Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Abita Cafe of Abita Springs Louisiana




New Orleans breakfasts at their best: grits & debris.


French Toast made the way it's supposed to be made.




Abita Springs Cafe on LA59 north of I-12 near Covington, Louisiana.  Thanks to my brother Joe for finding this place.

Abita Springs is a sleepy community first made famous from its spring water.  You drive four blocks in any directions, you are out of town.  This place and its outlying area boasts a brewery, a coffee-bean roasting plant, a water bottling plant, a restaurant, and a bakery ... a worthwhile stop if you live in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Covington or Slidell.

If you wait until 9 a.m., the drive from New Orleans is around 45 minutes.



Meatlovers' Omelet:


The breakfast trinity of meats: hickory ham, applewood bacon, and sausage.  The omelet is topped with cheddar cheese.  And look at that biscuit!  The hashbrowns are brown, not white.  I just hate white hashbrowns.




New Orleans French Toast:


Not just French toast, but New Orleans French toast.  "What's the difference?" you ask.    French bread!  New Orleans French toast is made the way you're supposed to make French toast ... on French bread.




Abita Star:


Abita Star is this stack of stuff called breakfast.  It starts with this awesome sugar-cured ham which I will get with my French toast next time.  The ham's so good that it will be my meat of choice on just about any dish here.  Next in the stack are their hashbrowns.  On top of that is an egg your way.  The climax is the coating of everything with sautéed mushrooms, red & green peppers, and onions.




Cafe Breakfast Combo:


This is a classic egg breakfast with a choice of meats, breads, and sides.  My brother ordered a second biscuit.  The eggs are really fresh from the restaurant's own hen house.




Blueberry Pancakes:


Great pancakes, crisp on the outside and done on the inside.  Not doughy at all.  I would love these cakes with a thick slice of Abita's sugar-cured ham.



Coffee:


They have this stuff specially brewed for the Abita Cafe: Abita Springs Cafe Private Roast.  You can get a bag ground or as beans to take to your house, then it's not private anymore.  The cafe has its private roast made at the Abita Roasting Company.



Cajun Country Platter:


This is one of their two biggest platters, the Lumber Jack being the other.  The Cajun Country Platter comes with cornbread pancakes (yes, you heard me right), hot sausage (this is a Cajun platter), hashbrowns, and a couple of eggs your way.  And it doesn't stop there: biscuits and sausage gravy along with grits and debris.  I took the sausage and pancake back to the condo for a snack.



Bucket List:

  • Lumberjack (sugar-cured ham, bacon, link and paddy sausage plus eggs, etc.)
  • Crabcake Benedict (grilled biscuit, crabcake, poached egg & Hollandaise)
  • Blue Crab Omelet (sautéed onions & rooms topped with Hollandaise)
  • Biscuits & Debris (debris is yesterday's chuck cooked down to strands)


The cafe also serves lunch and dinner along with Abita beer (one of my favorites).  For more information, just follow the link to http://www.abitaspringscafe.com.