This Side of Sportsman's Paradise

For months now, a developing restaurant on Government Street has piqued the curiosity of passing traffic. And in time, our questions have been answered. What's going in that building? Goûter. What does that even mean? It's French for "to taste." Who's behind it? Chef Chris Wadsworth and his wife Sommer. So why that strange name? Because it's a risk, and the Wadsworths like risks. 

The couple has stood behind Triumph Kitchen, a nonprofit culinary initiative geared toward high school dropouts, for the past few years. But Wadsworth has returned to the kitchen proper now for a concept highlighting Louisiana's bounty of fish, game, and hungry diners. We stopped by for the soft opening today, eager to see what Chef Chris and Sommer have reeled in so far. 

The menu offers small plates, soups and sandwiches, plate lunches, and daily fish, among other dishes. But those small plates include "Duck Three Ways." The sandwiches extend to venison hot dogs and pickled shrimp tacos. The plate lunch bears a hefty pork shoulder over rice. And you can still hear the slap of today's trout on the dock—it now hangs tamely on skewers alongside shrimp, the two dusted in pepper and lemon and served over zucchini.

"That's the last one," Sommer told me as my skewers arrived. "We'll have to tell tomorrow's boat we need more."

Take a look inside:

Details. Details. Details.

Goûter Restaurant
3897 Government Street
Baton Rouge, La.
gouterrestaurant.com