Looking for the real deal, authentic, just-like-New-Orleans, Cajun and Creole cuisine – in Asheville? Then look no further than Lafayette, French-native-turned-Asheville-restauranteur Michel Baudouin’s latest undertaking on N Lexington Avenue in downtown Asheville.
Lafayette is the third of what will eventually be a five-restaurant “French Quarter” operated by Baudouin. Lafayette joins the hugely popular Bouchon (French comfort food, with the tangible sense of a Parisian side street café) and The Creperie, which offers crepes that any Frenchman would agree taste just like home.
Under the watchful eye of Baudouin and Executive Chef Tres Hundertmark, Chef the Cuisine Joseph Duplan, and Dining Room Manager Hailey Gauthier, Lafayette recently completed its “shake-down cruise” to discover and fine tune any kinks in the restaurant’s systems. Whatever kinks they might have found, the food was not among them, and the restaurant is now fully open for business.
And what a delicious business it is. The menu is comprehensive and well planned, the food is top notch.
The raw oyster bar is a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Oysters are fresh and sweet, and the variety of sauces range from subtle to pungent, your choice.
Among the soups and salads is a classic turtle soup, with snapping turtle meat, tomato, sherry, hardboiled egg, and “trinity” vegetables (that oh so holy combo of onion, celery, and bell pepper that is the foundation of countless Cajun and Creole dishes).
Guappo salad, featuring Lafayette’s version of that famous olive salad concoction that is most often associated with the muffaletta sandwich, another New Orleans original, is fresh with lettuce, tomato, and anchovies.
Always had a secret yearning to try alligator but just didn’t know where to find it? Here it is – Lafayette has a marinated version, served with a spicy Creole sauce, on the menu.
Poached leeks, a couple of great shrimp appetizers, pomme dauphine (fried potato and pastry with Acadian spices), gratons (also known as cracklings, pork belly fried in pork fat), crab crepe, and fried Boudin Balls (pork sausage and rice stuffing, rolled in bread crumbs and fried) round out the appetizer offerings.
For the main event, Lafayette features traditional Creole and Cajun favorites such as catfish and crab chop (a traditional dish during Lent, creamed crab, pan fried in the shape of a pork chop – got to keep a sense of humor during periods of “deprivation”).
Food buccaneers, who might have friends or family members of a less adventurous variety, will not be forced to bypass Lafayette – there is a delicious roast chicken dish on the menu as well (works for children, too).
For foodies with an adventurous streak, here is your chance to try Boucherie, a stuffed pig stomach, boudin balls, gratons and chaurice (non-smoked andouille sausage), served with cabbage and dirty rice.
For connoisseurs of this regional cuisine, the restaurant offers a shrimp boil that includes sausage, corn on the cob, potatoes – and turkey neck. Turkey neck? Yep, and you can even get your turkey neck as a side dish if you wish. If anyone doubts the authentic nature of Lafayette’s menu, just take note of the turkey necks and doubt no more; and they do have a tendency to sell out, so a word to the wise is to get your turkey neck order in early!
Cajun Gumbo features duck, frog legs, and andouille in an expertly crafted dark roux (now you’re talkin’), a Creole Gumbo with shrimp, crab, and andouille, and Jambalaya (whatever seafood, poultry, or sausages they have available that evening, simmered with rice).
No Creole or Cajun restaurant is complete without a signature etouffee, and Lafayette features a couple of versions of this rich, flavorful dish, one with crawfish and the other “du jour”.
Red beans and rice are a Cajun menu requirement, and they show up at Lafayette, too. Pair it with a side of smothered cabbage, and there is some good eating!
The dessert menu offerings are divine – pralines, turtles, and divinity in a candy combo, bananas foster (yum!), beignets, and other assorted delicious treats that will keep patrons coming back for more.
Service is friendly, knowledgeable, and polite. Prices are moderate. Nice wine and drink selections are available. The atmosphere is fun and ever so slightly audacious.
Lafayette is now open for business. The restaurant is located at 68 N Lexington Avenue in downtown Asheville. For more information, please visit their website, www.ashevillelafayette.com. Phone is 828-214-7404.