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When I was doing research on places to eat in or near Lafayette, I was primarily looking at restaurants that offered crawfish boils. Then I hit a snag – it wasn’t crawfish season. As a result, all of the places that I had on my list were closed or not offering boils this time of year. I was pretty disappointed but didn’t want to give up hope. When I saw that Breaux Bridge was the “Crawfish Capitol of the World”, I knew that it would be our best bet for finding live crawfish.
After our tasty breakfast at Meche’s Donut King, we asked the friendly young women behind the counter if they knew of anywhere to get boiled crawfish. They suggested either The Fruit Stand or Crazy ‘Bout Crawfish. The latter was right off the highway and looked a bit touristy, plus I couldn’t find a menu online that said if they were currently serving fresh crawfish. The Fruit Stand, on the other hand, looked like just that – a farmer’s market, not a restaurant. But there was a sign outside that said “boiled crawfish”, so we were pretty much sold.
The outer part of The Fruit Stand is Foti’s Market & Cafe, where you can order burgers, sandwiches, and other assorted grill/fry items. We went inside to the supermarket part of the store, which has assorted fruits, vegetables, seafood, and grocery items for sale. We asked about the live crawfish, which they said was fresh, but that because it was winter time, the specimens available were smaller, as the larger crawfish bury themselves deep in the mud to avoid the cold. We took a peek at the big bucket of crawfish, and they seemed pretty decent in size to us so we ordered up three pounds (the minimum) at $4.99/pound. We were asked how spicy we wanted the boil to be, and when we asked how spicy “spicy” was, it was recommended that we get the mild version. We didn’t argue, but wondered how spicy a boil could possibly be. Silly us.
We waited at a table back in the cafe area while they cooked up our crawfish, which was presented to us in a giant tray and topped with two boiled potatoes and a piece of corn on the cob. The crawfish were brilliant red in color, both from the shells and to the seasoning liberally applied.
After dropping off our tray, the guy who made the boil offered to rinse off some of the seasoning for us. We made the mistake of declining. Initially, the first few bites were great. The crawfish were sweet and perfectly cooked so that they were tender, not dried out or tough. The seasoning, which appeared to be predominantly salt, ground cloves, and cayenne pepper, had a nice kick. But gradually, that kick built. And built. Until we had tears in our eyes and runny noses. At first, we were cracking open and eating the tail meat, and then sucking on the heads. In the end, sucking on the heads proved to be too painful due to all the spice in the seasoning.
After drinking a lot of beer (me) and water (Josh, since he was driving) and chewing on the boiled potatoes, we decided to just take some time to let our mouths cool off while we shelled all of the tails at once. Once we were done shelling and had a mountain of crawfish meat in front of us, we wiped the spice off our hands as best as we could and proceeded to feast on the tail meat. I was sad to leave all the heads behind, but there was no way to get past the seasoning. Eventually, all I was tasting was the cloves and cayenne anyway, not the briny goodness of the head innards.
Considering this was our first crawfish boil, I thought we got through the mountain of crawfish well enough. We had no issues pulling off the heads and cracking open the tails with our hands. Even though these were off-season “smaller” crawfish, I didn’t find their size to be too puny, and the flavor was better than any frozen crawfish tails we’ve tasted before. The small size did prevent us from enjoying the claw meat, which yielded so little return that it was just not worth our effort to crack them open.
I have to admit that I wasn’t a huge fan of the crawfish boil seasoning used here, as I have an aversion to cloves. I don’t know if most boil seasonings taste like cloves, but the flavor was really overwhelming after a while and I wished that we had chosen to have the crawfish rinsed before we ate them. But the crawfish themselves were obviously fresh (we saw them alive) and their meat was sweet and tender. At $4.99/pound, I would be buying many pounds if I had access to these back home. Next time, we’ll know better that “mild” is still “super spicy”. Overall, however, I was just thrilled to have found a place that prepared crawfish boil in the off-season.
The Fruit Stand/Foti’s Market & Cafe
200 W Mills Ave.
Breaux Bridge, LA
After trying the hot boudin at Cochon Butcher in New Orleans, we were curious about the boudin that is served in the heart of Cajun country. A little roadfood.com research led us to Johnson’s Boucaniere, which is located on the edge of the downtown area. It’s basically a house with sign out front that says “Hot boudin to-day”. We got there right before they closed up shop, and while there is a menu board with sandwiches listed, we really just wanted to try the boudin. We got one link to share, which they helpfully split open for us before wrapping it up in white paper. We took it outside to the picnic table area on the large porch so that we could eat it immediately, while it was still steaming hot.
