Baton Rouge’s top culinary trends in a year that keeps changing

At the new Iron Fork, sample plate lunch specials, Cajun meats and meals-to-go

By Maggie Heyn Richardson November 18, 2021

The lunch specials at the new Iron Fork are a mouthwatering line-up of what co-owners Tory Cummings and Hershall Bergeron call soul food with a Cajun twist. A dish of red beans and rice is accompanied by chicken fried chicken, green beans, sweet potato casserole and cornbread. The half-rack of St. Louis-style ribs is slathered in sticky barbecue sauce and served with baked beans and cheese and spaghetti, that version…

Louisiana antiques and a curated collection of ducks fit right in at a historic Spanish Town home

By Jennifer Tormo November 3, 2021

Ethan Melancon doesn’t want his home to feel like a museum. He repeats this over and over as he explains his strategy for outfitting a 1913 rental house in Spanish Town. This has become Melancon’s mantra because, well, he has a lot of antiques. Stepping into his home is like walking into a time capsule. He’s always trying to imagine how his ancestors might have decorated. “I grew up deep…

Things to do this week around town: gallery openings, holiday crafts, 2021 Festival of Lights and more

By Olivia Deffes November 29, 2021

Get your pet into the holiday fun with Santa pictures Monday Bring your four-legged friends and fur babies to the Mall of Louisiana on Mondays for Pet Nights with Santa.  Starting this Monday, Nov. 29, dress up your pets and get photos of them with the jolly old man himself. These pictures will be “purr-fect” for any Christmas card or photo frame. The whole family can even join in for…

St. Francisville bookshop The Conundrum is a hub for readers and writers

By Maggie Heyn Richardson November 5, 2021

Why would you open an independent bookstore in 2015, when e-books sales were among their highest? Why do it in a small town of 1,700 people that you didn’t even live in at the time? What’s with the jigsaw puzzles? And where’s the coffee? Six years ago, those were the questions Missy Couhig heard over and over again about her plans to open a bookshop on Ferdinand Street in the…