Lafayette
Worth Waiting For
Rock ‘n’ Bowl de Lafayette was scheduled to open in December in the Whitney Bank building, which is undergoing extensive renovations. Instead, owner Jonny Blancher told Acadiana Profile he expects the opening date will be in February, and says it’s a “dream come true.” Blancher has already moved to Lafayette with his family. “We had a hiccup, and it’s taking longer than expected,” he says. The new venue will be “even better” than the original in New Orleans, and will feature a second floor overlooking the action, with private suites, public areas and pub games. There are different menus for the walk-up bowling alley eatery, private dining spaces and new full-service restaurant with such specials as slow-cooked lamb shank served with Papa Tom’s grits and a mustard-lamb reduction sauce, and fresh catch of the day with Louisiana lump crabmeat and macque choux. Blancher says that the full-service restaurant flanking Rock ‘n’ Bowl will be similar to College Inn. “We think that our twist of one stop dine and rock will be a welcome addition for the whole family.”
Broussard, Youngsville
Texas BBQ, Goat, Burgers and Beer
No Good Sons BBQ and Boil has opened its first location in Broussard at 1000 Albertson Parkway, offering central Texas-style BBQ, smoked Canadian bacon, smoked boudin with Tabasco pepper jelly, pulled pork and other slow-cooked delights. Burgersmith is opening a Broussard location in 2018 featuring gourmet burgers, a hip bar, outdoor dining and bike racks. Da Jerk Stop recently opened in Youngsville at 1505 E. Bonin Road. with oxtail, jerk pork and curried goat on the menu. The new microbrew pub Growler USA chose Youngsville as its first Louisiana location, and recently opened at 1901 Chemin Metairie Parkway. with 100 craft beers on tap.
Evangeline, Jennings
Filming Alert
Red Six Media has been filming a new documentary (a prequel to a three-part series) about the history and future of Louisiana’s oil industry in the Evangeline and Jennings area, where Louisiana’s oil and gas industry began. Narrated by Dan Borne, it will spotlight available careers, and is scheduled to wrap by the end of December.
Houma
New Neighborhood in 2018
A new multimillion dollar, 220-acre mixed-use planned neighborhood, the Settlement at Live Oak, is projected to begin construction in the first quarter of 2018. Its planned location is just past the 3185 Bridge in Thibodeaux. Southern Lifestyle Development (creators of Lafayette’s River Ranch 22 years ago), is continuing its new urbanism theme with this sprawling traditional neighborhood development (TND) featuring outdoor concerts, restaurants and shops, and homes ranging from quaint cottages to large estates ($200,000-$1 million).
Eat Dat! Mince Dat!
Crawfish season starts in January, so here’s a good one, and it’s true: Did you hear the story about the crawfish invading Michigan? Their arrival in 2017 prompted alerts from the Department of Natural Resources, which warned residents not to eat them, and instead, to freeze them until dead. Some theorized that the red critters came from Louisiana, and possibly got away during a crawfish boil. C’est fou! But the folks from Lafayette Travel came to the rescue and staged a pop-up crawfish festival in Michigan, complete with a Cajun band, to show officials exactly what we do with the red swamp critters.
Meanwhile, scientists are evaluating the potential use of our revered local crawfish for Alzheimer’s, diabetes and as a vitamin supplement. Subramaniam Sathivel, School of Nutrition and Food Sciences professor at the LSU AgCenter, is working on the production and use of minced crawfish meat made from undersized mudbugs. A doctoral student is developing a delivery system containing astaxanthin, an antioxidant, to study crawfish’s use on Alzheimer’s disease. Sathivel plans to study if the astaxanthin found in crawfish has effects on oxidative stress-related diabetes. He’s also studying the oil extracted from crawfish for its potentially high omega-3 fatty acids.
