Photo by Lucie Monk Carter
I had no plans to get soul food for lunch. In fact, I was intending to go to Bean Burgers & Plantain Fries, the West African joint outside the Northgate area where I've spent many a serene lunch. But when I drove up, the BB&PF sign was gone and a "NOW OPEN" banner hung in its place. I'm a curious person—I headed in to ask a few questions.
The laminated menu on the counter told me I was in Rouge City Café, and the chalkboard hanging above advertised daily plate lunches, Tuesday's being "Okra w sausage & shrimp or meatloaf."
When I asked the employee at the register for details on the plate lunch, he said, "Oh, yeah, today we've got baked chicken with smothered okra, sausage and shrimp, corn, potato salad, and rice."
"Wait!" I cried, having made my decision and picked out my table by the window at the words baked chicken. "That's all one plate?"
"Yeah, and I'll grab your cornbread right now. Here's your fountain drink," he said as my eyes glazed.
It was a styrofoam container, not a plate, that held my lovingly smothered lunch when I picked it up at the counter. The baked chicken leg and cornbread pancake sat atop a layer of foil which, when peeled back, revealed a sea of smothered okra, smoked sausage, and bobbing shrimp; heaps of golden corn and potato salad. All for ten bucks.
I got to work. And when someone rushes out of the kitchen toward you with napkins, unsolicited, you know you're making a good impression.
Details. Details. Details.
Rouge City Café 2679 Highland Road Baton Rouge, La.
