We had no sooner backed…

the Big White Truck into its parking space than a familiar face appeared in the passenger side window. It was Gary, who, with his partner Marilyn, owns our favorite barbeque restaurant anywhere—2Paul’s Radically Urban Barbecue. (Gary and Marilyn share the common middle name of Paul although Marilyn’s is spelled Paule.) And it is here in Lafayette, LA.

I suspect that Gary recognized our truck before he recognized us. For some reason, men here are fascinated by our truck (Chuck only thinks it’s his.) and we are frequently stopped by guys wanting to engage in “truck talk.” To give Chuck credit, he has learned to fake it masterfully.

The three of us stayed in the lot chatting, and we learned that Marilyn is the internet maven of the two and she is the one who posts, under the nom de plume of GastroCeleb, a response to every review on tripadvisor.com where 2Paul’s is ranked as the Number Four (out of 318) restaurant in Lafayette with an average rating of 4.5 out of 5.00.

Soon it was time to go inside and say hello to Marilyn and to catch up on happenings since our last visit over a year ago. I’m not sure how many of 2Paul’s customers know that Marilyn is an accomplished poet, and she was kind enough to send us two books of her poems.

Marilyn and Gary

If you think that most barbeque “joints” are rustic with lots of dark wood, 2Paul’s will come as a surprise. The walls are painted a light lime green with red and purple accents.

Along the walls are definitions of “urban,”

“barbecue,”

"2pauls," and

“radical” (“fundamental, yet shockingly different”).

And one wall is decorated with two graffiti boards that began as blank canvasses upon which customers have written words of appreciation.

2Paul’s food is described as blending “traditional Texas-Oklahoma-style smoke with authentic, homemade Cajun sides and seasonings.” They offer all of the meat choices (all smoked in a small building behind the restaurant) you’d expect—pulled pork, chicken, brisket, ribs, turkey, and smoked sausage along with BBQ shrimp. During the past year they have added stuffed potatoes: the Shredhead with entrée pulled pork, cheese, and slaw; the Meathead with entrée brisket, sauce, cheese, and chives; and the Shrimphead with entrée shrimp, mushrooms, sauce, chives, and parmesan.

On this day, we ordered our two 2Paul’s favorites—the pulled pork plate with two sides (potato salad and baked beans) and the “meat only” smoked sausage. The pulled pork included a large number of “barky” pieces—my favorites—which were rapidly removed from the plate (it was sitting in front of Chuck) and transferred to my plate.

Their sausage is delicious with a peppery taste that is not overpowering. I seem to remember Gary telling me last year that this is made by Richard’s Cajun Foods of Church Point, LA. (There’ll be more on the side dishes later.)

And, of course, we couldn’t forget an order of 2Paul’s onion rings. Along with being pizza snobs, Chuck and I fancy ourselves to be onion ring snobs. During the past (almost) five years of travels, we have eaten onion rings around the country and have concluded that the best are made in Cajun Louisiana and that the best of these are served at 2Paul’s.

These were particularly good when I dipped them into their horseradish remoulade, acting on the suggestion of a staff member. These onion rings are so good that we find ourselves eating all of the little coating bits that fall into the bottom of the serving basket.

In November 2008, after eating the onion rings at an establishment about ten miles west on the Interstate, Chuck was moved to take pen (metaphorically speaking) in hand and let the creative juices flow. (At that time we were unaware of 2Paul’s existence.) And so it is time to go back into the blog archives and reprint—in honor of Gary and Marilyn’s rings—the:

ODE TO THE ONION RING

Behold! The onion transformed:
from multi-ringed orb
with menacing bite
prompting tears of pain—
through many a cut,
a beer-based dip,
a sprinkle of heat,
a dusting of flour,
a bath of hot oil—
into rings of crunch
and spirited bite,
prompting tears of joy.
  --Chuck Schrader
  10/29/08

To finish off the meal we shared a slice of house-made lemon cheesecake that was simultaneously rich and—to cut the richness of the cream cheese and the meats that had preceded it—refreshingly tart.

