ROUX HOUX!! NEAUX-CLEAUX HAS A GREAT NEW CHATEAUX DE GUMBEAUX!!!!!

[Ed Note: 01/18/2012: Roux is now True and True is even better than Roux]

First, let's get one thing straight. Well, a few things straight. (1) I like to catch fish by the boatload. (2) I like to shoot multiple species of ducks. (3) I like classic cocktails, expertly built, with loving care, by professionals. (4) I like to gamble in proper casinos, not amongst pensioners playing nickel machines in "bingo" joints. (5) I like great music played by sweaty-ass musicians in smoky-ass bars who care more about how they sound than how they look. (6) When I say, "Hey, how about a look at those ta-tas," I like having better than a 50-50 chance of actually getting to see 'em.  (7) I like carefree natives who have nice boats, talk funny and who are full of shit. (8) I like having an active Powerball lotto ticket in my billfold at all times (it comforts me).  And (9) I like great food cooked in the creole/cajun style.

By my count, that's 9 out of my top 10* favorite things and I can only think of one place in the whole world where you can score "9" on the Bidgood Bob Pleasure Meter over a three-day weekend without having to cross any state lines or break any laws... and that squishy little slice of heaven is called THE GREAT STATE OF LOUISIANA. 

Next to Pine Bar on Cloverdale Rd...
make a night of it.

Now, unfortunately, the economy being what it is I can't just drop what I'm doing and haul ass to the Bayou State every time I get the urge for something that tastes good, sounds funny or ends in an "X." That's why I'm delighted to report that the Gump Guinea Pigs survived, the full review is complete and the verdict is in. Make a reservation, get your ass to Roux and wallow in it, baby.

First things first: They don't call me "Bidgood Bob the Gumbo Snob" just because I went to a couple of Sugar Bowls when I was in college. I am a student and protege of Chef John Folse and LITG's own Whig in a Blanket, who has taught me the art of the roux and the science of great gumbo for over two decades. When I tell you that Roux owner/chef David Dickensauge knows gumbo, this is not idle praise and I'm not kissing his ass just to get a free bowl (although I wouldn't dare want to hurt David's feelings by refusing one). Fresh lump crabmeat, claws, shrimp, oysters... done just right and about the color of a grocery sack. Keep your hands off the hot sauce... it don't need nothin' else on it nor in it.

Here's the deal... every time I've been to Roux I had the gumbo and I truly can't remember if they put any rice in there or not. I was drinking all three times. Be that as it may, they certainly didn't use a big wad of rice to make the gumbo go farther or to pad the profit margins. As I remember, with that much seafood there wasn't much room for starch.

Oh, one more thing about the Roux gumbo -- there's no okra in it, which is fine by me because I never liked the slimy little bastards anyway.

We are pretty sure Roux is rapidly getting through the early-stage jitters service-wise, but there are sure to be horror stories from any new restaurant's baby steps. My favorite from Roux's opening week came from a pal who ordered a Mojito which arrived from the bar "dirty," with four olives and some olive juice instead of lime juice and fresh mint leaves.  Well, not wanting to be an ass about the whole thing he drank it anyway, kinda liked it, ordered another (made it a double, extra dirty), drank that one, then ran next door to the Pine Bar and mashed his bare butt cheeks up against the window, to the delight of the sophisticated clientele there.

Anyway, back to the "restaurant review." Last Friday night Roux was jam-packed when Reginald McLucid, Doc NBA and I took our sport-model precious adorables out for drinks & dinner & more drinks (in that order). Even though we were a tad late and roaming around like a herd of kittens after pre-gaming at the aforesaid Pine Bar, the Roux staff still hit it out of the park. They let us meander, kept our drinks full and all-in-all managed very well on a hectic night.

Cool salad on a hot night.

The food? Oh, yes. Almost forgot about that, even though we did go there primarily to eat. In addition to the aforementioned gumbo, among other things we had Devils on Horseback, Alabama Watermelon Salad (see right), fried oysters, crab claws, and that was just the appetizers. For dinner we had Seared Romesco Scallops (with macquechoux, a favorite of mine), Roux BBQ Shrimp (see below), something called "Chicken Mar I Muntanya" and some other stuff I can't remember. They have a prime rib that they cook on the rib, then slice, then rub with a top secret concoction, then sear. Damn. We all shared and nobody bitched about the food, service, portion size or price (like I said, though, we were hitting the booze pretty hard and were mostly agreeable).

