A Taste of Lafayette, Louisiana
A Taste of Lafayette, Louisiana
Story & Photography: Susan Benton
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A different world exists in the Cajun country of South Louisiana. Lafayette, a city of 120.000, and about a two-and-half-hour drive from New Orleans has caught up with the Big Easy on culinary allure, showcasing exotic foods with distinctive French flavors.
Chefs and business entrepreneurs have returned home to their Acadian culture, embracing it and finding others are doing the same.
If planning a vacation or just a weekend getaway, Lafayette, Louisiana is the place to go, as it offers the amenities and luxurious found in major cities, but the atmosphere is more relaxed, and the folks could not be friendlier.
Numerous music clubs feature homegrown talent, including both traditional and contemporary Cajun and Zydeco performers. Two popular festivals, Festival International de Louisiane in April and Festivals Acadiens in October, draw many thousands of visitors to town and anchor a calendar year full of celebrations of the area’s vibrant culture.
Begin your gastronomic journey at Tsunami Sushi where owner Leigh Simon, who spent more than 20 years in New York and Los Angeles, returned home in 2000 to open the sushi eatery with sister Michelle Ezell to rave reviews. Winning awards consistently each year since, try the Father Calais Roll made with tuna, salmon, crab, masago, avocado, and cucumber. You will be praying for more.
Locally owned and operated for more than 40 years, Randol’s Restaurant & Cajun Dance Hall passes with flying colors. Deeply rooted in the values and traditions of Cajun culture, there are no strangers on the dance floor, so kick up your heels and indulge in the steamed crabs or crawfish with fresh potatoes, onions, and corn.
Start your morning off at The French Press, where the locals gather in a renovated print shop. Embracing the new food movement, owners Justin and Margaret Girouard returned to Lafayette after Justin’s stints at Stella! in the French Quarter and Provence, France. Justin’s in the kitchen and Margaret is running the front of the house with menu favorites like the Sweet Baby Breesus— buttermilk biscuit sliders with bacon, fried boudin balls, and Steen’s cane syrup from Abbeville. Girouard taps into his fine-dining skills on Friday and Saturday nights, when the white tablecloths come out and the dishes showcase his creativity.
Take time to digest all that Lafayette has to offer by visiting the Jean Lafitte Acadian Cultural Center and Vermillionville. Discover the story of the Acadian (Cajun) people who settled the prairies, bayous, and marshes of southeast Louisiana. You will not want to miss the moving film detailing the deportation of the Acadians from Nova Scotia and their arrival (and survival) in South Louisiana.
Situated on 22 acres near the Vermilion River, Vermillionville provides a living history lesson, with an Acadian town, complete with a Creole plantation home, cotton gin, schoolhouse, blacksmith shop, chapel, and more. Workers dress in authentic period costumes giving demonstrations of Acadian life and crafts, along with daily lectures and storytelling sessions.
Boudin, a spicy poached pork sausage, can be found most everywhere, and on The Cajun Boudin Trail. Focus on nearby Scott, Louisiana, where on April 12, 2012, Scott was designated by the State Legislature of Louisiana as the “Boudin Capital of the World”, producing more Boudin per-capita than any other place in the state. Try The Best Stop and Don’s Specialty Meats, as they are sure not to disappoint.
Wash down all that smoky goodness with a pint of Bayou Teche Brewing’s LA-31 Bière Pâle ale made by brewers so devoted to their Acadian background that local organizations promote Creole culture which is listed on every bottle. The Knott brothers founded the brewery to compliment the cuisine and lifestyle of Cajuns and Creoles.
“Be real and Eat good” at the elevated gastropub Social Southern Table & Bar. Chef Marc Krampe and his staff have put their own twist on Southern favorites offering an eclectic menu. Krampe studied at Le Cordon Bleu prior to working his way up in the Austin restaurant scene before returning to Lafayette and adding to the evolving culinary community. Go for the smoke fried chicken with foie gras biscuits and drizzle of ghost pepper infused honey; it’s all the buzz.
Plan for tapas and cocktails at Pamplona where racks of artisanal bitters and house made tonics and syrups are perched behind the bar, and an ample variety of beers and spirits are available. Head bartender James Waise says, “It’s a progressive traditional cocktail bar. We have more than 80 original cocktails, make our tonics form scratch, squeeze our fresh juice and carbonate our own soda water.” Order the White Manhattan with unaged whiskey and white sweet vermouth.
Take a rest under the St. John’s Cathedral Oak, and take in the beauty of The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist: On the National Registry of Historic Properties and dating back to 1916, the cathedral is a superb example of Dutch Romanesque architecture with massive brick walls, graceful arches, delicate red and white brickwork, and turrets flanking the octagonal steeple, from which the bells toll each hour.
Make reservations for dinner at Jolie’s Louisiana Bistro featuring the culinary stylings of Executive Chef Manny Augello. Jolie’s get its name from the painting titled “Jolie Blonde” (Pretty Blonde) by world-renowned Blue Dog artist George Rodrigue, and is owned by George’s two sons, Andre and Jacque, along with Steve and Suzi Sabntillo. Jolie’s offers an eclectic Creole menu featuring fresh, local, seasonal Louisiana ingredients harvested weekly by local farmers and food artisans. Try the Roasted Bone Marrow appetizer followed by the Zapp’s Crusted Crawtator Louisiana Drum with crawfish cream sauce.
Don’t leave town without rolling up your sleeves for some finger licking food at Johnson’s Boucanière, a Cajun French word meaning “smoke house.” In Eunice, Louisiana in the 1940s, the Johnson family became famous for their smoked sausages and boudin, but luckily brought their skills and time-honored smokehouse artistic devotion from the Cajun Prairie to Lafayette. Nosh on slow-smoked country-style ribs and jambalaya while enjoying the wonderful stories from local legend, Wallace Johnson. This place will have you clamoring for the Parrain Special- grilled cheese stuffed with a fried boudin ball that is smashed and covered with house made bbq sauce and placed between two slices of American cheese on an Evangeline Maid bun.
With an invigorating restaurant scene, chefs adapting traditional dishes into edible art, and communities supporting local farmers and food producers, you’d be wise to extend your stay when traveling to Lafayette. First-time travelers rarely allow enough time to take in the region’s treasures, but do plan to bring an ice chest if possible, as you will want to take some of Lafayette home with you.
Stay:
Hilton Lafayette
(337) 235-6111
Eat & Do:
Tsunami Sushi
(337) 234-3474
Randol’s Restaurant & Cajun Dancehall
(337) 981-7080
The French Press
(337) 233-9449
www.thefrenchpresslafayette.com
Jean Lafitte National Park Acadian Cultural Center
(337) 232-0789
Vermillionville
(337) 233-4077
Bayou Teche Brewing
(337) 303-8000
Jolie’s Louisiana Bistro
(337) 504-2382
Johnson’s Boucaniere
(337) 269-8878
Social Southern Table & Bar
(337) 456-3274
Pamplona Tapas Bar & Restaurant
(337) 232-0070
The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist
(337) 232-2322
http://www.saintjohncathedral.org/
The Cajun Boudin Trail
http://www.cajunboudintrail.com/
Lafayette Convention & Visitors Commission
(337) 232-3737
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Now I am craving Boudin! I had gumbo today for lunch because of your post. It is a rainy day in Athens so was perfect to grab some from Hilltop Grille here. Their gumbo could be sold on Bourbon Street, it is so spot on!