Smoked Louisiana Seafood Salad

3739 Perkins Road
347-8422

Tues.-Fri., 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Mon.-Sat., 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Sunday brunch, 
10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Think seafood salad compels the use of mayo and celery? Not so in Chef Jaime Hernandez’s light and smoky version, which he showcased in May at the Louisiana Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans. The farm-to-table enthusiast starts by brining regional jumbo lump crabmeat, crawfish tails and redfish, and then smoking the seafood just enough to impart nuances of bourbon-soaked pecan wood. The entrée salad is dressed with a fragrant vinaigrette that blends local beekeeper Bobby Frierson’s honey with fresh lavender and house-made crčme fraiche. Shirking old-world rules that demand the separation of cheese and seafood, Hernandez tops the salad with mild feta from St. Martinville cheesemaker, Belle Écorce Farms and then Baton Rouge-grown sunflower sprouts. Says Hernandez, “Ingredients that breathe the same air and come from the same place can’t help but go well together.”