Marilyn introduced me to the young man—Matt—one of the young men who make the cake, and I say to them “Job well done.”

It wasn’t too many days later that we returned. This time we decided to share the three meat/two sides platter and selected the brisket, smoked turkey, and smoked sausage.

Regular readers of this review know that brisket (or any well-done beef for that matter) is not the highest food choice on my list. But I give 2Paul’s credit for producing a very good brisket. I think what differentiates theirs from the rest is that it is not dry. Whenever I watch a food program on TV and see Guy Fieri, Adam Richman, et al., with the BBQ master slicing into a smoked brisket and the juices are flowing like a river, I ask “In what world does this exist?”

With this plate, we chose the potato salad and green beans as the sides and added fries (for Mr. Potato) and, of course, the onion rings. Again, we’ll get to the sides later.

And we again finished with the lemon cheesecake.

Back again for a third lunch. This time we were both determined to order something new and Chuck selected the barbecued chicken. This was a good sized portion of chicken consisting of a wing, drumstick, thigh, and breast. Hey, that’s half a chicken!

The real test is whether the breast meat stays moist and this certainly did. In fact, it wasn’t until he was almost finished that he realized he hadn’t used any barbecue sauce.

As sides, he ordered the green beans and potato salad plus an order of fries and an order of onion rings. And I again asked for some of the horseradish remoulade.

I had never ordered their BBQ shrimp and decided to rectify that omission by selecting the Shrimphead stuffed baked potato. This was huge. The potato had been baked out in the smoker as had been the shrimp which were removed just when they turned pink.

They are than flash heated in Gary’s special New Orleans BBQ shrimp sauce, which should never be confused with a red tomato-based BBQ sauce. New Orleans BBQ shrimp were invented at Pascal Manale’s in New Orleans and the sauce is a mix of butter—lots and lots of butter—hot sauce, a bit of Worcestershire, and—according to the whims of the particular chef—herbs and seasonings. In addition to the shrimp, the potato had been topped with sliced mushrooms, sliced scallions, and a light dusting of parmesan cheese. I thought that the pulled pork and sausage were my 2Paul’s favorites. There is a new contender in the clubhouse.

So why is 2Paul’s our favorite place for barbecue? It’s first about the food, of course. We have yet to order anything we didn’t like, but there are items we like more than others. The meats are not over-smoked, so you taste the pork, chicken, turkey, and brisket and not just smoke. And they refrain from saucing everything. Sauce is up to the diner. Yes, I can ask other places to “hold the sauce” or “sauce on the side” but I shouldn’t have to remember. Especially at my age.

And now let’s talk sides. One of the many reasons we so like 2Paul’s is that they treat their sides with the same degree of respect as their meats. The side choices are rice dressing, potato salad, Asian cole slaw, baked beans, mac & cheese, and green beans, and we have tried them all except for the rice dressing. The beans are more Texas-inspired (maybe because Gary lived for a considerable time in Oklahoma) than traditional South; the Asian slaw contains crumbled Ramen noodles and slivered almonds, the mac & cheese is made with small shell macaroni and pepper jack cheese; and the potato salad is made with red skin-on potatoes with a bit of chopped scallion and pickle.

But our new favorite is the green beans. Both our mothers, being of German-heritage and of a certain generation, would overcook any green vegetable until it was lacking in flavor. Well, 2Paul’s green beans are soft cooked but are full of flavor. When I raved about them to Gary, he gave me the secret recipe. Do you think I am going to share it here? Heck, no. This is now Gary’s and my secret. Well, I am sure Marilyn also knows.