We did take a picture of the boudin before we ate it but it was.. ahem.. unpublishable. Seriously, it did not look appetizing at all, and I didn’t want to subject the internet to it. If you’re curious, send me an email or leave a comment. But it tasted really good, I promise. There was smoky pork flavor and a peppery kick that I was not expecting. The ratio of rice to meat was pretty even, and the casing was thicker than the one at Cochon Butcher, but it didn’t matter because I think you’re only supposed to eat the insides anyway. Overall we found boudin to be a unique type of sausage, vastly from the Italian style that we’re used to, and great by itself or with a little mustard. While it’s not something I would eat every day, it was nice to try out a local specialty.
Johnson’s Boucaniere
1111 St John St.
Lafayette, LA
Banh Mi Saigon Bakery
Out of all the banh mi sandwiches that we’ve tried so far, Banh Mi Saigon Bakery is by far my favorite. It’s located in the back of a jewelry shop so it’s basically just a counter and there isn’t much room inside the shop. The last time we were in Chinatown we had to go to Paris Sandwich for banh mis instead of Banh Mi Saigon Bakery due to the extremely long line and no real sitting area to eat. This time we were there at an off peak hour so there was no line whatsoever. Phew! I was worried that due to all the positive press the place has received in the last few months, we wouldn’t be able to get in. Too stuffed from our dumpling and noodle feast, we picked up some sandwiches to go.
I ended up reheating the sandwiches a few days later briefly in the oven to crisp up the bread. I preheated the oven to 400 degrees then stuck the sandwiches in for about 5 minutes so that the bread was warm through but the fillings remained relatively cool.
Even left in the fridge for a few days and then reheated, the sandwiches were spectacular. The toasted bread shattered delightfully when I bit into it, and although the pork filling is a bit tough, it’s cut into tiny pieces, which makes it easier to eat. The pate adds a bit of moisture, and the pickled carrots and daikon are sweet and tangy. We requested the sandwiches to be hot so they put on both a squirt of hot sauce and some jalapeno slices. If it gets to be too spicy, I just pick out the jalapenos, plus the cucumber spears in the sandwich are a cool refreshing comfort for my mouth.
Though the debate about the best banh mi sandwich in the city rages on, much like the debates about the best pizza or burger in the city, Banh Mi Saigon Bakery has my vote. True, I haven’t tried a lot of places, like Nicky’s on the Lower East Side, the famed joints in Brooklyn, or the new Ma Peche version in midtown, but of the ones that I have tried (Paris Sandwich, Vietnam Banh Mi So. 1), this one takes the cake. I’ll make my rounds through the other places sometime soon though, I hope.
Di Palo’s Fine Foods
We stopped into Di Palo’s to pick up a ball of fresh mozzarella and some proscuitto for our lunch the next day. The last time I was there, six months ago, the store had moved its wares into the space next door while they were making renovations. Now I see that it has expanded to both spaces, making it huge and spacious. The meat and cheese counters are more spread out, and the imported Italian goods are also spaced out so that you no longer have to be backed up against the shelves while you wait for your number to be called.
We got a pound of mozzarella and half a pound of San Daniele prosciutto, which was about $22/lb. It sounds expensive but it’s actually cheaper than the ones you can get at the supermarket, and a million times better. The prosciutto was soft and delicate in texture, not tough or stringy. It had a deep, almost gamey flavor to it, and wasn’t too salty. We put together our favorite spread and noshed to our hearts’ content while watching football the next day.
Josh was traveling yet again for work so one night I made a quick and tasty caprese salad with the leftover mozzarella and prosciutto. I simply cut up a tomato and salted the slices, layered on slices of the mozzarella, sprinkled on freshly cracked pepper and thin ribbons of fresh basil, piled on the prosciutto, and drizzled olive oil over the top of everything. Fast, easy, and delicious!