Roux BBQ Shrimp. Lobsters, more like it.

Note on the Roux BBQ Shrimp (shown at left). This dish is nothing like the very excellent BBQ Shrimp served at Jubilee Seafood, one of our all-time Gump favorites. The Roux BBQ Shrimp is more like the classic New Orleans dish (nothing even remotely "barbecued" about it) made famous at Pascal's Manale, with massive fresh shrimp and this sauce that's, well, let me tell you about the sauce... I wanted to tell the waiter, "Looka here, you need to bring me about five loaves of french bread and get all of these people out of here, because I am about to take off my shirt and sop up every drop of this sauce that's in the room right now." I wanted to, but I didn't.

Then there was the "shrimp." I really can't believe the lucky shrimper didn't have those big boys mounted. They must have put up one hell of a fight. If I ever landed a shrimp that size you can bet your ass he'd be over my mantel. Hard to believe they were so tender.

Excellent coffee and beignets topped it all off. We left happy and eased back to the Pine Bar for nightcaps. There we joined in the cosmopolitan atmosphere of sidewalk dining, drinking and conviviality on a starlit summer night among the beautiful people, not a one of whom was aware of our status as fairly recent parolees.

Overall a very nice night in this here Gump.



* My other favorite you can do pretty much anywhere there's a golf course.     

Baumhower's at RSA - Pleasantly Stunned

At last, a Lunch in the Gump review about food.
Well, sort of.

Baumhower's opens at the new RSA Imperial Palace Headquarters

Last week Fat Clemenza, Norm Peterson, Tojo Yamamoto and I decided to check out the new Baumhower's in the palatial RSA Building up on Goat Hill. It's at the intersection of South Union Street and Adams Avenue (see above). If you get to a pro-bingo protest mob, you've gone too far.

It turns out that before Norm became Cliff Clavin's drinking buddy, he was a noted restaurateur and real estate tycoon who knows Bob Baumhower, the Crimson Tide and Miami Dolphin great who owns this chain.* Anyway, Norm blabbed our true identities and before you could say "conflict of interest," the Lunch in the Gump boys were having lunch with a 6-time Pro Bowl nose tackle, sampling the new menu, meeting the chef, being waited on hand and foot, generally shooting the shit with the big boss and... getting the check comped by old #73 himself.

The following is a completely unbiased and objective review of this SUPERB new restaurant.

We arrived expecting nothing more than the rock-solid, reliable pub food we've come to expect from Baumhower's over the years. Bob is a veteran who has been at this gig since 1981 when he and then-partner Phillip (Dream) Weaver opened a great little wing joint across from the Sigma Nu house in Tuscaloosa. Now he's got 'em all over.

Understand that I'm a born and bred Alabamian, but I must confess that Louisiana is my favorite state. I never lived there, but I visit all the time because I enjoy the following: drinking to excess, shooting ducks, catching big fish, listening to great music, losing money in casinos, and going to Baton Rouge in even-numbered years to watch the Crimson Tide stomp some Bengal Tiger ass. Oh, and hearing Cajun people talk.

I like Louisiana because "let's have a look at those ta-tas" can be an acceptable greeting down there sometimes.

Most of all, though, I like Louisiana because of the food. I get all misty-eyed when I recall the scallops from my last trip to Bayona, the turtle soup at Commander's, the three-hour lunches at Galatoire's, a muffuleta from Central Grocery or a debris omelet from Mother's. Now, thankfully, there are two places in the Gump (Baumhower's and Lunde's on Montgomery Street) that can tide you over until you point that pickup truck south and get back down there.

Baumhower's has a new, slightly more upscale menu and a young head chef, Steve Zucker, who is a disciple of Louisiana culinary legend John Folse (left). As anybody familiar with Louisiana food and football lingo will tell you, Emeril Lagasse couldn't tote John Folse's jock strap. We tried several of the new menu items at Baumhower's and found them to be good representations of the Folse style, richly flavorful, simple, and without all that ridiculous BAM!! bullshit (I use many of Folse's classic recipes at home, and if you simply do what John says, you ain't gotta "kick it up" at all). I've had a number of the cajun/creole standbys at Baumhower's and found them all to be real good, particularly given the reasonable prices. The shrimp etouffee is special, maybe even up to Jubilee standards (when they have it). If you've ever been to any of his other places, like Mango's in pre-hurricane Orange Beach, you know Baumhower is serious about quality. I guess Bob would stomp a mudhole in a slacker chef, but that's just speculation on my part.