But dining out for us is about more than just food. It has to do with an overall experience that begins with the owners (and Gary and Marilyn are two of the nicest people you will ever meet) and a culture that they transmit to the staff. We learned that many of their staff members have been with them for a considerable period and that is music to this diner’s ears. How frustrating is it to find a restaurant that you really like and then staff turnover—especially in the kitchen—changes the dynamic completely? And this is the appropriate time to give special praise to their staff, especially those who work the front of the house and are always cheerful, patient (we tend to ask a lot of questions), and knowledgeable about the menu.

So we present here, from left to right, Josh, Michelle, Crystal, and Matt. Josh and Matt are the maestros of the lemon cheesecake.

I think it was Crystal who first recommended the horseradish remoulade to accompany the onion rings. And Michelle keeps moving through the dining room making sure that everyone is happy.

Gary and Marilyn told us that they are negotiating on a property in Broussard to add a second location. Initially, Gary will oversee the new spot assisted by Matt, who will eventually become the General Manager.

This is and will always be a 5.0 Addie favorite. In fact, I plan to stock my freezer with their pulled pork and purchase numerous bottles of the mild barbecue sauce before we travel on.

To review the role of Adler, Kitty Humbug, and the Addie rating system, read the November 14, 2011 blog.

A Coffee and Culture Café

One of the objectives in our travels has been to "go at least 'knee-deep' into the culture of a community." Nowhere in the country is that easier to do than in Cajun Country (Acadiana) around Lafayette, Louisiana. Visit Eunice, Rayne, Scott, Carencro, Cecilia, Henderson, Arnaudville, Broussard, Kaplan, Abbeville, and the Atchafalya Basin and you'll hear the music of past generations, enjoy the foods of grandmothers who never wrote down the recipes for gumbos, jambalaya, and etoufees, and overhear conversations, many in Cajun French, that revere the neighbors next door with the same regard that the wonderful people of this fascinating region have for hometown musicians who have toured the world.

And in Breaux Bridge, we have the most recent example of the ingredients in this cultural/anthropological gumbo. The entries of the past two days described Buck and Johnny's restaurant where we enjoyed some regional favorites and met several people from the area.

On a Saturday morning, a short walk from the restaurant brought us to the former Broussard's Hardware Store, built in 1925,

and in the former antique shop in this building was Joíe de Vívre, fittingly described as "A Coffee and Culture Café."

And here amid the work of local artists,

musicians had gathered for the weekly jam session. And among the dozen and one-half musicians were accomplished artists with national reputations playing alongside others who simply enjoy playing tunes and reliving family memories associated with these tunes.

The unique Cajun accordion and

the washtub bass, a utilitarian substitute for a string bass, along with guitars, fiddles, and a mandolin filled out the instrumental composition of the group.

Two participants would not allow the braces on their hands to stop them from joining in.

This attention to the braces turned my attention to the hands of the musicians, and these next two photos concentrate on just the hands of some of the members.

"Melanie Harrington (owner) explained, 'People feel comfortable first at home, then at work, then at churches or bars where they can socialize with familiar faces. Coffeehouses are fast becoming the "third space," Harrington said, 'a place where people feel at home and can enjoy time with friends'" (countryroadsmagazine.com "Cafe Joie de Vivre")

As we watched the musicians, we were struck by the emotions shown in their faces. Most of the musicians appeared very serious as they were playing,

but one guitarist was the most animated and expressive in the group. Her enthusiastic strumming and movements were just blurs in my camera.

We love the people, the music, and the food of Acadiana.

When People Ask

…what keeps bringing us back to Louisiana, we have a ready answer. It’s the great music, the great food, and the great people. And at our follow-up lunch at Buck & Johnny’s in Breaux Bridge, we certainly found two of the three—great food and great people. Not that Buck & Johnny’s doesn’t feature music, just not during lunch. But they do, including a Kids’ Jam on Tuesday nights.

We arrived to be greeted by Coatney Raymond, who directed us to seats at a large table where her husband—Johnny—reigned. (The Raymonds are shown in the photo below.)

