In the now 37 years of The Food Show’s existence, there have been many people who have offered tips on where to eat. Tom often discounted some of these, but occasionally they would yield a great new place. I am maybe more curious, with a smaller sense of awareness of new places, so I follow up on them. Sometimes.
A dependable caller to the show mentioned a place that I had already been curious about, so I went immediately. Prior to the call I had noticed an adorable cottage on a regular route of mine near the river at Causeway. There is a vintage truck out front, and picnic tables and umbrellas. It is very appealing, and so odd for the neighborhood one could not help but notice it.
The place is appropriately called Batture Bites & Brew, the brew meaning coffee. Like so many other places now, it serves only breakfast and lunch. I have recently observed that in this post-COVID era, we have to combine restaurants to make whole ones. So many are only open for breakfast and lunch and the others only for dinner that it takes putting them together to make a whole day. It is essential to check open days and times because often a place works only three days a week, or the closed days are different from the traditional New Orleans days off of Sunday & Monday.)
The second time I did check, but when I arrived there was a sign on the door that stated that they had a catering event they were preparing, so they wouldn’t really be open for another hour. I couldn’t wait so I left. But these fits and starts only piqued my interest even more, and I returned not much later, this time with success.
It took me several trips to actually experience the place. When I finally made it in there I was so glad to have persevered. We had the owner on the show a few months before and he told me he inherited the property and decided to make it a hangout. My expectations were far beneath what I found, and they continued until the food arrived. One woman handles everything, and the menu, while not large, seemed intimidating for one person to deliver.
The place itself is intriguing, happy, delightful, and stylish. There is an enormous old cypress table in the center of the room. It looks like it might have been made by sinker cypress, the kind reclaimed from the bottom of the river. The entire table is an imperfection, and there is its charm. I had to sit there.
From that vantage point I noticed another table across the room which had a small chalkboard menu surrounded by plastic cups with basil leaves in water sprouting into new plants. I felt guilty disturbing the woman charged with getting what I ordered, so I waited until she delivered until I asked about these basil plants.
She explained that there is a basil garden in the back that provides the large amount of basil they need in the restaurant. I was impressed that a little place like this would be that invested in quality.
I ordered a little breakfast sandwich, a salad, and a Cubano. For someone working alone I was surprised how fast she got it out, but there really wasn’t that much to the menu. They keep it manageable.
The biscuit sandwich was simple and manageable too. It was a good biscuit, made in-house and I like the way it was toasted. The scrambled eggs were cooked in a neat circle with American cheese melted on top. The bacon was good quality and cooked just a little shy of perfectly stiff and crispy. It was crispy enough. Together these elements made for a delicious breakfast.
It was also lunch time, so I got a bit of that too. Cubans always intrigue me. All are measured against the version at Katie’s, which has the perfect everything, including the all-important mustard flavor. That essential flavor was subtle in this Batture Cuban, and it was pressed, but otherwise very tasty. All the other essential elements were there.
The same vinaigrette dressing came on the salad that was served with the Cuban sandwich. So I had a lot of salad since I ordered that as an entree. Both were arugula, which I am seeing a lot lately. It’s having “a moment” as I like to say. I never expected to see arugula, a rather bitter green, so ubiquitous. This was an enormous salad with a light perky dressing and a lot in every bite. There was thinly sliced zucchini of all things, small heirloom tomato slices and Parmesan cheese. Not anything brilliantly creative but a nice salad.
There will definitely be a return visit and soon to batture because this food is way better than it needs to be, the surroundings are great for meeting friends, and it’s a charming spot for solitude. Lot of reasons to go here. Just look for the blue truck.