You can usually tell if a place is serious by its gumbo. Making a decent gumbo is hard work, and it's pretty easy to tell if any corners are being cut (like at a certain other place recently opened in downtown Gump). Baumhower's serves a dark roux sausage and chicken gumbo that's worth remembering. It's not too thick and it's seasoned like Baby Bear's Porridge -- just right. Be careful, though. You do not want to get any on your head, because your tongue will beat your brains out trying to get at it.   

The new menu still has a mostly Caribbean flair in addition to the cajun/creole stuff. Foodies are always quick to point out that Caribbean cuisine is a big influence on the creole style. I tell them to shut up and eat their food or else talk about football or women or bidness like regular people do. And don't say "cuisine."

Like I said, your Baumhower favorites and old reliables are mostly still on the menu, and everybody I've talked to seems to like the place. The prices are reasonable (I think they are still running some grand opening specials, so hurry before Bronner raises the rent). There's a full bar in case you need a couple of pops before heading home. Norm, for example, likes to get well-fortified before he has to face Vera for the nightly cussfight.

I do have one small gripe -- I counted only 20 or so giant TVs, which makes me wonder, how in the hell is a guy supposed to drink beer and watch March Madness during bidness hours with that paltry number of flat screens? Maybe they've got some on back order.

Clemenza tried to buy lunch for our group, but must have sensed that the owner was about to comp the whole deal. Nice head fake there, Clemenza (they are cunning, the Sicilians). Tojo must have liked it because he just kind of smiled and patted his belly.

Norm was test-driving bar stools when I left.

Well anyway, that's the unbiased objective arm's length fair and balanced review. I am glad we got this out to the loyal readers with our journalistic integrity intact.**

* Since Baumhower's is an Alabama-based chain, the new location at the RSA Building is therefore Gump-eligible.

** Note to Gump area restaurateurs: see what a free lunch gets you? Yep. You get your butt kissed on the World Wide Web.

Originally posted on http://www.lunchinthegump.com/

Etouffee. Done properly, right up there with great sex and college football.

Lagniappe at Lunde's

Fat Clemenza walked me down to Lunde's today so we could console ourselves with some comfort food. The Gang had favorably rated Lunde's previously (see Oct. 11, 2009 and Sept. 10, 2009 reviews) so we found the little place on the first floor corner of the Historic Bell Building and went in around noon. (The place is open 11a-2p for lunch) There were not many there when we arrived but business picked up as we lunched in this quaint place with a lot of homey touches from the Big Easy.

Since the place has been so well reviewed, I will not repeat what has been stated. However, I just have to let everyone know about the "Blackened Pork Loin" available on the Meat and Three Menu. (Here is where Carpasaurus i.e. "The Cornbread Carp" may become interested). When the meat and three arrived I was surprised to see that there was a  square of fluffy, cakey, twinkie-like tasty CORNBREAD the size of a Buick next to the porkus loinus! See below:

Photo by Darla, special to LITG, used with permission. Not actual size.

One funny event: Fat Clemenza asked if one of the vegetable choices--macaroni and cheese--was 'home made.' The smart ass in me would have normally quipped: "Mac and Cheese is about as man-made as a 'vegetable' can ever get." I held my tounge and the waitress politely responded that the M & C was homemade. This caused me to wonder: Are any vegetgables really "home made?" Cake can be "home" made, pie can be "home" made but vegetables?  My green beans and corn were certainly good but I wouldn't think they were "home made." Doesn't the Big Guy Upstairs get some of the credit for "making" them?  Nevertheless, the main point here is that the veggies were tasty and fresh, but the surprise cornbread square was lagniappe! The "other white meat" loin was just perfectly prepared and a generous portion. (Did they know we were professional restaurant reviewers?) Best of all, the price ($7.50 with tea) allowed me to pick up the tab for Fat-C and tip generously all for a "Jackson." Now that's value in the Gump. So try Lunde's, it's now officially Shadow Pup tested, Shadow Pup approved.

