If you haven’t heard anything about the food truck “movement” in the past year or so, you’ve probably been living under a rock. I’m particularly proud of my city (Baton Rouge) for not being late to the game on this trend and supporting at least 5 (just off the top of my head) food trucks. Some folks may be starting to consider mobile food passé, but then one comes across a truck offering really unique fare, like the crepes from GoYaYa’s Gourmet Food Truck. Although really, it’s not so much a truck as a pulled trailer:

GoYaYa's Gourmet Food Truck

GoYaYa’s was started by Chef Kevin Black, who was inspired by the food carts he was exposed to while living in Taiwan. He says that experience and his education at the Culinary Arts Institute of Louisiana were the perfect combination to open a gourmet food truck. GoYaYa’s crepes are from rotating international cuisines varying from Greek and Vietnamese to classic French. I visited on an overcast day when they were parked under the Perkins Rd. overpass. Aside from being slightly muddy from the recent rain, the overpass is a great area for a food truck: lots of businesses around and ample parking. On my visit there were other diners, but no line (a combination of the holidays and the rain, I’m sure), so I quickly picked out my lunch choice: the grilled chicken caprese crepe (thin sliced grilled chicken breast, roma tomatoes, Mozzarella, pesto aioli).

Grilled Chicken Caprese Crepe

I am really, really impressed by the quality of crepe you can get from a truck. The crepe was warm and of perfect texture–not soggy and not rubbery. The chicken caprese crepe was enormous and stuffed to the brim with fillings. The chicken was well-seasoned and juicy, the tomatoes were of good quality (especially for the winter), and that pesto aioli…mmmmm!! I could honestly barely finish this hearty crepe, but I also didn’t want to leave any of it behind. It was a really great meal.

GoYaYa’s serves a number of other savory crepes, like the Cuban and pulled pork, and sweet crepes if you have room for dessert. One thing I really loved about the mobile resto was their convenient seating area in back.

Seating at GoYaYa's

This is something I haven’t seen on any Atlanta food trucks that would be a welcome addition. Check GoYaYa’s website or follow them on Twitter to see when they’re flipping crepes in your neighborhood!

www.goyayas.com

Chick-fil-A is pretty much my favorite fast-food restaurant, so I was excited I got the chance to get an “advance” taste of their new spicy chicken sandwich, which is being debuted for real on June 7. All you had to do for a free sandwich was visit getspicychicken.com and reserve a time for May 24-June 5. A great gimmick for Chick-fil-A, I think. But on to the sandwich:

The anticipation is killing me

The Sandwich

Basically, if you like Chick-fil-A’s classic chicken sandwich (which I do) and you like spicy (which I do), you’ll like this sandwich. The chicken is the same juicy stuff that CFA is famous for, and the seasoning has a slow, creeping heat. By the time I was halfway through I wasn’t sure I’d finish the whole thing without another cup of lemonade.

I’m not sure whether I’d order the spicy chicken sandwich over the original, but I am looking forward to the spicy chicken breakfast biscuit that AJC Food Critic John Kessler mentioned is in development. Check out his experience at CFA headquarters for a taste of the sandwich here.

www.chickfila.com

My cupcake quest has now expanded beyond Atlanta to my hometown of Baton Rouge. I won some free cupcakes fromSweet Wishes Cafe via Twitter following the Saints Superbowl win. I guess everyone was in a giving mood! (But really, they have been doing Twitter giveaways fairly often…follow them!) As far as I know, this is Baton Rouge’s only cupcakery. And though they’ve been open for a few years, all I can say is…About Time! I stopped in when I breezed through BR on my way to NOLA for Mardi Gras to pick up my loot:

Sweet Wishes

Cupcakes

If memory serves, these are (cw from top) white chocolate raspberry, chocolate peanut butter, red velvet, and king cake. These didn’t look like the cupcakes I’m used to eating. They looked more…rustic. I will admit, to me “rustic” at first said “dry” but this was not the case at all. I was also a little wary because Sweet Wishes uses a more moderate frosting-to-cake ratio than I like (I’m a big frosting person) but I was pleasantly surprised on more than just those two points.

