FAVORITES SOUTHERN KITCHEN at L’Auberge

I recently got an invite to a media appreciation night at Favorites Southern Kitchen, in the former location of Le Café in the L’Auberge casino. I always enjoy these events, as we always leave completely satisfied and beyond full from all the great food they prepare for us.

Chef Kevin Thompson was our culinary tour guide for this event, and since we had not eaten here before, Chelsea and I were very eager to give it a try. Chef Kevin is another of this area’s rising culinary stars, and this fact is quite apparent to folks at L’Auberge, as he has been with the casino for almost 10 years.

I remember the days when he was overseeing the buffet when Marco was at Le Café, and Chef Lyle was starting out at Jack Daniel’s; to see Kevin now with the confidence of a true seasoned chef is a very proud moment for me. I worked my way up through the kitchen before I got my first chef job, so I understand all the time away from your family that’s required to fulfill your dream of becoming a chef.

Like I always say, let’s get to the meat and potatoes of the article, and that isn’t my amazing journalistic skills, but the food I get to eat. I am going to highlight my favorite dishes from the evening, but this was only a sample of what we got to eat.

Seafood Martini

This is crab, shrimp and lobster in a spicy tomato-avocado sauce.

What I like most about this dish was the freshness of the dish. The crab tasted like it had just been pulled from the water and cooked on the spot. I have found that some places go way too hard on the sauce they like to use with any version of a seafood cocktail, and to me, that seems to take away from the different flavors of the seafood. All the tastes were easy to distinguish from each other, but the combination of them all is what made this a delightful dish.

Grilled Oysters Au Gratin

This is Parmesan cheese sauce, red bell peppers and an herb crust.

I don’t know what the hell Kevin and Lyle are doing to me, but I’ve eaten more oysters from these two chefs than I have eaten in my entire life.

I grew up in the marshlands of SWLA, and we lived off of the seafood that we caught ourselves, and maybe it was just prepared in ways that just didn’t sit well with me.

Whatever the reason, I am definitely a fan of this casino’s oyster preparation. The Parmesan sauce and the little crust it had broke up the texture of the oyster, which is the only thing I still have a slight issue with; but I didn’t let that get in the way of throwing down on this dish.

Southern Chicken And Waffles

This was breaded chicken, savory bacon, cheddar waffle and warm syrup.

I have eaten at the king of chicken and waffles — Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffle’s in Los Angeles. I have tried this dish on pretty much any menu that’s offered it, just to compare it to Roscoe’s, and I always ended up a little let down by the others. These weren’t Roscoe’s waffles and chicken, but I tell you what, if you want to eat a “beast mode” dish, then I suggest you get down to Favorites and let Kevin knock this out of the park for ya!

Parmesan Crusted  Redfish

This was Louisiana shrimp, heirloom tomatoes, baby arugula, potatoes and citrus herb butter.

I grew up on a redfish and flounder diet, and was happy to get either any chance I got. But as I got older, it seemed that everybody made both the same way: The redfish was always blackened, or covered in so much “Cajun” seasoning that you almost missed the fact there was fish under it; or they stuffed the flounder. Now, I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy eating these fish; I’m saying it just got to be very repetitive and boring.

Now, I love heirloom tomatoes and baby arugula, and you can’t go wrong with a Parmesan crust; so my interest was piqued as soon as the dish came out. The fish was perfectly cooked, and the crust held up, even with citrus herb butter, shrimp, tomatoes and arugula covering the fish. It had a clean and refreshing flavor, and it would for sure be a dish I would order for myself or suggest to others.

Chef Kevin, thank you so much for a delightful dinner, and I will be following your work and growth with greater attention, because if you continue getting better with your culinary skills, then the sky is the limit, sir, and I see great things happening for you.

As the casino continues to develop such great local talent, we, the consumers, will only continue to benefit.

Thanks, Kerry Andersen, for all you do for this area, and will continue to do; and, on a personal note, I want to say congratulations on Chase’s being accepted into Tulane.

SWLA’s Top Burgers 

The list of SWLA’s Top 10 Burgers is complete. This list is not in any specific order; there will be a top three list the first week of February that will be in order, so that I can name my official “king of burgers in SWLA.”

• Nina P’s

• Big Daddy’s

• Walk-On’s

• The Country Club at The Golden Nugget

• Loggerhead’s

• Calla

• Cotten’s Downtown

• Peto’s

• Prime Cutlery

• Dairy Barn

Now, all these burgers are not the same, and some have stacked ingredients on a larger scale than others, but that doesn’t mean their burger is better; it’s just different. I’ve had the simplest burgers taste better and be more satisfying than the burger that threw in the kitchen sink.

I tried over 30 different burgers, and I’ve worked on this list for almost all of 2015, all the while still reviewing other restaurants, so this is a complete list. I’ve recruited three friends, P.J. Wells, Barrett Smith, and Steven Almond, to get their opinions on which order my top three should be in, and I must say I think they loved my choice.

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