Atchafalaya
Jalapeno Cornbread Bites
Corn and Crab Chowder
Alligator Sausage
Baguette French Toast with Bananas Foster Rum Sauce
Duck Hash with Poached Eggs, Duck Confit, Blackberry, Mango, Hollandaise, Bacon Vinaigrette
Chicken-n’-Biscuits – Fried Chicken Breasts, Housemade Biscuits, Sausage Gravy (on the side)
Praised by many for dinner, but moreso by locals for Brunch, Atchafalaya recently extended the Weekend-morning meal to include both Thursday, Friday as well as Monday morning service, the always-packed restaurant at 901 Louisiana Avenue already generating a small line at 10am with the dining room and bar both three-quarters filled on Thursday by noon.
No longer the “hidden neighborhood gem” it once was, a creative menu of Creole inspiration from Chef Chris Lynch enticing diners in a room of reclaimed woods and artifacts post-Katrina, those with the foresight to book a table at Atchafalaya will find warm greetings at the hostess stand overlooking a DIY Bloody Mary Bar beneath articles touting accolades, the full-bar opposite ready to supply those in search of alternative Beer, Wine or Spirits.
Seated comfortably at a mid-size four top, sleep-eyed service a bit tight at first but improving as the meal went on, it was from a well-culled menu of brunch plates that decisions were made, a small plate of warm Cornbread Muffins served with whipped butter ready to whet appetites alongside rounds of spicy Alligator Sausage plus a cup of creamy yellow soup that offered almost as much fresh-picked Crab as it did the pureed corn it was mixed in.
Deciding to choose Atchafalaya’s classics as entrees, though a few recent specials were also quite tempting, the challenge was one of deciding which was best as all three plates offered something different and delicious, the Fried Chicken surely the most straight forward and perfectly crisp with good Gravy while the Pain Perdu was a custard soaked masterpiece that ate deceivingly light, the Hash spinning tradition on its head by adding fruit to crispy Duck with rich Hollandaise balanced by the salty and bright Vinaigrette.
www.atchafalayarestaurant.com
