Tonight at Cochon
My wife and I had dinner at Cochon. First time we have been there and I highly recommend it. It's a "cajun southern cooking" restaurant. Very casual, excellent service and dynamite food. My only complaint is that it is a little loud for my taste. Our starters were the wood-fired oyster roast and the spoon bread with okra and tomatoes. Both were superb. Six large oysters on the half shell with a very thin spicy sauce, roasted in the wood oven. The spoonbread consisted with a large portion of the soft spoonbread covered with a large serving of very well-prepared (read: non-slimy) okra and stewed tomatoes.
I had some cucumbers and herbs in vinegar that were very tasty. The only pedestrian dish of the evening was my wife's salad of local lettuces with pecan vinaigrette and goat cheese. Not bad, but nothing I can't make at home.
Entrees were oven-roasted gulf fish "fisherman's style" and Louisiana cochon with turnips, cabbage & cracklins. We ordered creamy grits and smothered greens as sides. Everything was well-prepared, very fresh and very tasty. Would order the same thing again in a heartbeat. The menu is very interesting. See it at www.cochonrestaurant.com.
We finished with a shared piece of Lane Cake accompanied with ice cream. I had never heard of Lane Cake and I missed the complete explanation, but it is supposedly a very old recipe and our waitress mentioned that it was referred to in To Kill a Mockingbird. It is sort of a sponge cake with a creamy filling and icing that has some white raisins and coconut in it. Yummy!
The restaurant has been open a year and recently was nominated for best new restaurant by the James Beard folks. It's well worth a try.
