Comfort food, Perkins Road style

There is a version of Baton Rouge that lives mostly in memory—the Southdowns Lounge on Perkins Road, a neighborhood bar where you could saddle up to a barstool and feel like the city made sense. Who are we kidding? You went there to have a good time. Sadly, it closed in 2008. The building stayed.

Southdowns Grille opened in April at the same address, and on the first Wednesday of the month—a standing lunch with Rolfe McCollister—we decided it was time to find out what became of the old place.

The lunch is a ritual. Rolfe is my former boss, though we still collaborate on projects, and, most importantly, he's my friend and mentor. We've broken bread once a month since the day he allegedly retired. We talk about Baton Rouge. Politics. Brainstorm. But mostly we do what old friends do—catch up on family, swap stories and laugh.

The connection to the Southdowns Lounge now lives entirely in the mind. Designer Emily Torrance Berthelot gave the space a full reinvention: brighter, airier, with dissected wine-crate panels on the west wall, contemporary light fixtures and mustard-yellow chair cushions against peppercorn gray. A small counter area near the bar lets you wait for a table with a cocktail in hand (in my case, an iced tea), which is a civilized arrangement. The bones are the same. Everything else is new.

Our server steered us well. She recommended the Steak Frites and the Chicken Schnitzel, and also flagged the Serrano Ham Panini and the Southdowns Muffuletta as worth a first visit. We took two of the four.

A confession: I am not a foodie. My comfort zone runs closer to Jimmy Buffett's Cheeseburger in Paradise than to anything that requires a working knowledge of chimichurri. The double cheeseburger at the table next to ours looked magnificent, and I noted it for next time.

But the Steak Frites won me over. An eight-ounce flat iron steak, cooked to a proper medium-plus, arrived with chimichurri and herb aioli served in one of those small silver metal cups, alongside shoestring fries seasoned with sea salt. Nothing needed adjusting. The fries alone were worth the trip. I will go back and order it medium—the steak was exactly right, and I want to see how close to perfect it can get.

Rolfe left a clean plate. That is the only Chicken Schnitzel review that matters.

Southdowns Grille is open Tuesday through Sunday for lunch and dinner at 4205 Perkins Road. Comfort food is the sweet spot, and this kitchen hits the mark.

—JR Ball