Red River Riches
The variety of cuisines featured along this trail means you’ll be planning your next meal before you even leave the table.
If you think South Louisiana has a monopoly on legendary cuisine, you’re sadly mistaken. Find your way to the Northwest corner of the state, where Southern fare meets Louisiana flair. And there’s a little taste of Texas too.
Start your journey in the twin cities of Shreveport and Bossier City, which straddle the Red River. Here, the casinos draw a crowd, and the setting and resources attract the film industry. While you’re dining out, you may just spy a bona fide celebrity at the next table. Spend time south of Shreveport in Natchitoches. Established in 1714, it’s the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase territory. Divine meat pies are the city’s other claim to fame. Other stops along the way include Alexandria and Pineville, plus a detour to Zwolle, where tamales rule.
With the rivers and lakes in this pocket of the state, there are many great restaurants with scenic deck seating. Why not grab a table and enjoy the region’s riches?
August 11, 2010
Dine In: Spiced Fig Cake
Shreveport Farmers Market manager Noma Fowler-Sandlin tells us that figs and fig preserves are plentiful at the market right now. What to do with your figs? Try Noma’s spiced fig cake. (And be sure to visit the market, open every Saturday until Sept. 4, from 7 a.m. until noon, at Shreveport’s Festival Plaza. A fall market will begin Oct. 23.)
Ingredients:
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (dissolved in the ...
August 11, 2010
Enjoy a Progressive Dinner
Let’s be honest: Sometimes it’s just too hot to be in the kitchen. Instead, invite a few friends for an evening out...with a twist. Plan a progressive dinner for the group, with drinks and appetizers at one spot, entrées and sides at another, and dessert at yet another. In Natchitoches, Iris Harper loves suggesting a progressive dinner to visitors. “There are nine locally owned restaurants within a three- to four-block area in the historic district,” she says. In Natchitoches, why not start with ...
July 01, 2010
SIGNATURE DISH: Meat Pies
In Natchitoches, it’s all about the meat pie, a fried pie filled with beef and pork and seasonings. Lasyone’s Meat Pie Restaurant is where to go to get your fix. James Lasyone didn’t invent the dish, but he sure helped make it famous. Now, his daughters Angela Lasyone and Tina Lasyone Smith run the family restaurant, where they hand make between 400 and 1,000 pies each day. If you don’t fill up on the pies, they also have terrific hand-battered chicken strips and crawfish pie. 622 Second St., ...
July 01, 2010
IN THE KITCHEN WITH: Agatha Fertitta McCall
Fertitta’s Delicatessen is a remaining stalwart in Shreveport’s old Blue Goose District. Behind the counter of this mom-and-pop Italian grocery stands Agatha Fertitta McCall, the third generation of Fertitta to operate the restaurant. She was, in fact, born above it.
McCall is the daughter of Papa Sam Fertitta, inventor of their signature sandwich, the Muffy, not to be confused with the muffaletta. “The muffaletta gets its name from the bread,” she says. “The New Orleans original is a cold ...
