Restaurant week: a few suggestions from us
Some local eateries will have prix-fixe menus next week, a chance to spend a little and try dishes that are not on the regular menus. Go someplace you haven't been.
Restaurant Week returns all next week, giving Baton Rouge a reason to eat well while helping local restaurants through the slowest stretch of summer.
Why it matters: July can be punishing for restaurants. Families travel, routines disappear and dining rooms thin out. A strong Restaurant Week can help carry them into August, when people return to their lives and begin preparing for college football season.
The fun part: Chefs often use the week to loosen up, introducing new dishes and trying ideas that may not appear on the regular menu. It is a chance for them to show off their chops—and for the rest of us to eat well.
RedEye scanned the available menus for dishes that sounded novel, delicious or both. Here are a few that caught our eye:
The Bullfish: Caribbean Seafood Paella, with saffron rice, shrimp, mussels, crawfish and crab, finished with the chef’s signature Caribbean seasoning.
Bistro Byronz on Government: Champagne Crevette Pasta, made with shrimp and angel hair pasta tossed with cherry tomatoes and sautéed spinach in a champagne cream sauce. It comes with a sliced baguette, presumably to make sure you clean your plate, as your parents demanded.
Cecelia Creole Bistro: Hunter’s Gumbo with tasso, venison sausage and duck from Chef Mark Reilly, a man dedicated to the serious business of making soup. Also tempting: jerk fried chicken with red beans and andouille sausage over Louisiana rice. The red beans are already among the best around.
Southdowns Grille: Homestyle Duck Meatloaf with creamed potatoes, wild mushroom jus, roasted carrots and scallions. Or Redfish on the Halfshell with crab butter, toasted almonds and chives. Choosing between them may require a second visit. This new restaurant has quickly established itself as among the best in the parish.
Nino’s: The lunch-only Smoked Turkey Pastrami Reuben, built with turkey pastrami, homemade sauerkraut, provolone and signature Russian dressing on grilled rye bread. It comes with a chilled antipasto salad. Nino’s also has a separate dinner menu. Nino’s hidden location inside a strip center is forgettable; the food is not.
A note before you go: Not every participating restaurant had posted its menu when we looked. Check the Restaurant Week website before making your choice—and make reservations. Dining rooms can get crowded, which is good news for the restaurants.
