So many times on The Food Show I have stated that if we all wanted the same lover, same job, or same dwelling it would be rough. The same is true of restaurants. They have regular clientele because whatever they are doing appeals particularly to the people who frequent it.
The reverse is also true. Increasingly, I find that I am definitely not a patron of certain places. There are restaurants that, even unwittingly sometimes, do everything right. There are some that do everything wrong, in my opinion, and still pack ‘em in. In the last 10-15 years though, restaurants seem to be separating into two groups: those that are traditional in nature, and the very distinctly anti-traditional.
I am not a customer for this latter group. It took a while for me to realize that because someone who does what I am doing should be open-minded, but no. I would rather spend my time and money in places I can relate to at least on some level. Because the latter group gets the most “buzz”, I often find myself caught and later annoyed at myself for falling for it. Finally, I concluded that these places that I find so unappealing just aren’t for me, though it’s a lesson I seem to keep having to learn.
A few weeks ago our producer Patty was off for the day and a young man sat in on the board who is much younger than I He is such a fan of Toups Meatery that we often talk about it. I know I don’t like Toups Meatery, but he is so smitten with it that I always feel I’m missing something about it. After this last conversation, it seemed that Toups Meatery appears to be the sole place he eats, so that fact alone should have sent a red flag.
Still, our chat got me, and it wasn’t long before I stopped in for a visit again. Surely this time I would understand. And I did. Finally, I understood that there isn’t anything I am missing about it, which brings me to the more important conclusion: this restaurant isn’t for me.
I knew it the minute I walked in. It is cool and hip in a way that has no warmth about it, and the staff is included in that assessment. But doesn’t the incredible food make up for it? No.
Some of the food was quite good, some puzzling, and some really forgettable. The cracklins were great. Hot, meaty, crispy, with just the right mix of fat and meat. They were well-seasoned and pretty much perfect. I had to make myself stop eating these because the portion for $12 was generous.
I also got some boudin balls, because I love boudin, and boudin something-or-other (boudin balls, rolls, etc. ) has become ubiquitous on menus around town. Who doesn’t love boudin? Well, in this case, me. The boudin balls were too dark, which to me means change the oil, but I didn’t really like the boudin itself. I realize this is a serious meat house, so the forcemeats are probably a little more intense than some others, but this was too much of that boudin flavor, and too mushy inside.
The hogshead cheese was the biggest disappointment of all. I love hogshead cheese. It was something I grew up with. The fancier and more gourmet it is, the less I like it. Terranova has the gold standard of this for me. I don’t know if the heat in taking it out melted the Toups version, which is highly likely, but it was a gelatinous mess when I went to eat it. There was plenty of meat in this pile, and the kick to it was nice. But the intense meat flavor carried throughout all of this is, “not to my taste,” as the saying in the business goes.
I figured the chicken sandwich would be interesting here, so I got it. The bun covered in sesame seeds is a winner for me. I always love bread with sesame seeds on top. The more the better, so I loved this bun, with sesame seeds completely covering the top.
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And I would surely expect that a place like this would be doing chicken thighs on a crispy chicken sandwich, but the more I ate, the more it seemed like white meat. I still think it was dark meat because I can’t imagine a traditional chicken breast here, but like a caller recently said to me on The Food Show, it is becoming increasingly hard to tell the difference.
The chicken was fine, but the “dressings” were bizarre. Braised collard greens (a favorite side of mine whenever I see it) and Gruyere cheese are always good but anything hot and braised that isn’t the meat seems odd on a sandwich. Hot sauce butter finished out the sandwich, and for me was lost in the distraction of the greens. The sandwich came with housemade chips that were also too dark, and so unappealing I didn't eat them, which is really saying something. The orange sauce that came with this was actually quite good and really fiery.
Lastly, the muffuletta was exactly what I expected: a hip “new” spin on a traditional iconic sandwich with little connection to the original except that both are a handheld item. More intense Meatery meats (in this case coppa and mortadella) piled ridiculously high on a regular seeded bun with a housemade Italian olive salad that was also unrecognizable in flavor. I did like the mortadella.
The food at Toups Meatery is generally good. It is well-crafted with care. And it is a place for people who like to see different spins on traditional foods and dishes. It is definitely not a place for a traditionalist like me. They don’t need me, and I don’t need them. And the matter is finally settled.