Banh Mi Saigon Bakery
138 Mott St. between Grand and Hester St.
New York, NY
As a result, on nights that we don’t go out or order in, we’ll just throw together something simple like Caesar salad with homemade dressing and grilled chicken or arugula salad with lemon and parmesan. Tasty, but nothing exciting to blog about. Our favorite simple supper, however, is prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil, and a nice baguette, all arranged on a cutting board for easy noshing. We slice the baguette into little rounds and just pile on whatever toppings we choose. It’s fun, easy, and requires absolutely no cooking.
On truly lazy nights, we’ll get by with supermarket mozzarella, prosciutto, and baguettes. They’re not the greatest but they’re passable in a pinch. However, when Josh took our friend from Singapore to Chinatown for some banh mis, and he very thoughtfully picked up some fresh mozzarella and burrata from Di Palo’s.
One night I convinced Josh to stop at Amy’s Bread and Sullivan Street Bakery after work for some baguettes, so we could do a side-by-side comparison. Unfortunately, by the time he got to Amy’s bread they had run out of regular baguettes so we had to settle for whole wheat. Not a big deal. He did manage to get a regular baguette from Sullivan Street, so while we couldn’t do an exact comparison, we did have a nice variety for dinner that evening.
We rounded out the meal with some decent Citterio prosciutto that we picked up for cheap at Costco, basil from our windowsill, a nice ripe cantaloupe, also from Costco, and some super sweet cherries.
The last time we had burrata from Di Palo’s, it was imported burrata. This time Josh got the domestic burrata, which still had great flavor but it wasn’t as milky or creamy on the inside as the imported variety.
Both baguettes were delicious. Fortunately the whole wheat one from Amy’s Bread wasn’t too wheaty in flavor, since I usually don’t like whole wheat bread. It had a subtle nuttiness to it, and a slightly firmer chew, but otherwise it was just as good as a regular baguette. The one from Sullivan Street Bakery had a nice airy and chewy interior, though I wished the crust was a bit more crispy. Not a big deal, we can just pop it in the oven for a quick toast next time. I really liked both baguettes, and while the location of Amy’s Bread is much more convenient, I’d happily make the trek down to Sullivan Street Bakery once in a while for some delicious bread.
The addition of the cantaloupe was a nice change of pace for us. It’s no wonder that prosciutto and melon is a classic pairing. The super sweet melon and the salty sweet prosciutto were simply divine together.
I’m sick of the hot weather but I’ll be sad when the summer is over and my excuse for not cooking will no longer be valid. But even though we won’t have super sweet ripe summer tomatoes and fruit available when the weather gets cooler, I’m sure we’ll still have many lazy nights when we’ll have a simple feast of prosciutto, mozzarella, and tasty fresh baguettes.
Amy’s Bread (multiple locations)
672 9th Ave. between 46th and 47th St.
New York, NY
Sullivan Street Bakery
533 West 47th St. between 10th and 11th Ave.
New York, NY
Di Palo’s Fine Foods
200 Grand St. between Mulberry and Mott St.
New York, NY
I don’t watch 30 Rock, much to Josh’s sister’s dismay, but somehow I ended up watching the “Sandwich Day” episode that featured a roast beef and mozzarella sandwich with magical dipping sauce. It was and still is the only episode of 30 Rock that I’ve seen, and I couldn’t get that sandwich out of my mind, or the scene of Tina Fey’s character eating it at the airport security gate because the dipping sauce was over 3 ounces.
I read a post on Serious Eats New York that revealed the sandwich to be from Fiore’s Deli in Hoboken. Even though Hoboken is just across the Hudson, and Josh and I are in NJ fairly often, we could never find the time to get over to Fiore’s to try out this sandwich. So when Josh was assigned to a project in Jersey City and he mentioned that he had been hoofing it over to Hoboken for lunch, I quickly looked up the deli’s address and found that it wasn’t too far from his office. I asked him to pick up some sandwiches for dinner and made sure to tell him that he had to go on a Thursday, as that was when the magical dipping sauce would be available.
So the last Thursday before his Jersey City project ended, Josh made the trip to Fiore’s. He picked up two sandwiches, which are so large that they’re really like four sandwiches, and brought back 1.5 for our dinner that night (he ate a half for lunch).
He also got a huge container of the magical dipping sauce, which is gravy made from the roast beef drippings. We heated the gravy up on the stove, and it smelled and looked a lot like soy sauce.