Sitting with Johnny was a friend and business partner (in another business and not the restaurant) Paul Hardy (shown here with Kate). Do you remember when David Letterman would do a segment entitled “Brush with Greatness.” Well, Paul has a long and illustrious Louisiana history. He has served as State Senator and was named by the Baton Rouge State Times as the “Outstanding Newcomer.” In 1976, he was elected Secretary of State. During 1980-1984, he served as Louisiana’s Secretary of Transportation, and in 1987, he was elected as Louisiana’s Lieutenant Governor.

Soon we were joined by Iman and Mojo (shown in the photo below). Iman is a professional clown, and Wallace Baine at santacruzsentinel.com writes that “Her first love is juggling, and she runs a business designing and manufacturing supplies for jugglers and clowns, from rings to clown noses. Still, she's most known for her dazzling comic performances…For the past few years, she's kept a busy schedule performing a show she developed…to dispel the Ronald McDonald, birthday-party stereotype of clowns and convince the public to see them for what they are: the most versatile expression of the performing arts, from acrobatics to comedy, all rolled into one person.”

Mojo is a zydeco musician performing his own original music and is described by Syndicated News Network as: "’This Bayou Man, Mister MOJO, and his troupe of near-mad musical provocateurs, have poured Louisiana Fire on audiences across the planet for over a quarter century.... Few performers can lift an audience like Mojo, star of the Bayou Gypsies.... According to Performing Arts Center Directors, Fans, and Producers interviewed, none match the unbridled fever this charismatic singer/accordionist brings to the stage. And they are nowhere near finished with the mission.’" His business card reads “25 Years of Inducing Wild Behavior.”

click on http://www.redhotmojo.com/25CD1/11MommaCookmeSomething.mp3 to hear one of his original works.

And after a bit, we were joined by Ricky Hayes, a Nursing Home Administrator at St Agnes Healthcare and Rehabilitation. Unfortunately, we didn’t get much of a chance to talk with Ricky, so I can’t give you any additional information.

Over the course of our lunch, which lasted almost two hours, the conversation ranged over a variety of topics. But, as is so often the case, the topic of food predominated. We talked about local restaurants. We talked about Cajun food. We talked about what Cajuns don’t order in restaurants because they can get it so much better at home. And I learned that Johnny had been part of a team that won the Crawfish Festival étouffée cook-off three years in a row.

But it was time to eat. As with many local restaurants, Buck & Johnny’s offers daily specials. On this day the specials were beef and cabbage soup, fried or grilled pork chops, and their ultra-wonderful bread pudding.

Our lunch started with a shared order of the Crawfish Enchilada—a rolled tortilla stuffed with crawfish, cheese, and chile Rotel sauce, topped with cheddar and Rotel sauce, and then baked. Rotel is a brand of canned chopped tomatoes that include chopped chili peppers or jalapenos and can be purchased in either mild or spicy form.

The spicy Rotel’s add a real kick to anything made with them (I use them when I make Paula Deen’s Cheesy Spicy Grits.) and in this enchilada they helped cut the richness from the cheeses. While Buck & Johnny’s is not a Cajun restaurant per se—they describe themselves and being eclectic and Italian—the enchilada is a good representation of how younger Louisiana chefs are taking indigenous ingredients—in this case, crawfish—and putting them to new uses.

Next came cups of the day’s soup, the beef and cabbage. This was a hardy and robust soup made with ground beef and shredded cabbage in an intense and peppery stock.

This soup would be perfect on a cold and damp day in the middle of winter. Actually, it was a perfect soup on a hot and humid day in early summer.

Coatney then brought me a small sampler cup of their portobello and brie soup (sorry, no photo, but there is a photo of some wonderful bread from Poupart's Bakery) that was as elegant as the beef and cabbage was robust.