Minigumpage: Lunde’s Downtown Restaurant: Cajun-Urbun-Southun

Lunde's Downtown Restaurant boasts of a location in the "Historic Bell Building." Old Montgumphrians can at the slightest prodding rattle off the names of some of the "historic" downtown buildings that have graced the capitol city skyline over the years. There are the Frank Leu Building, the Exchange Hotel, the First Alabama Bank (Regions) building and, more on point, the Bell Building. Unfortunately, what passes these days for "historic" is a little thin. The coolest thing about the Frank Leu Building was when they blew it slap up. At least the Exchange Hotel was a brothel frequented by some of Alabama's most notorious politicians and it was fun to watch it torn down so the infamous floor where the sinning was done was exposed to the righteous throngs below. It is true that the First Alabama Bank building was, at one time of its completion at the turn of the century, one of the two tallest buildings in Alabama. (Birmingham may have even been a smaller town than the Gump at the time but today has a mayor who has some problems).
The other tallest building in Alabama was at one time the Bell Building at 12 towering floors but is that all that made it "historic?" Was the Bell Building where the orders were given to fire upon Fort Sumter or the location where the flawed Alabama Constitution of 1901 was debated? No, it was not built until 1907 and unfortunately, N.J. Bell, a local businessman and entrepreneur did not even live to see the completion of "his big dream" (according to the sign near the elevators). In other words, the only thing truly historic about the Bell Building was that 100 years ago it was considered a really big building: Big Whoop.
The Bell Building has certainly not been a home to fine cuisine in the recent past. If anything, it has been a historically bad place to eat. Actually, before walking over to Lunde's I shuddered to think of all the poorly prepared excuses for food that had been dished-out within the first floor of the Bell Building since 1910. Remember that god-awful lunch counter? Or the first attempt by Boomer-T to actually cook what was loosely referred to as "Bar-B-Que there?" Those bad memories followed me through the door at Lunde's and--thankfully--quickly evaporated.
Even those of you who watch Letterman and "E!" may recall a hurricane named Katrina a while back and the horrors that it wrought upon the City of New Orleans and the Gulf. However, there was some good to come from it. The chaos caused a few New Orleanians with talent in the cooking arts to migrate north to the Gump. One such refugee was the wife of Chef Loren F. Lunde, who is stated to be a graduate of the C.I.A. As such, New Orleans' loss was Montgomery's gain. But in the interest of full disclosure, I must say that on their Facebook page, it is stated that Chef Lunde has called the Gump home for 35 years so my assumption may be wrong. We bloggers never let the truth interfere with a turn of a phrase.

In any event, I know that from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday to Friday in a corner of the first floor of the "Historic Bell Building" at 201 Montgomery Street, you can lunch in the gump with Chef Lunde among the trappings of the Big Easy. Etouffee, jambalaya and Po' Boys of all varieties await your beck and call. For me, however, it would start with that old reliable: red beans and rice with a sausage I cannot spell or pronounce. It sure was a tasty sausage nevertheless.
I guess one way you know you are getting authentic red beans and rice is when it is served with no hot sauces on the table (or in plain sight) because none are really needed. (I wonder if Chef Lunde would throw things if he knew you asked the waitress for some "Texas Pete") While $7.99 is a little pricey for a dish you can get at good places in New Orleans for much less, the flavor took me back to those wonderful pre-Katrina visits to NOLA and the sights, smells and tastes of good Cajun food and banjaxed drunks wearing beads and silly masks. It really did not need anything added for my taste and I like it spicy!

Those who favor the traditional "Meat and Three" will not be disappointed either. For $7.59 you can choose, depending on the day of the week, between old favorites like fried chicken, meat loaf and country fried steak. If you occasionally drive to work without your seatbelt on and like "edgier" fare, you can choose pork loin or Tilapia in shrimp sauce (or should I say "scrimp"). The usual vegetable suspects are available including the ubiquitous and questionable vegetable: "Mac & Cheese". The portions delivered around me appeared ample. If price is an issue you can always seek a discount. If you want a 10% discount all you need to do is join the military. It that is a tad inconvenient you can also e-mail Lundes4lunch@gmail.com and join their "Email Lunch Bunch."

From what I saw the place had some regulars and everyone was chatting it up in sated comfort. A friend who grew up in "N'owlins" eats there often and rates the Cajun food authentic and "good" (not great I note). According to him, the Chef is actually a Scandinavian and can also whip up some of the finest Dutch apple pie "en del toto de Gumpo".


The décor is a little fru-fru (not that there is anything wrong with that) but the place is spic and span clean and the waiters are very attentive.




After a Lunch in the Gump at Lunde's you can always amble across the street and tour the Rosa Parks Museum for a taste of some real history. All in all Lunde's can supply a Cajun-Southern-Urban experience to which I would rate at four Jambalayas out of Etouffee.

As always at your service,

Your Shadowy Pup, Lh.D.