Cochon Butcher

A friend of mine owed me a meal so I had her take me to Butcher. More than a butcher shop, Butcher is part of the Donald Link restaurant group. Browse their counter for house cured meats and sausages, order exotic meat like rabbit, venison or a whole pig or sit down at one of their tables for a sandwich or bar food.

I went for the Cochon au lait po-boy. The sandwich wasn't one of those horrendously oversized po-boys but, rather, a decent size for a single individual to eat. The meat was tender and the mushroom gravy were delicious. I would have preferred less cheese on top but, as it kept the meat from falling out, it ended up being a good match. The house made potato chips were pretty tasteless, though.

My dining companion had the tomato pesto sandwich which she almost enjoyed as much as the BLT she had gotten the last time. We split the pancetta mac and cheese (good but not a lot for $6) and I also got a pretzel. Good strong mustard came with it and it reminded me a lot of German pretzels from Oktober Fests. Both of us were kicking ourselves for skipping over the bacon praline--I guess I'll just have to go back.

The one real issue is how cramped the place is. There are not that many tables and they were all full when we showed up at 1:30pm. We ordered our meal to go and it still took 30 minutes for the order to come up. Not ideal when there were four people behind the counter.

I certainly enjoyed my meal and want to try a few of the other items on the menu but I will probably call ahead to pick up my order. I'll also probably stick to Rare Cuts for my butcher needs--$16/lb for bacon is a little out of my price range!

Cochon Restaurant

One of my favorite restaurants in the city (and by that, I mean one of the ones I've gone to more than twice) is Cochon. I love fire and the open kitchen with fire pit is incredibly attractive but, it is the food that keeps me coming back. The rabbit dumplings were so good, I burned my mouth in my haste to gobble it down. All of the pork dishes are sublime and even the fish was well done.

When the Saints are playing at home, they offer fried chicken for lunch. A wet coating is used that is crisp but just a bit too dense. The chicken itself is juicy and flavorful.

Their sides are pure Southern comfort from the mac and cheese, the creamy grits, the stuffed twice baked potato.

Be sure to go around the corner to the Butcher for high grade cuts of meat and artisan sausages and salamis. Place your special order for rabbit, etc on Wednesday and get it on Friday. One of these days, I will have to try their lunch menu as the sandwiches looked delicious the last time I stopped by.


Oh, and Chef Donald Link's book Real Cajun is a delightful read. While several of the recipes are a little too involved for most chefs, the love of food comes through. He doesn't just have pork recipes, although bacon plays a big part in many of them. There are plenty of finds for those who love the simple fare the Cajun's are known for.