A LADY WHO LUNCHES

If you are still riding the comfy groove of eating at your favorite national chain restaurants, let me introduce you to some great local establishments that offer an opportunity to steer out of the ruts and give your taste buds a wake-up call.

After a year of writing about my favorite lunch spots, there was a brief moment of concern that I wouldn’t know what to cover next; then a mental list of more than 20 interesting places we’ve yet to explore flashed before my eyes. That’s enough promising lunch locations for two years of CityLife issues, and the list still grows. We have only peeled back the first layer of the onion.

As enthusiastic as I am about things I love, I could not sit on the list doling it out slowly. Each month, we will explore different restaurants learning more about their menus and inspirations, but right now you are getting a sneak peek, a glimpse of the opportunities we have in this community to enjoy our culinary culture.

Let’s start with a few upscale restaurants that provide a relaxing linen, napkin and table cloth, service and offer specialties to delight an epicure. Bella Fresca may serve filet mignon burgers and fried green tomato BLTs, but my eye is on a crisp mound of Thai fried calamari with sweet chili sauce and a martini.

During a recent office lunch at Wine Country Bistro, we enjoyed a house-made charcuterie board that included fine cheeses, nuts and meats with an amazing rabbit selection available that day. My next visit will start with a roasted beet and goat cheese salad. If you are in the mood for classic elegant Italian food, Ristorante Giuseppe has a lovely lunch menu of antipasta, insalate, homemade pastas and main courses of roasted quail, Chianti-braised beef tips or lamb medallions. As much as their menu makes my mouth water, it’s their homemade dessert menu of Chocolate Rustico, Amaretto House Cake and Fiore de Fagola that is tugging at my taste buds. Zocolo Eatery is also tempting with their signature brick oven pizzas, eggplant club and sesame ginger ahi salad, but I hear we definitely want to check out the chef’s specials, too.

When you are craving home cooking but lack the time to cook down your own mustard greens or black eyed peas, these restaurants are known for southern traditional fare. Southfield Grill in Bossier offers juicy grilled pork chops and beef tip plate lunches, however, it’s hard not to order their breakfast any time of the day. It’s quite possible they have the best bacon in Shreveport-Bossier City, and I love bacon. Herby K’s, featuring southern traditional favorites like fried catfish and oysters, has been serving their famous Shrimp Buster with special sauce over golden buttery toasted French bread since 1945. Then last week I got a recommendation that we try the stuffed shrimp served at soul food’s finest C&C Café in Allendale.

If you want to take your taste buds on a tour of the world one lunch at a time without leaving SB Land, add these restaurants on your itinerary. Don Juanz Baja Bistro in Bossier will take you on a mental vacation with their Baja Beach Tacos, Tuna el Jambre and shrimp tacos. Their specialty ARTini wining Blood Orange or Basil Pear martinis and margaritas will help get you in that tropical vacation frame of mind even on a Monday.

La Jaibita, an authentic Mexican treasure also in Bossier, serves my favorite lightly fried red snapper with Vera Cruz sauce and seafood cocktail with plump boiled shrimp, cerviche, octopus and oyster. Athena’s Greek and Lebanese Grill has a wonderful menu of Lebanese fish, chicken shawarma and moussaka, all served with the best hummus I have personally eaten. India’s lunch buffet offers a great opportunity to try a generous selection of vegetarian, chicken and lamb dishes, including curries like my favorite tiki masala. Then there is Sabores Dominican restaurant luring me in with a menu featuring paella, which I’ve always wanted to try, and other exotic dishes.

Spinning the globe, we also have wonderful Chinese, Asian and Vietnamese restaurants. Worth seeking out, Lucky Palace prepares an impressive array of traditional and specialty Chinese dishes, including a divine duck noodle bowl with shitake mushrooms. Wine-lovers will appreciate their notable cellar. Pho L’amour offers a lovely variety of Vietnamese noodle bowls, lettuce wraps, and if you want to splurge, creamy cool bobba teas. Lemongrass in Bossier, an Asian Fusion restaurant, has also been highly recommended.

If you need an indulgence, Bon Temps Coffee Bar downtown in the Red River District creates delicious specialty espresso or hot chocolate drinks with more than 20 flavorful syrup additions. However, my favorite Drunken Panda, a frozen dark and white chocolate frappucino with Kahlua Rum is more of a late afternoon, evening out treat for the adults.

These are the tip of the iceberg lettuce, and we are just talking lunch. We haven’t even mentioned Blue Southern Smoke & Grill, or Sugar Lou’s Creole Cuisine and Catherine’s Eatery downtown. With so many choices there’s no reason to be in a restaurant rut.

Lynn Laird is a writer, fine artist and self-professed bon vivant living in Bossier. With her “Flair for Cooking” blog, she seeks out interesting ingredients and techniques to help make everyday meals just a touch more fabulous. She can reached at [email protected].