On to an order of Johnny's Drunken Shrimp made with fresh Gulf shrimp that had been marinated in an Abita Turbo Dog batter (This is an English Brown Ale style beer brewed by Abita Brewing Co. in Abita Springs, LA and is a particular favorite of ours.) The coating had a hint of sweetness from the beer’s sugars, and we were both immediately reminded of the Asian Shrimp from Asian Noodle Bar in Albuquerque.

Remember a week or so ago when I said that the only eggplant I’ll eat is that prepared in Louisiana? Our next shared plate was the eggplant fries that were dusted with parmesan cheese and served with a cup of marinara for dipping.

Eggplant contains a lot of water and it takes real skill to turn it into crispy fries. As Mojo said as we were enjoying them: “They really know how to fry around here.” So they do.

All this food and we’ve just gotten started. For my lunch entrée, I chose the Crabcakes Coatney. The plate came with two good-sized cakes, roasted skin-on potatoes, and a vegetable mélange of cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots.

(Chuck’s plate also contained the same veggies and even he—no real fan of cauliflower—remarked to me when we got home about how good they were.)

The crab cakes contained a minimum of filler, but did have a small measure of minced red and green peppers and an Old Bay-like seasoning. A small cup of pesto came on the side and I did try the pesto on a small section of one of the cakes. But, as good as the pesto was, I soon concluded that the crab cakes needed no embellishment. All I wanted was the taste of sweet crab.

Chuck’s choice was the Blackened Tilapia topped with shrimp basil cream and served with the same potatoes and veggies that came with my plate.

The fish was sweet and beautifully flakey; the blackening seasoning wasn’t overdone nor did it have a burned taste; and the cream sauce balanced the spices from the blackening.

And we couldn’t resist taking a photo of Mojo’s entrée—the fried pork chop special or “plate lunch.”

“Wait a minute!” you are saying. “The chalkboard said served with red beans and rice. These look like white beans.” Right you are and you win today’s prize. The photo of the chalkboard was taken at last week’s pizza meal and you caught me in a slight bit of subterfuge.

Are we finished yet? No! Time for dessert. And here we learned about a local Cajun tradition. Desserts will come to the table with a spoon on the plate for every diner. This way the dish can be passed around the table and each diner gets a clean spoon to taste each one.

Of course there was a serving of the wonderful bread pudding that I described in yesterday’s blog.

And there was a large slice of carrot cake from Poupart’s Bakery that was nicely moist and redolent with spices.

And, to round out the meal, came a slice of dobash—again from Poupart’s. This is a new one for me and when I Googled dobash I found a Wikipedia entry for doberge cake which “is a layered dessert originating in New Orleans, Louisiana. Still popular in the area, the cake is made of multiple thin layers of cake…covered in a thin layer of butter cream and a fondant shell or, alternately, a poured glaze on the outside…. Traditional flavors are chocolate, lemon and caramel.” (wikipedia.org)

Well, we have a new favorite Acadiana restaurant to add to 2Paul’s in Lafayette and Chef Roy’s in Rayne. And what do these three have in common other than uncommon food. All three have wonderful owners who are physically present in the restaurant and make even newcomers feel like old friends.

Chalk up another 5.0 Addies for Buck & Johnny’s. Although I may start a petition to rename it Buck & Johnny’s & Coatney’s.

To review the role of Adler and the Addie rating system, read the November 14, 2011 blog.

“We Always Go to the Same Place,”

…I said to Chuck. “This time I want to try something new.”

We were headed to Breaux Bridge for the day, and when there, we have always eaten at the same nationally known (actually internationally known) café. And while I have no problem with their food, I wanted to branch out. A Google search brought me to the website for Buck & Johnny’s with food described as “eclectic” and “Italian.” And, as a bonus, the restaurant was located in a restored building.

