Link Restaurant Group

See what a local boy doing good in New Orleans is doing this summer.

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Grass fed beef

This is my first taste of the grass fed beef that my cousin and I bought from Brookshire Farm north east of Abbeville. The cattle are a mixed breed herd that has been tended by the same family for 6 generations. They are pasture raised and finished off on a seasonal grass plot. No grain involved. I used my table top appliance and a lime pepper coating. The taste brought me back to my childhood when my grandfather a cattleman from Cameron would butcher a calf to split among the family. Leaner with a more mineral taste that the beef you get in the store. We are booked for a goat in July. I am looking forward to that

The Kitchen

I have not eaten here in awhile. It just slips my mind. I should remember it as it is just minutes from where I work. Yesterday I remembered thanks to the Lagniappe Restaurant guide. This meal cost me $9. That is without a drink as I drink water per doctor's advice. Below is a slice of cornbread and a piece of pineapple bunt cake. The cornbread had a undertone of sweetness that reminded me of my mother's cornbread. It was excellent for soaking up cooking juices.


Now here is the main attraction. While not listed on the Tuesday menu ox tales are available if you know to ask for them. While classified as offal it is not organ meat but a cows tail. When done right it provides a beefy flavor that surpasses any steak in existence. They did it right yesterday. Because of bone ridges you cannot knife and fork this. It is pick up in your hand and eat the meat off the bone, totally satisfying. I am a bone sucker from way back. The meat was tender and flavorful with a nice spice kick. The mustard greens were spicy and delicous. The cabbage smothered down just right. The natural sweetness of the cabbage and slight spiciness played well against each other. My only complaint was the rice was not salted enough. Basically the best meal I have had in several weeks. I have eaten at The Kitchen in all its incarnations. From the shack on McNabb where it was take away only to 13th street where it took over the Manuel tamale place with limited seating to the Prater St place with lots of seating although I suspect they still get a fair amount of take away. Remember Thursday is BBQ and it is good

Johnny Carino's

Sorry I have not been posting. It is a combo of a heavy workload, personal things that I had to do and being under the weather in a manner of speaking. This heat has sucked the energy out of me. It takes awhile for me to adapt. I am near the end of the process and feeling much more energetic. A couple of weeks back one of my group had a birthday and our mutual friend set up a meal at Johnny Carinos. It was well attended. I did not bring in my camera as I find it is distracting at such event and any time there are more than about 5 other people I cannot get the shots I want.

When dinning at these pseudo-Italian places, there are few things that I really like. But I do have favorites and strategys. This time I followed my sister's one of only ordering appetizers. Fortunately the ones here are so big they are a meal. I started off with a new salad they have, Italian Wedge. Applewood smoked bacon, candied pecans, gorgonzola, roma tomatoes, apple slices with roasted garlic ranch. A wedge of berg lettuce smothered with an excellent dressing with all the extras adding flavor. You got smoky, nutty, sweet tangy, tart etc in each bite. This is a keeper and I hope they keep it on the menu. The server was also kind enough to charge the lower price when it is gotten with an entree.

The appetizer that I got I have gotten several times before. As I said this one is a meal onto itself as it would feed 6 as an appetizer. Shrimp Scampi with Garlic Toast. Pan sautéed with roasted garlic, white wine butter sauce and roma tomatoes. What makes this a winner is the fact that the bread here has improved 1000% since they first open. At first the bread was the worst type of grocery store Italian in the world. No crust and dense and gummy. Yick. Somewhere along the line they changed . Now while not superb it is edible. Nice crust and crumb. Here they toast it with garlic butter. Fits perfectly in this dish. You get 6 jumbo or 12 large shrimp depending what they have in house in a decent garlic butter sauce. It comes in a bowl. In the center is a pile of chopped roma tomatoes with a basil chiffonade on top surrounded by the sauce. Six diagonally cut slices of Italian bread are placed leaning on the bowl rim and into the sauce then the shrimp layered into the whole. The shrimp are not overcooked and placed on top of the sauce soaked bread are delicious. They give enough sauce to soak all the bread and the if you so desire as I do you put the tomato on top of the shrimp. This bite results in something better than sum of the parts. I hope they keep this on for a long time.

For dessert I get what I always get and if you know me at all you know what it is. Tiramisu. My theory on Tiramisu is the same as some on sex. They is no bad Tiramisu. Some are better than others. This place does an above average one. It is a classic interpretation. Although the next time I may have to try the Mascarpone Bread Pudding.


http://www.carinos.com

Charley G

Visit Charley G's to enjoy our new seasonal three course menu for $29.95.
Join us for dinner Monday-Saturday starting at 5:30.
Reserve a table today by calling 337-981-0108.
1st Course Choices
Cup Seasonal Soup, Small Caesar Salad or Cup Duck & Andouille Gumbo
2nd Course Choices
8oz Aged Rib Eye, yukon gold smashed potatoes & grilles asparagus
Wood Grilled Redfish, Louisiana crawfish cake, braised beet greens, meuniere
sauce. micro greens
Wood Grilled Yellow Fin Tuna, roasted corn & black bean salsa, cilantro-
avocado vinaigrette, wonton strips
Crispy Duck, blackberry glaze, roasted corn pudding, creole green beans
Dessert
White Chocolate Bread Pudding
Thanks and we look forward to serving you soon! Charlie

Chinese King

I had not been here in awhile and if I go depends on if I can find a space. There is a handicap one that is sometimes open. I lucked out one day. They have cut back on their dinner hours drastically and the lunch menu has also been trimmed. I started off with egg blossom aka egg drop soup. It was wonderful and flavorful with the soft luscious egg strands contrasting against the crunch of the fried won ton skins

I then had the Tong Cho shrimp. This was not the way I remember it being served. It also seemed have a aggressive vinegar taste than I remember. However it was not inedible but I did not enjoy it as much as I would have liked to. You also get a egg roll with the lunch meal. The soup was not included. The egg roll was good.

Sea Bass Steak

I got a really nice Sea Bass steak at Whole Foods. A fish steak is when they cut across the body rather than along the body as in a fillet. With a steak you get a section of the backbone and usually a ring of skin. I marinated it in Tony Chachere's Butter and Jalapeno. Since it contained no acids to denature ie cook the flesh I left it in over night. I then seared it in a combo of Smith's Creamery butter from the Red Stick and olive oil. After some nice coloration I transferred to my table top convection/light appliance to finish off. While it was doing that I took some corn my cousin had put up last year and sauteed it what remained in the skillet. The flesh was so tender I could not lift it with breaking. Here is the pic below. Incredibly sweet with a slight spicy undertone enhanced by the sweet corn. Delicious