Dining in: Garden Party – Baton Rouge is a community that loves eating out.

Baton Rouge is a community that loves eating out. Like our relatives across south Louisiana, we’re known here for our good food and are fortunate to have a plethora of great restaurants from which to choose. Here in the capital region, we’ve been particularly spoiled by the explosion of interesting, exotic and upscale new eateries that have emerged in the past decade.

That said, one thing we do even better than eat out in Baton Rouge is eat in. We are a community that knows how to cook, and for generations we’ve gotten together with family, friends and neighbors to tailgate, potluck, feast and fete for holidays, birthdays or just random weeknight dinners built around a beautiful piece of redfish someone brought home from the fishing camp. Cooking and entertaining are just what we do, and Baton Rouge boasts some of the best produce stands, farmers markets, gourmet grocery stores and food artisans in the state.

The concept of Dining In—how to do it in style, on a budget and within relatively nutritious guidelines—is our focus with this new feature for 225. Click here for a list of delicious recipes perfect for whipping out on a Memorial Day picnic.—Stephanie Riegel & Tracey Koch