Creole Cocktails

Cocktails and southern culture mix it up at Avoyelles

Avoyelles has a history as colorful and mysterious as Louisiana itself. This cavernous upstairs bar in Baton Rouge used to be the tailoring and mending room for Joan Eddy’s Dress Shop back in the early 20th century. You can almost see rows and rows of foot-powered sewing machines and steam pressers, and seamstresses nipping and tucking away, cinching waists and fluffing up flounces.

Today, Avoyelles (333 Third St., 225.381.9385; avoyellescafe.com) is probably the best gathering place in Louisiana’s state capital for a great drink, Creole cooking, a game on the TV, or a view of the parade of commerce floating up and down the Mississippi River. The clothing store’s original red oak floor, restored of course, is still underfoot and also part of the back bar. Wood columns, well-seasoned brick walls, and plaster form the unpretentious backdrop for a whopping 9,200 square feet of airy space under 14-foot ceilings. That’s not counting the outdoor deck facing the river.

“We’re an old–New Orleans atmosphere right on the 50-yard line of the downtown Baton Rouge entertainment district,” beams Jay Dykes, an electrical contractor who bought Avoyelles 10 years ago and has refashioned it into more than just a bar. The first floor, where the frocks and gowns were once sold, is now Avoyelle’s Café, where the prices are so low, you’ll wonder if they’re 20 years out of date. Where else can you get a dish like the Alligator Bayou Teche — a blackened or fried “tender cut of gator” seasoned with Creole honey mustard — for $8?

Let’s go upstairs, where drinks are served on top of a 35-foot-long bar crafted out of sinker cypress from a tree rescued from the Louisiana swamps. All the knots, scars, and grain remain intact beneath a coat of varnish and add to the local lore. Dykes and his main mixologist, Erik Adams (in photo), wisely haven’t gone over the libational edge with “real gatorade” or crawfish cocktails. But there’s no shortage of imagination. The Avoyelles Sunset is a potent blend of Sailor Jay and Malibu rums, triple sec, pineapple juice, and grenadine, $7.50. Enjoy one on the deck late in the afternoon for maximum return on your reasonable investment. Adams also makes what he calls a Creole Cosmo, using the more expensive Stoli Orange and Cointreau along with the de rigueur cranberry juice and splash of lime juice, $7.50. Other inspirations: the calorie-packed Mississippi Martini, which is a beyond-the-pale potion made with Stoli Vanil, Godiva and Baileys liqueurs, and chocolate syrup, also $7.50.

Thanks to Dykes’ deft hand, Avoyelles has somehow managed to avoid becoming a Louisiana State University hangout. That may be why Kip Holden, Baton Rouge’s mayor, drinks a Budweiser here now and then, and locals say you never know whom you’ll run into at Avoyelles. Not long ago actors Beau Bridges and Judd Nelson were here at a cast and crew wrap party for Dirty Politics, a movie partly filmed in Baton Rouge. Says Dykes with a smile, “It’s a comedy about two presidential candidates.”

For anyone who believes in a frugal fiscal policy, Avoyelles is the place to come for bargains in a glass. Weekdays from 4 to 7 p.m., American longneck beers, house wines, and well drinks are $2 apiece. Imports — Heineken, Beck’s, Bass Ale — are $3, and martinis are doubles for the price of a single during those hours. Mike Ederon, a Baton Rouge executive with the Boy Scouts of America and a regular at Avoyelles’ $10 buffet lunch, advises me to try an Abita, brewed down the road in Abita, La., a place said to be hopping with Louisiana flavor and personality. Just like Avoyelles itself.

Getting There: Continental offers daily nonstop service to Baton Rouge from its hub in Houston.

This month, Continental Sommelier Martin Korson, beer and wine manager for Houston’s Central Market, recommends three great wine importers and suggests an amazing selection from each. “Since these gentlemen always taste every wine before importing them,” Korson says, “you are guaranteed not only wonderful wines, but very consistent values.” The importers always put their name on the back label of the bottle, so all you have to do is ask for them.

Jorge Ordonez Selections – Spain and Argentina
Atteca Old Vine Garnacha 2006, Spain, $15.99
Made from truly ancient vines, this is a great example of a rich, bold, Spanish red that is an excellent everyday wine.

Kermit Lynch – French Specialist
Domaine Jean Deydier Les Clefs d’Or Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2000, France, $32.99
From the southern Rhône Valley, this full-bodied red is wonderful with a roast.

Thierry Theise – Champagne, Germany and Austria
H. Billiot Fils Brut Reserve Grand Cru NV, France, $46.99
Billiot makes champagnes from Grand Cru vineyards only and produces minuscule amounts, but it is worth the search for this remarkable bottle of bubbly.