Table talk for Oct. 22, 2009

• By TOMMY SIMMONS
• Advocate Food writer
• Published: Oct 22, 2009

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Chet Folkes and I had a lot of fun talking about Baton Rouge restaurants old and new for a “Lunchtime Lagniappe” event at the Louisiana State Museum Oct. 14.

John Sykes, education manager at the museum, located old photos and newspaper advertisements from restaurants dating back to the 1920s through 1970s and prepared a slide show to accompany our information. There were dozens of questions from the audience, and we all were so enthusiastic about our shared recollections that we are hoping Chet will write a history of Baton Rouge restaurants.

The hospitality industry in Baton Rouge is thriving, and according to the latest count, there are more than 750 restaurants listed in the 2010 Baton Rouge telephone directory’s Yellow Pages.

The museum, located at 660 N. Fourth St., has some interesting exhibits and is also now open on Thursday evenings until 8 p.m.

In preparing for our talk and the Association of Food Journalists visit to Baton Rouge (see cover story), I’ve been running short on morning time and breakfasting on quick-fix cereal rather than my preferred scrambled eggs. To perk up the cereal, which can get pretty boring, I made a fruit topping adapted from a Jewish Charoseth recipe.

Here’s my version, which I like a lot.