The cake was really, really moist, and the rustic look just added a “We just made these with our Mom” kind of nostalgia. The amount of frosting perfectly complemented the size of the cupcake, and it wasn’t too sweet, as it had a little something extra to compete with–there was stuff baked into the cake!! When I bit into the white chocolate raspberry, I found that there were actual bits of white chocolate in the cake., The chocolate peanut butter also had peanut butter chips baked in. In all my cupcake tastings, I’ve never seen anyone else do this, and I really liked it. Kudos, Sweet Wishes. I’ve just added a permanent stop to my trips home.

Sweet Wishes Cafe is located on Perkins Rd near the intersection with Bluebonnet. They have free wifi, coffee, tea, various gift items for purchase, and also serve LSU Dairy ice cream. Check them out!

www.sweetwishescafe.com

After stuffing ourselves on the usual Christmas feast of gumbo, turkey, ham, and more starchy sides than I care to mention, my brother Vincent and I decided to go check out a new pizzeria near our house, Oscar’s Ice Cream & Pizza Joint.

Oscar's Ice Cream & Pizza Joint

Oscar’s is occupying two suites of what used to be Heads ‘n’ Tails Seafood on Perkins Rd, one suite housing the ice cream shop, and the other the main restaurant. When Vincent and I stopped in for lunch, the small main dining room was not full, but had two or 3 larger parties dining in, a pretty good sign for a holiday afternoon. Oscar’s has a number of really interesting pizza combinations, and we decided to split a 12″ D&A Gumbo (Smoked duck, alligator sausage, andouille sausage & green onion on a roux based tomato gravy):

D&A Gumbo

D&A Gumbo Slice

I think Vincent and I have both had alligator before, so there wasn’t much of a flavor surprise there. I hate to say it, but alligator (in grilled form) pretty much does taste like chicken, just chewier. The fact that this was alligator sausage made a difference, because we got more of the sausage seasoning (which was quite good) than any strong alligator taste. The duck was really nicely cooked–nicely crisped skin and not at all tough. I didn’t catch much of the “roux-based tomato gravy until I swiped off a finger-full near the edge of a slice. It did taste differently than regular pizza sauce, but wasn’t especially noticeable under everything else. Overall, we both enjoyed this spicy pizza, but agreed that it didn’t taste anything like gumbo.

Afterward, we walked next door to try some ice cream. You can order ice cream within the restaurant, but you have to get it as part of a larger dessert and can’t mix flavors. There are also additional “specialty” flavors in the shop next door. I got a scoop of amaretto cheesecake and one of cafe au lait, and Vincent tried out cinammon and pralines & cream. The flavors were good, but I thought the ice cream was more icey than creamy. Oscars’ website lists a ton of really interesting flavors, but not nearly all of them were available when we visited. I’d love to try more of them, even though it wasn’t necessarily the best ice cream I’ve ever had.

Oscar’s Ice Cream and Pizza Joint is a great new addition to the Baton Rouge restaurant scene. They have some really intriguing specialty pizzas I’m looking forward to trying next time I visit (Pig & Fig, Muffuletta Pie, All That Jazz). They list their daily specialty slice on their Facebook page (I’d suggest Twitter too, guys!), which is offered as a lunch special along with soup or salad for $7.99. I think Oscar’s will quickly give Fleur de Lis a run for its money for “Best Pizza in Town”. They offer more variety and a much better ambiance, including a full bar and flat screens for checking out those LSU and Saints games.

www.icecreamandpizzajoint.com

Bistro Byronz is a old new addition to the Baton Rouge Restaurant scene. After closing their doors 20 years ago they’re back and expanding. I visited on my last BR afternoon to get a take-out lunch.

Bistro Byronz

With all the construction on Government St. right now, Bistro Byronz was a little tough to get to, and their parking situation didn’t make things much better. But my lunch more than made up for the difficulty.

I tried the Jr. Byronz sandwich, which had ham, salami, & Canadian bacon with a special blend of cheeses, combo dressing, lettuce, tomato & black olives served on Byronz’ original bread (which looked a lot like an onion roll).

