Lafite's Landing in Donaldsonville. The home of well-regarded chef John Folse, who I understand has a TV show. A pleasant converted home (apparently Folse's living quarters until his restaurant burned down a couple years ago, so he moved his operation here). Attentive
but slightly self-conscious service. Interesting food, some audacious, some hopelessly retro. For example, the only salad is an iceberg wedge with blue cheese dressing (other dressing available on request) - ecch. Servers come by with breads (all good, some very good)
and spreads (all odd, some, such as lemong ginger butter, very odd). Let's see what we had, in no particular order. Crab cakes with hollandaise and blueberry reduction were pretty good - better than United Airlines crabcakes which are okay, less good than a perfect
Maryland crab cake (such as that sold at the Crab Cake Factory at the western end of Annapolis, Maryland, on I think West Street: I have no connection with the place but have had several fine crab cakes there) - a chive oil and beet garnish, however, was a bit
excessive. There is a signature dish of the place, oysters 4 ways, which are (the menu claims them as "the four classic ways") Rockefeller, au gratin, with crawfish & tasso, and teriyaki! in order of heaviness and also of goodness - the teriyaki is one of the most
horrible things ever eaten by man or beast. Shrimp in potato crust were as advertised, big shrimp, complete with head and tail, but otherwise shelled, wrapped in shredded potatoes: heavy stuff, and the potato crust cried out for sour cream, as it tasted like latkes,
but the shrimp, protected by the crust, were delicious and moist. Death by gumbo is a strange name for a quail stuffed with rice and andouille, served in the middle of a bowl into which a brown sauce-like gumbo with oysters is poured: an intriguing dish. Roast chicken,
andouille, and red bean soup is another variation on the gumbo theme: less fancy and less special, but I thought slightly nicer tasting. Rack of lamb stuffed with goat cheese was excellent; soft-shelled crabs, a pair of giants, stuffed with rice, were nice but not as
nice: a weird tapioca and sesame cracker accompanied. Dessert was a flourless chocolate cake, served with French vanilla ice cream, vanilla whipped cream, a chocolate truffle, and mint-lavender drizzle was tasty but a bit busy, the whole a bit less than the sum of the
parts. With this meal we drank the St. Francis Sonoma County Chard 98, a well-balanced lightish wine with no surprises, and Penfold's Kalimna Bin 28 Shiraz 95 I think, which was a bit sweet but otherwise the equal of any Rhone wine in the moderate price range, very ripe and fruity, a bit prunish and a little low in acid to my taste.

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Cheers
Michael *G