Fortunately it didn’t taste like soy sauce, although I thought a detected a hint of it in the flavor. Maybe it was just my mind playing tricks on me since it really looked so much like soy sauce. We also heated up the sandwiches briefly in the oven, since the bread had gotten very soggy from traveling all day. While the bread crisped up nicely, and the cheese got a little melty, I think it dried out the roast beef unfortunately.
The dry roast beef wasn’t a huge issue though, as we had lots of dipping sauce on hand. I liberally dipped each bite into the gravy, letting it soak into everything.
Overall I must admit that I was a little disappointed with this sandwich. I know a lot of it was probably my fault in not eating it right away and reheating it in the oven, but the flavors weren’t as good as I thought they’d be; it was kind of one note. The beef didn’t have a huge amount of flavor to it.
Josh did eat half a sandwich right away, and while he said the roast beef was definitely moister originally, the bread was better after being toasted. And I’m sure the mozzarella cheese lost a lot of its fresh taste after being melted a bit. I thought the sandwiches would have roasted peppers on them but maybe you need to specially request them. I wonder if adding those would have helped perk up the flavors of the sandwich.
I think I’ll need to find a Saturday to make the trip to Fiore’s Deli myself, so that I can have a freshly made sandwich and dipping sauce and eat it right away. I don’t think that I can fairly judge this sandwich at this point. I also wouldn’t mind trying some other things that the deli has to offer!
Fiore’s Deli
414 Adams St.
Hoboken, NJ
There are lots of vendors and stalls at Pike Place Market but one that really stands out is Chukar Cherries. How can you walk by a giant display of chocolate covered cherries and not stop for a free sample? They usually have several varieties available for tasting, from milk chocolate to dark chocolate coatings and different kinds of dried cherries. They also offer other goodies such as nuts and trail mixes, available in different sized packages.
We picked up a few bags of cabernet cherries covered in dark chocolate, and some black forest cherries, which are covered in semisweet chocolate and cocoa powder. They were pretty pricey though, so it’s definitely not a snack that you can gorge on. But that’s ok, because they’re so rich and decadent that I found it hard to eat too many at once. They made a great little treat for us on our cruise, and they also make great gifts for your friends. Just make sure you don’t put them in a hot place because they melt easily!
Chukar Cherries
1529 Pike Place
Seattle, WA
But I digress; this is a food blog after all! So at lunchtime on Saturday, we headed downtown with Claire and Sean, who are staying with us for the weekend, to introduce them to some of our favorite Chinatown foods.
Lan Zhou Hand Pulled Noodles
We started out with hand pulled noodles at Lan Zhou on East Broadway. I know hand pulled noodles have been blogged to death in the last few months, but they are definitely worth talking about. Josh and I have tried Super Taste and Sheng Weng, but we always come back to Lan Zhou because of their tastier broth. We got seats along the wall right next to the noodle maker and proceeded to watch him intently for 10 minutes while we waited for our soups. We’ve seen him make the noodles a hundred times, yet we still can’t grasp how it’s done. It’s simply amazing to see him take a ball of dough, bang it against the table a few times, twist his hands around, and somehow he always winds up with perfectly formed strands of noodles.
Claire and Sean shared a bowl of beef noodles, while Josh and I opted for the beef brisket noodles (both $4.50 each). The broths are similar – deep, rich and peppery – but the beef brisket is fattier and chewier, which I like better.
The noodles here are just perfect – tender yet chewy. They’re thinner than I generally like, but they still have a lot of spring and bite to them.
We also shared a large order of pan-fried dumplings (12/$3.00). Thin-skinned, crispy, hot and greasy, topped with soy sauce and Sriracha, these are just perfect. Josh and I currently have several bags of frozen dumplings from Lan Zhou in our freezer. They’re perfect for days when we’re just too lazy to cook. You can just pan fry them or boil them straight from the freezer – no need to defrost.
We love this place because you get to watch the noodles and dumplings made right in front of you, and a few minutes later, you’re digging into a steaming bowl or sizzling plate of that same stuff. It just doesn’t get better than that.
