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| - Beauregard Food Co. has Cafe du Monde beignets. And they fry them in cottonseed oil, just like Cafe du Monde. Do you need to know anything else? If you do, read on, but that's more than enough for me. The fact that their food is great too is just a bonus. ;)
We just got back from New Orleans. Two weeks ago today, in fact. We spent a week there just eating our way through the city. Of course, we Yelped our way through there, hitting all the hot spots for cajun, creole, and Louisiana cuisine. (And of course, we ate an inordinate quantity of beignets.) We had a good time.
So, when the beignet craving hit yesterday, we were out the door and on our way to Beauregard.
We were a little surprised when we found it was in front of the Harkins theater, and the interior is a unique hybrid of sit-down restaurant, Chipotle, and Starbucks. Cool. I like a restaurant that can do it all.
We went in late on a Wednesday evening, and while there were definitely other patrons there, it was pretty quiet. It was too cold to sit on the porch without a jacket, so we ordered and sat inside.
I got the fried catfish. Husband got the fried chicken. We both got the sweet potato fries as our side.
Best. Catfish. EVER. Catfish has an obnoxious tendency of either being gummy and non-cohesive, or tasting too strongly of mud. My catfish was the victim of neither. The fish fillets were large, firm, and fresh, with a nice flake and a perfect cornmeal crust. Tender, moist, and flaky on the inside. Flavorful and crispy on the outside. Perfectly golden. Outstanding. Their house tartar sauce is amazing, too--I don't usually like tartar sauce, and I could have eaten this with a spoon. So amazing. Lightly lemony, the right balance of thin and thick, with the nice addition of scallions. Bingo.
Husband had the fried chicken tenders. The batter was similarly perfectly crisp and golden, and it was lightly seasoned, probably with a house cajun blend. The spiced aioli dipping sauce was good but a cajun aioli probably would have been the real ticket. The dip had a hint of cinnamon in it that wasn't our favorite. Sorry I don't have more to say. I was totally absorbed in my incredible catfish.
The sweet potato fries had us distracted, too, though. Soft and fluffy inside, and crisp and seasoned outside, my husband--the sweet potato connoisseur, who orders them everywhere we go that they are available--proclaimed them the best he'd ever had. And he usually prefers them with cinnamon sugar. The cajun seasoning on these fries is a SLAM. FREAKING. DUNK. Perfect balance between the sweetness of the tuber and the salt and spices of the seasoning. They go so well together. I'd go back just to down a basket of those fries. (But I'd order beignets and catfish, too...)
In short, the food was better than anything we ever had in New Orleans. Can't wait to try the jambalaya, the po boys, and other local favorites.
Speaking of beignets, we were so tickled to see a whole shelf full of Cafe du Monde beignet mix boxes in the kitchen. When we ordered them, the chef mixed the dough up, rolled it out, and fried it to order. Cafe du Monde was still fresh on our palates--we probably ate their beignets half a dozen times or more while we were in NOLA earlier this month--and so we were anxious to see how these would be.
They were fabulous. In fact, they might have been better--the dough at Cafe du Monde is slightly overworked. I'm sure they have to make it in huge mixers, which always risks overworking a delicate dough like beignets have. Because ours were freshly made to order, we enjoyed a more delicate beignet than we ever got to enjoy in NOLA, but the distinct Cafe du Monde taste--which comes from the addition of barley flour and buttermilk to the dough--was unmistakably there. Plus, the piles of powdered sugar on our beignets had been sifted at Beauregard, where it was just lumped on at Cafe du Monde.
I asked about the waffles they serve, because Southern butter waffles are one of our favorite dishes, and their waffle is just a traditional, non-butter-enriched Belgian waffle. Toss some butter into that batter, guys, and we'll be in for breakfast, too!
WHO DAT? Dat's Beauregard Food Co., and they's good. Go try 'em.
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