{"id":11293,"date":"2022-09-16T09:08:42","date_gmt":"2022-09-16T14:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/?p=11293"},"modified":"2022-09-16T09:27:14","modified_gmt":"2022-09-16T14:27:14","slug":"pats-of-henderson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2022\/09\/16\/pats-of-henderson\/","title":{"rendered":"Pat\u2019s Of Henderson"},"content":{"rendered":"
1500 Siebarth Drive, Lake Charles<\/em><\/p>\n Many rejoiced across Southwest Louisiana as Pat\u2019s of Henderson announced their reopening. Hurricane Laura gutted the building, leaving little more to salvage than countless memories and a brick exterior.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/a>However, after a long and arduous two years, Nicholas and Amanda Perioux, Nick\u2019s sister Natalie and the entire Pat\u2019s of Henderson crew opened the doors. The restaurant has a completely redesigned foyer, updated dining rooms and a state of the art, spacious kitchen. The menu has been enhanced, while retaining many of the award-winning favorites.<\/p>\n My wife and I walked the familiar brick steps and stepped into the renovated interior. It\u2019s an open design, with an elegant bar and spacious dining rooms. Every seat has a view to the outdoors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We were led to our seats at the bar with its acreage of veined marble top. We\u2019d visited on two occasions. Tiffany, a returning asset for the bar, and subsequently, Brennan, new to the establishment, would be the star of the evening. If you know me, by now you know that I will cave to a dirty martini. My wife opted for a nice Woodford on the rocks.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n My wife and I had both longed for several of their menu items while Pat\u2019s was undergoing its resurrection. Finally, after two years those cravings were about to be met.\u00a0 <\/span>I chose broiled crab claws to start, and Cajun seafood pasta to finish me off. My wife chose Pat\u2019s famous stuffed red snapper. During our second most recent visit, we\u2019d shared a lighter fare with a shrimp cocktail and a pair of hand-made crab cakes.<\/p>\n Nick proudly walked the floor, stopping to greet each and every guest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/a>The food was undeniably outstanding. The crab claws were just as good as I had remembered. Meaty cracked claws arranged in a shallow plate waited to be dunked into a small cylinder of drawn butter and spices. The shrimp cocktail featured large gulf shrimp perched atop the seasoned rim of a tall stemmed glass filled with cocktail sauce for dipping.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Two large hand-made, pan-seared crab cakes sizzled on the oblong plate positioned between us, and we didn\u2019t hesitate to pick up our forks. Piercing the seared crust of the cakes revealed pure lump crab and secret ingredients.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/a>Pasta, with all of its carb-laden goodness, is a weakness of mine. And the Cajun seafood pasta was a pasta lover\u2019s perfect dish \u2014 fettuccine, cream sauce, a blend of cheeses and an excessive amount of crab, crawfish and shrimp.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We finished with the stuffed red snapper. For weeks, leaked photos depicted the preparation and execution of this dish. The end product didn\u2019t disappoint. Broiled red snapper, delicate and mild, was generously stuffed with a blend of seafood and Cajun goodness, a genuine Pat\u2019s of Henderson signature dish. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While everything inside the building is new, the core of Pat\u2019s of Henderson restaurant never wavered. Chef de cuisine Menola Zeno, and his talented executive chef, Daniel Bunker, and sous chef Chris Ward, continue to honor the family recipes, offering the best Cajun cuisine in an atmosphere that will help create your own family memories.<\/p>\n Pat\u2019s is open Monday through Saturday 5 pm to 9 pm. Reservation requests can be made at patsofhenderson.com. Welcome back!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Extra Dash<\/strong><\/p>\n Mi Tierra \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>4447 Nelson Road, Lake Charles<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019ll admit it. I broke my own rule. I\u2019ve always remained adamant that it\u2019s not advantageous to share an experience in a restaurant new to the scene. Many restaurants, like any other business, take time to work out the kinks, to find a system and a team with which the process becomes fluid and rhythmic. A kitchen and wait staff can go through the motions. But until they are able to execute in real scenarios, it\u2019s hard to anticipate what can go wrong. And, things usually do, even for experienced and established eateries.<\/p>\n <\/a>Thus, I\u2019ve always stated it\u2019s only fair to allow at least 2 to 3 months to pass before patronizing a new restaurant and presenting my experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But there was a recent instance of a particular restaurant that was doing so well \u2014 as public feedback indicated \u2014 that they were fortunate enough to hit the ground running and never stumble. This prompted a sooner than typical visit.<\/p>\n Mi Tierra began posting a few teaser pictures ahead of its anticipated opening. These caught my attention.<\/p>\n The spot is owned and operated by Robert Wilkening, a Southwest Louisiana native, and his wife Erika, who hails from Tabasco State in the region of southern Mexico.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/a>Mi Tierra, which can be translated My Land, was in its second day open when my wife and I made arrangements to meet there after work. I didn\u2019t have anything to gauge the restaurant\u2019s popularity or premise by, other than the photos uploaded on social media. Those, and a brief description, had me intrigued and prompted a visit. Why? Because people eat first with their eyes.\u00a0 When you see something appealing on a menu, you tend to order that item.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The images I was looking at alluded to the authentic flavors of southern Mexico with Central American influences \u2014 a deviation from the overwhelming number of restaurants which offer Tex-Mex. While many of us love the latter style, I wanted something different than food smothered in cheese or some sort of sauce. Admittedly, I questioned whether these photos were pulled from somewhere off the internet.\u00a0 I remained a little reserved based on the visuals. However, if they were legitimate, the payoff would be rewarding.<\/p>\n I had a general idea of where the restaurant is located. But after several missed attempts driving up and down Nelson Road, I resorted to calling my wife for guidance, as she had successfully navigated her way to the location.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The restaurant was in a carved-out strip mall spot that once housed the short-lived Asian venue Bento Sushi. The Bento name was still above the doors due to an unfortunate delay in the signage swap.<\/p>\n When we walked into the building, our first impressions were of colorful walls of green and yellow. There were several tables between the entrance and the counter service setup, with frozen margarita blenders and glasses and large monitors hanging on the back wall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n