Jr. Byronz

What a fabulous sandwich! Everything worked well together, though the olives added a little too much saltiness alongside all the salty meats. When I finished I found myself wishing I had ordered the full sandwich and not the Jr. version! Since I ordered take-out, I didn’t get much of a sense of the ambiance or service at Bistro Byronz, but I can say it took a little longer than it should have for me to get acknowledged at the bar to place my order–especially since I was the only person sitting there.

Bistro Byronz has live music on Thursdays and has locations in Shreveport and Mandeville. I think this spot will be on my to-visit list next time I make it home.

www.bistrobyronz.com

I finally got a chance to try longtime Baton Rouge favorite Fleur de Lis Pizza just before leaving for Atlanta. Fleur de Lis is a cocktail lounge/pizzeria that has been around Baton Rouge for a long time–which is quite apparent by the state of the building and its decor (or lack therof).

Fleur de Lis

The place could probably be certified as a “dive”–cash only, basically a barroom inside, but a thriving business nonetheless. But something has to keep them on top of Baton Rouge’s best pizza list, so I wanted to find out what it was.

I stopped in one evening with two friends and was a little “skeeved” out when we walked in. However, our waitress was very friendly and attentive and made up for the dingy appearance. I tried Fleur de Lis’ specialty, Round the World (Anchovy, Italian Sausage, Mushrooms, Pepperoni, Salami, Onions; anchovy on the side, no onions) while one of my friends had a pepperoni and sausage pizza.

Round the World

Pepperoni and Sausage

The pizza was good, with toppings all the way to the edge so you got that crunchy, slightly burnt cheese taste. I thought there may have almost been too much cheese on the pizza, as it kind of overwhelmed the taste of the other toppings. The crust was good; thin, but not crunchy, and still thick enough to not get soggy during the meal. Overall, I thought the pizza was only OK. But really, there aren’t many pizza-centric eateries in Baton Rouge (only Louisiana Pizza Kitchen and Rotolo’s immediately come to mind, neither of which I’ve tried), so I guess it wouldn’t be difficult to top the “best pizza” list.

Fleur de Lis offers take-out and will half-bake pizzas to make them freezer-ready. I assume that most of their business is done via take-out, and I think if I decide to eat there again, I’d get take-out as well. I didn’t particularly enjoy smelling like pizza grease when I left the building!

www.fleurdelispizza.com

Spencer and I visited longtime Baton Rouge/LSU favorite The Chimes this week for lunch. Surprisingly, I can’t find any historical information on the Chimes and why it’s so well-loved, other than that it’s a college bar with an extensive beer selection and great food. Does it even need anything else?

The Chimes

Seafood Pasta

Half & Half

My huge portion of seafood pasta was also huge on flavor:

Jessica's First Bite

I really enjoyed the tasso cream sauce and generous number of crawfish tails. The shrimp were fairly small and probably previously frozen, but they didn’t take anything away from the dish. Spencer doesn’t have a first bite photo because he was expressionless as usual, but said that there was “nothing special” about his fried seafood. He did, however, love the fries, and after tasting one I agreed. There wasn’t anything outstanding about the fries themselves but they were seasoned really nicely.

The Chimes offers a 35 cent oyster special every day from 4-7pm and all day Tuesday. They also have an “Around the World” challenge involving drinking 60 beers from 20 countries for a t-shirt and permanent recognition on a plaque. Who’s up for the challenge?

www.thechimes.com

I was excited to try another of “Baton Rouge’s best” last week but was disappointed that the pizza place turned out to be cash only.  Hungry and still craving pizza, Spencer suggested a new-ish place right outside the mall, BJ’s Brewhouse.

BJ's Brewhouse

To me, BJ’s is just another casual dining restaurant, with a menu about half the size of Cheesecake Factory’s (which is still massive).  They supposedly brew their own beer on site, which accounts for the special yeast bread used in their most popular menu items–deep dish pizzas.  Spencer has been raving about the pizza here for months, so I decided to give it a try.

Spencer went with his “usual”, the barbeque chicken pizza, and I tried the “Great White”, Alfredo sauce with mushrooms, garlic, fresh Roma tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and grilled chicken breast.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Great White

I don’t have a first bite photo for this because I wasn’t impressed by my white pizza, but Spencer loved his:

Spencer's First Bite

The pizzas aren’t really deep dish, they’re more like a regular amount of toppings on top of a lot of bread. Granted, the bread is very good–super soft and almost reminiscent of an unsweetened cinnamon roll–but I wasn’t wowed by the toppings.

