Rachel: Photo Diary
Today was my mom’s last official day of work, ever. Before I went to visit pick her up at the end of the day, I went to lunch at Roberto’s River Road which is surprise! on River Road, along the Mississippi, southeast of Baton Rouge. It’s officially in St. Gabriel, but Sunshine and Plaquemine both seem to like to make claim on it.
I had stuffed shrimp wrapped in bacon, deep-fried. It was awesome, but what caught my attention was the side of corn. I’m recreating that at home. Also, I finally had “Sensation Salad.” I say finally as I’ve since learned that it’s a Baton Rouge classic but you could’ve fooled me as I never heard of it. (A twist on a Caesar. I’d share a pic, but it ain’t purdy.) I’m bringing Mr. T back at Christmas the holidays. I’ve already got a few dishes lined up. They’re open for lunchtime and dinnertime, but closed every Sunday and Monday.
Near Roberto’s — I’ve wanted to stop to take pictures of this decommissioned General Store for years
I went back downtown. While I waited for my mom again, I walked around some more. The capitol guards struck up conversations about digital cameras. I was impressed how they seemed to know more about my camera than I did.
Washington’s step at the capitol
Then I found Strands Café, thanks to a tip from Eliza. I ordered a prosciutto & provolone croissant, a chocolate croissant, and a lemon meringue tart to try over the weekend. (All were classically great.) I ordered an Iced Orinoco Mocha for the moment. Strands is a gem, a coffeeshop with great pastries and exquisite chocolates. I got to talking with the owner as they were winding down. She grew up in Baton Rouge, graduated from my high school, moved away, spent time at Le Cordon Bleu in Sydney, and came back last year to open her place. If I lived here, I’d visit all the time.
Once my mom was ready, we headed home to get ready for her final dinner with her colleagues. We went to a hibachi grill (akin to Benihana) and I gotta say, I had a great time.
Sidebar: I kept hearing radio commercials for this haunted house and saw it on our way. I wish it fit into my schedule this trip.
(I kept the underexposed image for the creepier effect.)
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OK, reading your blog with all this talk about good food is really hard at the end of a workday when you are hungry and still can’t go home for awhile because there is a department party which you really should attend for political reasons and schmoozing so you can get a job and stick around longer. *whew* That was a long sentence. Now I’m even more hungry!
But you get to eat all that fondue everday, right?
I hope the party went well!
[...] Dinner was at Roberto’s, to finally introduce Mr. T to a place I loved from my last trip in October. [...]