M & J Jamaican Kitch'n: First Impressions

Sadly Rue Bourre is no more but in its place has risen M & J Jamaican Kitch'n.

The interior was colorful and inviting.

Dinner came after grocery shopping rather than the other way around as it should have been. Hence, when co-owner Donnet Joseph greeted my co-shopper and me and regretfully informed us that, since it was late, the not all items on the menu were available, we weren't surprised. Fiar. I had jerk pork, my Jamaican standby.

It was tasty. I gobbled up all the cabbage along with a good helping of the beans and rice. The pork was delicious but the serving was about 50% chunks of fat. Hmm. The jerk sauce at the table had a nice burn to it along with a good allspicey-onion flavor.

A bit disappointing at the fatty chunks but I will definitely return.

R.I.P. Rue Bourre

I was thinking earlier this morning that today would be a good day to grab lunch at Rue Bourre. There's just something about hot weather that makes me hunger for gumbo. And so I was saddened to see that it is no more.

To quote Darth Vader, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"

But their gumbo was just so tasty! Not fair!

Well, all the best to Ms. Nethken-Ulrich and her family.

Restaurant & brewery --> brewery & restaurant?

Driving home yesterday I noticed that the sign for North of the Bayou the Restaurant out on Cottage Grove Road had been covered by banners reading "BREWERY" along with another banner advertising North of the Bayou the Brewery opening on the 24th.

It appears North of the Bayou is transitioning from a restaurant that has a brewery to a brewery that serves food. There's even a fancy new website.

I've wondered why the brewery was given virtually no attention at their old website/Facebook page for a while now. While I still don't know, it is nice to see the brewery finally get its due.

The website lists 5 brews on tap: an amber ale, an American wheat ale, two IPAs, and Porterton Pinker. Now wait just a minute. Old IP-Abe is named after Old Abe, the bald eagle that served as mascot of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. Didn't Wisconsin Brewing Company have an IPA named after him too? Indeed they did - Yankee Buzzard.

I think that a visit to North of the Bayou is needed.

With Rue Bourre just down the road a piece, Cottage Grove Road is now ground zero for Cajun food in Madison.

Rue Bourre? More like roux Bourre.

I finally made good on my desire to check out the brick & mortar version of Rue Bourre, the purveyors of Cajun delicacies. In fact, I've been there twice. It's beginning to look like a fortnightly treat.

On my first visit, I took pictures of the restaurant but not of my food. For my latest lunch, I attempted to rectify the omission but only partially succeeded.

The restaurant is bright and New Orleans-y with Mardi Gras colors everywhere. Tables have rolls of paper towels and are armed with Louisiana Hot Sauce.

So far I've been a creature of habit and have ordered gumbo with a side of boudin balls on both occasions. My first order of gumbo was disappointing. It was lighter in color than the stuff I bought from them at the North Side Farmers Market last year and it was thicker too. And less flavorful. Needed more thyme and bay. Today's batch was much better.

Darker roux = more Maillard goodness! Plus more herbs. Very tasty.

Boudin balls are out of focus. Oops.

Well done bread crumbs on the outside (Maillard!), hot and moist sausage in the middle. I first encountered boudin balls last month in New Orleans but had boudin many years back in sausage-in-casing form at a paper shack gas station somewhere near Lafayette.

Delicious! Rue Bourre makes a mean gumbo and boudin ball. I should really explore their menu further.

First you start with Rue Bourre

I saw an article last month about a stand at the Northside Farmers Market called Rue Bourre which was selling Cajun food. The proprietors, Bekah Nethken-Ulrich and Alex Ulrich, are from Louisiana and they are looking to open a brick and mortar place at 4692 Cottage Grove Road, not too far from us - and North of the Bayou too.

Ms. Nethken-Ulrich was quoted in the article as saying, “My personal philosophy is that Southern food should be cheap, quality and filling," which sounds good to me as so many new restaurants seem to be keen on appealing to the monied class on the isthmus these days.

On a recent visit to the Northside Farmers Market, I made sure to check out Rue Bourre. Ms. Nethken-Ulrich was friendly and explained that their restaurant was simply waiting on the city to stamp a permit or something like that. I went home with some of their gumbo and jambalaya. My first tasting was of the former.

It looked and smelled like the gumbo I was used to, i.e. - the stuff I make for myself. My nose caught thyme and a fine roux aroma of precious Maillard reactions. This looked like good stuff and I started salivating.

OK, so there was no okra in it. There are those who maintain that it ain't gumbo if there's no okra and I hear you. But I will let others fight this one out.

I generously dosed it with microwaves followed by a few dashes of file powder and I was ready to eat. Verdict?

Mo' bettah!

They did not skimp on the chicken nor andouille. The broth was the perfect consistency. I am now very much looking forward to their restaurant opening up and am hoping that they serve shrimp creole.