We had planned to stop at Prosperity Dumpling on our way to the more touristy side of Chinatown but decided to bypass it so that we could save room for our next stop, Banh Mi Saigon Bakery. Unfortunately, due to the recent amount of press that banh mis have received, the line was almost out the door of the tiny shop. It’s really quite a change from when we used to go and the place would be empty so you could sit on the boxes along the side wall and eat your banh mi right there. Instead of waiting on the ridiculously long line, we headed across the street and down the block to Paris Sandwich, which was almost barren in comparison.
Paris Sandwich
There was no wait to order two grilled pork ban mis, and we nabbed a table in the back to eat our freshly made sandwiches. The seating area is the only advantage of Paris Sandwich, as you can have your sandwich made to order and eat it right away. The bread, however, while super light and crispy, is pretty tasteless. The grilled pork is tender and the vegetables are fresh but there isn’t enough filling overall. I prefer Banh Mi Saigon Bakery handily over Paris Sandwich, and even if the sandwich is pre-made or if it gets soggy on the way home, I just pop it in the oven for a few minutes and the bread crisps right back up. The filling is ample and the pickled vegetables are perfectly tangy and crunchy. Regardless, the banh mis at Paris Sandwich made for a refreshing “snack,” as we were still pretty full from the hand pulled noodles and dumplings.
Di Palo’s Fine Foods
The next stop on our tour was Di Palo’s to pick up some supplies for our planned picnic in Central Park during the afternoon. We got two loaves of excellent Sullivan Street Bakery bread, a one-pound ball of fresh mozzarella ($6.99/lb) and, most exciting of all, a ball of burrata ($7.99). A friend told us about it and we’ve been itching to try it ever since, so this was the perfect time. We picked up some white wine and headed back uptown to meet up with another friend for our picnic.
After debating whether we could get away with drinking the wine in the park, however, we ultimately decided to bring some chairs and a table up to our roof deck and enjoy the outdoors without the hassle. It turned out to be the perfect plan. The weather was just right – warm, not too sunny, with a nice breeze – and the view from our roof is spectacular. It’s basically a 360 degree view of the whole city; we can see all the way down to the Statue of Liberty to the south, the Hudson to the west, all the way up to the GWB to the north, and all of Central Park to the east. Really really stunning.
Ok back to food. We supplemented our supplies from Di Palo’s with some prosciutto, genoa salami and more fresh mozzarella that our other friend brought in from a deli in Hoboken. We also had some prosciutto and manchego cheese that Josh got from the supermarket nearby, as well as ripe tomatoes on the vine, and some fresh basil from our windowsill planter. It really was quite the spread.
The highly anticipated burrata did not disappoint. The smooth exterior of the ball was broken open to reveal the creamy innards, which we spread on the bread with a knife, like ricotta.
We tried all the different combinations of the mozzarellas and the prosciuttos, and ate slices of manchego cheese wrapped with salami.
We ate until we could eat no more, and there were still tons left over. We spent the next few hours eating, drinking and chatting, and only headed back inside when the sun went down and it got too cold up on the roof. Then we proceeded to eat and drink some more, moving on to strawberries and scotch.
Lansdowne Road
Later in the evening, we headed out for a reunion of sorts at Lansdowne Road (Claire and Sean used to live in NYC and still have tons of friends here). Claire had called ahead to reserve several tables in the back room, and we worked our way through several beer bongs of Magic Hat #9 (my favorite beer), Stone IPA and Blue Moon.
Famous 53rd Street Halal Cart
Afterward, Claire and I stumbled our way home (bathroom emergency!) while Sean and Josh headed to 53rd St. and 6th Ave. to get some streetcart food from the Famous Halal cart. The cart, which has a pretty long line during the day, apparently is even more crowded at night, judging from the blurry shots Josh took with his iphone.
The food though is just as good, if not better, after you’ve had a few beer bongs worth of drinks! It was the perfect way to end a perfect day of eating.
Lan Zhou
144 East Broadway between Pike and Rutgers St.
New York, NY
Paris Sandwich
113 Mott St. between Hester and Canal St.
New York, NY
Di Palo’s Fine Foods
200 Grand St. between Mulberry and Mott St.
New York, NY
Lansdowne Road
599 10th Ave. between 43rd and 44th St.
New York, NY
Famous Halal Cart
Corner of 53rd St. and 6th Ave. (SE Corner during the day, SW Corner at night)
New York, NY