The chow down Louisiana way
Seasonal fare from chefs in the Bayou State speaks to their sense of place
Louisiana tourism is fed by hunger. Visitors often plan their trips with dining at the top of the agenda. No mystery there: The state lays claim to some of the most distinctive culinary pleasures in the country.
While New Orleans gets the great share of foodie accolades and recognition, Louisiana offers much more than requisite oysters, gumbo, étouffée, boudin, po’boys and jambalaya. Dining is as magnificently diverse as the state itself, with glorious regional dishes and proud, terroir-driven foodways.
Creole traditions abound in the areas at the mouth of the Mississippi, including the Crescent City, one of the world’s great dining adventures. Farmers market bounty and the seafood-rich waters of Lake Pontchartrain mark the St. Tammany Parish area. Bayou country from Morgan City to Lafayette is a crawfish lover’s paradise, with boudin and cracklins also in tasty abundance. Southwest Louisiana beckons as a gateway to the food treasures of the Lake Charles area, with its seafood delights, fine dining and fusion restaurants.
North of Lake Charles you’ll find prairie land and the northwest twin cities of Shreveport and Bossier City, an area where Cajun traditions merge happily with country cooking, soul food, barbecue and the international flavors of Italy, Mexico and the Middle East. And the state’s northeast quadrant is Delta country, where distinctly Southern food traditions — barbecue, catfish, cornbread, smothered chops, peach cobbler — rule the plate.
“The culture is baked into the food,” said Louisiana Office of Tourism representative Jennifer Berthelot.
But the state’s restaurants have faced daunting struggles over the past several years. The pandemic dealt a sharp blow. Add to that back-to-back weather disasters — Hurricane Laura in August 2020 and Hurricane Delta in October 2020 — that destroyed homes and businesses, and disrupted the work of Louisiana’s oyster farmers, crabbers, shrimpers and fishermen. The same folks were dealt yet another bad hand with Hurricane Ida in August. The wounds from these events are still healing.
“Everyone learned a new pivot — a whole new term of pivot,” said Samantha Carroll, executive director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. “We lost some greats. The restaurants that stuck it out reinvented themselves all around in new ways.”
And exciting ways that can be tasted from one end of “the boot” to the other. Come with us as we explore great dishes from throughout the state.
Commanding presence
In a city of must-do dining, Commander’s Palace in New Orleans reigns supreme. The Garden District landmark, a temple of haute Creole sophistication, is lovingly guided by coproprietors (and cousins) Lally Brennan and Ti Adelaide Martin, who continue to make happy memories for diners. Executive chef Meg Bickford, the first woman in the top spot of the Commander’s kitchen, comfortably straddles the restaurant’s desire to create exciting new dishes while also safeguarding the classics, including turtle soup with aged sherry, Creole gumbo, pecan-crusted drum topped with lump crab (the most requested dish), and Shrimp & Tasso Henican. Every day is a party at Commander’s, especially at brunch. “We happened to have invented Jazz Brunch,” Bickford said, adding that brunch goers get three courses and an “eye opener cocktail.” End your meal with Commander’s-invented bread pudding souffle, which Bickford calls “the Queen of Creole desserts.” 1403 Washington Ave., New Orleans; commanderspalace.com
North by northwest
Chef Hardette Harris, a private chef for three decades, opened her restaurant Us Up North in Shreveport in 2019. As the name suggests, the restaurant shines a light on the foods of northern Louisiana, soulful Southern staples such as fried catfish, baked ham, butter beans, smothered pork chops, fried chicken, red beans and rice, and seasonal fruits and vegetables. “We have our own foodways here,” she said. “We’re rural Southern people. I celebrate what we have.” Her enthusiasm for the area’s foodways were cemented in 2015 when Harris created the official meal of North Louisiana (adopted by the Louisiana Legislature): Natchitoches meat pies, fried catfish, purple hull peas and hot water cornbread. Harris is particularly fond of a dish she said speaks to the heart of rural Louisiana — old-fashioned greens (collard, mustard and turnip) cooked with smoked ham hocks, smoked neck bones and salt pork. Her greens exemplify her love of “straight from the red dirt” cooking. 300 N. Allen Ave., Shreveport; usupnorth.com
All in the family
Two longtime restaurant families — the owners of The Harlequin and The Villa — joined forces in 2019 to create The Villa Harlequin in downtown Lake Charles. The menu is a merger, too — Italian steakhouse traditions with French and Creole influences of the Louisiana larder. How does that mashup work? In the hands of executive chef Amanda Cusey, in thrilling ways. The classically trained chef with a background in French cuisine, Cusey moved from Dublin to Louisiana in 2016 when her parents made their home in Lake Charles. In 2017, she joined The Villa and has been interpreting upscale Italian with Louisiana flair since. While straight-up Italian and steakhouse dishes are popular, Cusey’s creativity is evident in dishes such as prosecco risotto topped with fried oysters; crab and crawfish arancini served over jalapeño corn cream sauce; Creole tomato bisque with basil and lump crab; and gnocchi with fish, shrimp and crawfish in a shellfish cream sauce. Cusey said her signature dish is a surf and turf of grilled hanger steak topped with lump crab and crawfish in a spice white wine cream sauce. 324 Pujo St., Lake Charles; thevilla harlequin.com