BJ’s has an extensive beer list and hosts beer tastings and beer dinners, so it puts a different twist on casual dining. But, casual dining it remains!

www.bjsbrewhouse.com

(Update: Check after the jump for the difference between gelato and ice cream!)

After a day of outlet shopping with the family, I suggested we stop at a new gelateria I’d heard of through Baton Rouge blog Cuisine Rouge. Latte e Miele (Milk and Honey) is located on Highland Rd right outside the Baton Rouge country club.  They’re apparently new enough to not have a permanent sign up yet, but the place was bustling when we stopped in.

Latte e Miele Flyer

The store was very clean and had an impressive flavor selection, including my favorite, Nutella variegata. This is basically a vanilla (crema) gelato with a Nutella swirl. Just so you know, as with crepes, I’ve also decided I am a gelato expert since my 10-day Italy excursion a few years ago when my travel partners and I were doing 2-a-day gelatos We all tried different flavors, and they were all outstanding:

Nutella Variegata

Pannacotta (Birthday Cake)

Strawberry

Chocolate Orange

My Nutella variegata was just like I remembered, but I think the strawberry may have been the tastiest flavor. Fruity gelatos are creamier and more intense than any fruit flavored ice cream/sorbet you’ve ever had. The owners of Latte e Miele apparently hail from Rome, and didn’t seem to have any problem bringing their authentic gelato to Baton Rouge. They also serve espresso, coffee drinks, and different gelato sundae creations. The gelateria is a bit of a drive from my house, but I look forward to stopping in next time I’m in the area.

From caffegelato.net:

Gelato is Italy’s version of ice cream, with three major differences.

First, gelato has significantly less butterfat than ice cream’s typical 18 and 26 percent. However, less fat does not mean less taste. With the lower butterfat content, gelato is less solidly frozen than ice cream and melts in the mouth faster.Therefore, the customer will taste gelato’s full flavor immediately.

Second, gelato has a much higher density than ice cream. Ice cream is produced by mixing cream, milk and sugar, then adding air. Manufacturers add air to ice cream because it nearly doubles the quantity of their product. But, it cuts their quality in half. No air is added to gelato. The result is a higher quality dessert with a richer, creamier taste.

Third, gelato is served slightly warmer than ice cream. While both gelato and ice cream are served well below the freezing temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit, gelato is served 10 to 15 degrees warmer than ice cream. Because it is less solidly frozen, gelato’s taste is further enhanced as it melts in the mouth.

www.latteemielegelato.com

Acme Oyster House

My family and I visited Acme Oyster House’s Baton Rouge location Sunday afternoon. This is not a first bite for any of us, we all love Acme, so I don’t have any first bite photos to show. Lots of food photos though, so I’ll start with our one “usual”: chargrilled oysters.

Chargrilled Oysters

I’d venture to say that Acme has some of the best chargrilled oysters in town. Mike Anderson’s comes to mind as a close contender, but I’d need a side-by-side comparison for that battle. Next up, entrees:

Catfish Tio

Catfish Pontchartrain

My mom and I both had fried catfish entrees, hers was a summer special, Catfish Tio, which I can’t find a description of but was covered in sort of a seafood gravy, and mine was the Catfish Pontchartrain (Catfish fillet lightly battered and fried, topped with fresh crabmeat, shrimp and butter cream sauce). Mom thoroughly enjoyed her plate, and I liked mine too, but, as at Dempsey’s, I would have liked some lump crab as a garnish instead of the slightly stringy stuff I got.

Dad and Spencer both had fried oysters on their plates:

Fried Oyster Salad

1/2 and 1/2: Shrimp and Oyster

Dad’s fried oyster salad kind of defeats the purpose of a salad if you ask me, but it was tasty nonetheless. I stole a fried oyster from Spencer’s 1/2 and 1/2 plate (choose from shrimp, oyster, and catfish), and while they seemed smaller than usual, they were still fried and seasoned to perfection.

Acme has been a New Orleans staple for nearly a century, and is a welcome addition to the Baton Rouge restaurant scene.

www.acmeoyster.com