“Buck & Johnny's…opened in the Downtown Breaux Bridge Historical District in 2010. Located in the old Domingues Motors building that stayed abandoned for decades, local businessman David Buck purchased the building with the vision of restoring it as a multi-use restaurant, shopping, and event space. David partnered with his good friend Johnny Raymond to create Buck & Johnny's,…an Italian restaurant with a unique atmosphere where diners can enjoy pizza, pasta, and other specialty dishes prepared with local ingredients. The ambiance of the old Domigues Motors building has been maintained through oil can light fixtures and

old tin signs that hang throughout the two-story building, offering a unique dining experience.

The addition of a loft, a balcony and a patio adds to the homey atmosphere for a family night out, a special occasion or a romantic dinner for two” (lafayette.backpage.com).

We were enchanted as soon as we walked through the doors. The brick walls look to have been sand-blasted to bring out their warm red tones and are decorated with the tin signs referred to in the above paragraph.

Hanging over the small bar and the booths are the oil can chandeliers.

We so appreciate people who preserve the old by bringing it into contemporary use, and here it has been done exceptionally well.

And just inside the doors is a gallery of “art” that had been colored by local children.

The menu offers an impressive selection of appetizers along with salads, pastas, entrees, and sandwiches. But, after our unfortunate experience with pizza in Galveston, we were feeling pizza deprived and concentrated on the pizza portion of the menu. Our choices? No surprise here. One Margherita and one basic cheese and sausage.

So we are sitting at our table by a window and looking out at the restaurant’s small patio when we were approached by a dynamo in human form. This proved to be Coatney Raymond, wife and business partner of Johnny and the restaurant’s manager. “Is this your first time here?” she asked. “How did you find us?” “Where are you from?”

To the latter question Chuck said that there are two answers to that question--the straight answer and the wisea__ answer. “Lay it on me. I was a nurse for over forty years and can handle anything.” Coatney had been the Director of Surgical Services at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center until her retirement a few years ago and was then pressed into service to “whip” the restaurant into shape.

“What did you order?” she asked. When we replied “Pizza” a look of dismay crossed her face. Coatney had hoped that we were going to get a more complete picture of what their kitchen can do.

Well, when it came to pizza the kitchen did very well indeed. The Magherita included a garlic-accented olive oil base, chunks of sweet and flavorful tomatoes, basil that thankfully had been added when the pie was removed from the oven (no shriveled dry bits here), and fresh mozzarella.

And all of this sitting on a thin and crisp—but not cracker-like—crust. The edges of the crust had been brushed with oil so that they became extra crunchy.

The sausage pizza was equally good and came on the same style crust. The red pizza sauce (they also offer pesto, garlic herb oil, BBQ, and roasted garlic cream) did not have that sweet cloying flavor that you find in too many restaurants serving pizza and had just a hint of the natural sugar and acid that you find in tomatoes. And the mildly fennel sausage was a perfect pairing with this sauce.

There is an extensive list of “design your own pizza” offerings and a list of specialty pizzas. But both of us—pizza purists that we are—are always content to stick with the basics.

“Did you order our bread pudding?” Coatney asks from an adjoining table. To our reply in the negative, she says she is going to send us over a serving. “Eat it and tell me this is not the best bread pudding you’ve ever eaten.” One bite and My Favorite Traveling Companion looks over at me and goes, “Oh, my.” I can only echo that.

This was the lightest bread pudding ever and not like a heavy brick of soaked bread. It wasn’t overly sweet. It didn’t contain too much cinnamon. And the rum sauce didn’t overpower. Yes, Coatney. This is the best bread pudding we’ve ever eaten.

And the bread pudding is the dessert that they make in house (the others come from Poupart’s Bakery in Lafayette) and Coatney gave the credit to their chef Tony (I think I have his first name right.) Savoy (pronounced 'sah-vwah'), who was brought in to “whip the kitchen into shape.” His plan was to only stay for three or four months, but liked working at Buck & Johnny’s so much that he stayed and now has been given a piece of the business.

“You need to come back and try some of the more interesting items on the menu,” Coatney said as we were preparing to leave. “We’ll show you what makes us a hidden gem.” And tomorrow we’ll tell you about that lunch.