Home sweet home
Chef Jeremy Reilly of Restaurant Cote in Slidell is proud to say that the food at his upscale Southern Creole restaurant is all close to home, in more ways than one. Everything comes from within 60 miles of Olde Towne Slidell on the Louisiana Northshore snug on Lake Pontchartrain. Running what he calls a “true scratch” kitchen, there are no microwaves or freezers at Cote. And if Reilly wants some greens or herbs, they’re only as far as the backyard garden. His menu might include dishes such as a hand-cut rib-eye steak ladled with a Creole crawfish sauce; blackened redfish topped with lump crab and andouille sausage; fried green tomatoes and blacked shrimp with house remoulade and Steen’s cane syrup reduction; and shrimp and cherry tomatoes in a Creole cream served over pasta and topped with fried oysters. But one of his favorite preparations is Louisiana cochon de lait, roast suckling pig, which he uses to fashion old-school po’boys, for eggs Benedict, as a topping for roasted jalapeño cornbread and as a stuffing for duck. Cote, in its Creole definition, means “at the home of.” And the restaurant means it: Make yourself at home. 2219 Carey St., Slidell; restaurantcote.com
Monroe memories
“This is my growing up, hunting and fishing with my grandfather” is how chef Cory Bahr explains the inspiration for what’s on the plate at his Parish Restaurant in Monroe, the north Louisiana town where he was born and raised. The hunting and fishing, combined with an appreciation for seasonal produce, is what drives Bahr’s work at the restaurant that sings of the flavors of the Delta region. “It’s a restaurant that speaks of its place,” he says. Dishes include hearth-baked Mississippi sweet potato bread; Louisiana alligator karaage; Louisiana flounder with crawfish sauce and cheddar grits; and filet mignon with pancetta and absinthe creamed greens. Others highlight Bahr’s creativity: kimchi-flavored pasta with white pork Bolognese; deviled eggs with caramelized miso and smoked trout roe; and duck confit with Hoppin’ John, jasmine rice and caramelized pomegranate sauce. 318 N. Second St., Monroe; parisrestaurant.com
Tacos for the people
Gov’t Taco in Baton Rouge takes its name from its home on Government Street. Located in a food hall when it first opened in 2018, the restaurant has since moved to its own standalone spot, opening on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020. Founder Jay Ducote — radio and television personality, and finalist in the 11th season of “Food Network Star” — created his concept as a place where taco culture can thrive in harmony with local influences. “It’s a Louisiana and Southern spin in different taco presentations,” he said. “It’s meant to be fun.” The names of his tacos underscore that: Phillibuster (coffee- and chili-braised beef with grilled onion and bell pepper); Steak of the Union (skirt steak and charred tomatillo); Socialism (crispy or grilled mahi with street corn and white barbecue sauce); The Magna Carrot (cane-glazed carrots, black bean puree, goat cheese, chimichurri and pumpkin seeds); and Shrimper Fi (crispy Gulf shrimp, cabbage, cherry tomatoes and smoked scallion aioli). The signature taco is Clucks & Balances: smoked chicken thigh meat with pimento macaroni and cheese, Nashville hot chicken skins and white Alabama barbecue sauce. 5621 Government St., Baton Rouge; govttaco. com
Fusion fantastic Chef Jim Urdiales’
Mestizo in Baton Rouge is Mexican in its soul but with a beating Louisiana heart. Even the name, signifying a mixed race, proclaims Mestizo’s fusion intentions. Here diners can find Gulf shrimp and crab enlivening enchiladas, nachos and quesadillas. Fried crawfish finds its way into tacos; local duck is tucked into empanadas; and shrimp plays with corn inside tamales. “I play in a little sandbox all by myself,” said Urdiales, explaining how his Louisiana Mexican fare distinguishes itself from Tex-mex. His signature dish speaks to Mestizo’s fusion philosophy: a stacked enchilada with mole verde, spinach, feta cheese, portobello mushrooms and grilled shrimp served with potato spears. “It’s a journey; an evolution,” he says of the entrée. 2323 S. Acadian Thruway, Baton Rouge; mestizorestaurant.com
Pig out
Dr. Robert Autin is a general and bariatric surgeon, born and raised in Lafayette. He’s also a passionate chef and butcher who bought the existing Acadian Superette in 2017 and set out to create his own restaurant in the Freetown neighborhood serving comforting Cajun plate lunches with an emphasis on smoked and craft meats: charcuterie, sausage, boudin, ham, bacon, tasso and andouille. Those dailychanging plate lunches include classics such as smothered chicken, meatloaf, spaghetti with meat sauce, smothered pork, brisket, stuffed turkey wings, chickenfried steak, shrimp stew, baked catfish and crawfish etouffee. Side dishes also underscore Acadian Superette’s down-home directive: smothered cabbage, black-eye peas, stewed white beans, yam and corn. One of Autin’s most popular signature dishes is cochon de lait, roast suckling pig that is chopped and served with rice dressing and corn maque choux. “I don’t serve it every day. It’s usually a celebratory food,” he said. 600 Lamar, Lafayette; acadiansuperette.com