to groups because everyone can find something they want to try and it’s just made for sharing appetizers and rolls family style. Also, since they have both pho and sushi, it’s an all weather sort of spot. I know I eat more sushi in spring and summer and more pho in fall and winter. How many of us rush to find gumbo as soon as it starts to get chilly? I always find myself cooking red beans in August because I can’t wait to switch gears. Drunken Fish is a great place to visit rain or shine, hot or cold, by yourself or with the whole kickball team.
This week’s trip to the Farmers Market felt like opening a basket on the set of Chopped. Sometimes I go there looking for specific items with an idea in mind of what I want to cook. And sometimes I let what I find help decide the dish or dishes I’m going to cook over the weekend. There were plenty of fresh eggs, some nice king trumpet mushrooms, fresh cream, green onions and creole tomatoes and that led to a crust-less quiche. I added some California Garlic Mission Jack cheese and some chopped bell pepper and popped it in the oven for about an hour at 400.
I’ve been looking all over for chicken hearts to make giblet gravy and finally found some at the Goppelt Farms booth along with some gizzards. Make sure you rinse the hearts and gizzards well before running them in the slow cooker with a chopped red onion, a quart of beef broth, some packaged brown gravy mix, salt and pepper, bay leaf and Italian seasoning for about five or six hours until the meat is super tender. No need to brown anything, but you can if you want to cut some time. Add some rice, add some biscuits. Heaven.
And creole tomatoes made a great side for the Dover sole I ended up with when Whole Foods didn’t have any speckled trout. I’d decided to fry up some trout despite the mess frying inevitably creates, so it was easy to settle for doing the sole, since I’d already resigned myself to cleaning up the white flour I knew I was going to spill all over the place.
