Brunch in Bethesda

The Louisiana Kitchen & Bayou Bar serves up a fabulous brunch. It's a traditional poached eggs with hollandais sauce brunch with a modern Louisiana twist. Plus pretty good beignets. I had poached eggs Sardou with a wonderfully herbal cream of spinach, very lightly creamed, served on artichoke bottoms with a light biscuit and seasoned potatoes. My husband tried the eggs Benedict, which he loved too. You can also choose from crab and craw fish enhanced eggs and omelets. We saw the house special french toast being served to a table next to ours and were jealous. It looked absolutely luscious, topped with large strawberries. The beignets were good, almost as good as Cafe De Monde in the French quarter. If you don't like your coffee very dark and a little bitter, don't order coffee. I loved it; but it wasn't the right taste for my husband. Even the coffee without chicory didn't work for him.

Here's a marketing success story. Somewhere my husband picked up a coupon for the beignets and ever since has been talking about trying the restaurant, which is walking distance from our house, like zillions of other restaurants we can walk to. It's always hard to know where to go next. And, a creature of habit. I like to go to the same Japanese restaurants every night.

The decor and louisiana jazz music totally remind me of New Orleans. All that was missing was the rain. We arrived just after the restaurant opened and had our pick of tables. But quickly the place filled up with families and large groups. This always makes me happy because I like to see my neighborhood's restaurants prosper. So try it:

The Louisiana Kitchen on Cordell Street in Downtown Bethesda. They have take out too!