Cajun Charlie's

I just wanted to thank everyone who showed up at Cajun Charlie’s New Orleans Grill for lunch today. I know I had a good time.

For those who couldn’t make it, the chef’s choice tasting menu started with a very good gumbo, followed by a house salad, etouffee, fried catfish (never had better cornmeal-battered catfish), BBQ chicken, BBQ pork and, of course, reflecting his background as the chef at the late, lamented Fanny’s, Fanny’s famous spaghetti (exactly as I remembered it, and perfectly al dente). Everything was better than I expected. If I were to nitpick, I’d say the BBQ sauce was a bit on the sweet side, but since I’m not a nitpicker I won’t mention that. So many courses for about $15 a head including tip, I thought it was an excellent deal (I won’t need much dinner tonight).

Chef Murray also proved to be an excellent story-teller, including the tale of making his first sauce at Fanny’s. He said Fanny tried it, and pronounced it no good. He wanted to try and fix it – after all, it was a big batch, including (if I recall correctly) some 100 lbs of ground beef, but she said to throw it out. “If you throw it out, I know how much money I’m losing. If you put it out there (i.e. serve it to patrons) you have no idea how much money you’ll lose in the long run.” He also had tales of his days as a nationally ranked tennis pro, and his current side job as a tennis coach.

It’s a somewhat-off-the-beaten-path location, but definitely worth checking out.

I'll work on getting photos up. In the meantime, if any other attendees have comments, I'd like to hear (or, I guess read) them.

Cajun Charlie’s
1601 Simpson St. (2 blocks west of Green Bay Road; turn west at the Walgreens)
Evanston

The BBQ pork and chicken:


Fanny's famous spaghetti (note that the chef resists calling it "pasta")



And two tennis players (one's LTH's Jesper, but I'll leave it to you to figure out which guy has a Scandanvian background and which is the chef/tennis pro):

I think I finally figured out this photo posting stuff.

egullet's image upload service probably doesn't allow embedding images in other, non-egullet, pages.

I'd suggest checking out www.flickr.com or www.imageshack.us for free (with minor limitations) image host that will let you embed the pics in other pages.

I'm very sorry I couldn't make it this afternoon, but I'm very excited to hear that Fannie's spaghetti is out there on the world once again. I'll be stopping in for a tasting very soon. The frozen stuff they sell at Jewwel just isn't doing it for me. I'm pretty sure the formula has changed over the last year or so.

pix are up

I want to second nr706's comments about lunch. The food was outstanding. The Gumbo was loaded with veggies and sausage and The meaty pasta sauce was almost exactly like Fanny's original, only less oily. Charley said he tweaked it a bit in the interest of health consciousness. This is definitely NOT like the stuff in the jars at Jewel and Sunset. I will be returning for both the Fanny's sauce and the many cajun items on the menu.

nr706 deserves accolades for steering us to this newly opened gem. We need to support these types of entrepreneurs.

Jesper

This was my first LTH "event." While there's nothing I can add to the aforementioned comments about the great food and a great time had by all, I would definitely add my thanks to nr706 for the planning.

The best part of nr706's planning was the arrangement with Cajun Charlie to let him send out whatever he chose. All of us, on arrival, were speculating on what the chow would be, and how it would be served. Turns out it all came forth family style, which, of course, gave us this tremendous opportunity to taste what otherwise would have required at least 4 or 5 separate visits to sample.

Not a bad idea for future "events." Whenever a planner has the kind of confidence nr706 correctly had in Cajun Charlie, just arrange a set price with the chef and/or owner, and tell them to just keep their favorite dishes coming on out.

I really enjoyed the Cajun Charlie's lunch; an excellent event. It's been so long since I had Fannie's spaghetti that I can't compare. I agree the BBQ sauce was on the sweet side; however, the chicken was very moist and tender -- perfectly prepared.

My own favorites were the cornmeal-battered fried catfish and the gumbo and etouffe. Really nice flavor. The heat was enough for me but as Charles Murray said, if someone asks he'll be glad to add plenty of heat.

Jesper said:

nr706 deserves accolades for steering us to this newly opened gem. We need to support these types of entrepreneurs

I'm with you on both counts. By chance as I was returning to work I ran into a neighbor who was headed out to lunch, so I steered him to Cajun Charlie's. When he returned he was a happy fellow.

We didn't have any at lunch, but Po-Boys are also on the menu. The cornmeal-breaded fried oyster Po-Boy sounds very appealing.

Menu prices are modest. The BBQ ribs at $15.99 are the most expensive item; many dinner selections are under $10.

I spend so much time in New Orleans eating the real stuff that I am always skeptical of any place with "Cajun" or "New Orleans" in its name - and Cajun Charlie's New Orleans Grill has both, so I was DOUBLY skeptical when I walked in for lunch yesterday (but, the place is close to my house & I was working from home yesterday, so I figured I'd give it a shot).

IMHO "Cajun" is the single most overused and misapplied word in the food world today. God bless Paul Prudhomme, but he unleashed a monster when he brought his Cajun cooking to the world. Now it seems any dish that contains a lot of cayenne (or is "blackened" in some half-assed way) is called "Cajun" this or that, which is quite unfortunate, as it tends to give the uninitiated a very inaccurate idea of what Cajun (and, for that matter, Creole) cooking is really all about.

That said, I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised overall by my first foray to Cajun Charlie's. I had the Gumbo, Rib Tips (sauce on the side) and a side of Fanny's Spaghetti.

First off, the spaghetti. It is exactly how I remember it from Fanny's years ago, which is not to say that it's the best spaghetti I ever had, but Fanny's was famous for it, and this stuff is a very faithful version, to be sure.

Next, the rib tips. I ordered them with sauce on the side so that I could evaluate how they were made (I freely admit to being a BBQ snob). Suffice to say that these tips were NOT real BBQ - they were grayish in appearance, with a bit of dry rub on them, and appeared to have been boiled & then finished off halfheartedly on the grill - they had a slight bit of char on them, but no smoke flavor whatsoever. I won't be ordering them again.

Finally, the gumbo. While I didn't notice any of the blue crab that they claimed was in there, this gumbo was very good indeed. It had generous portions of shrimp, high quality andouille, and plenty of chicken. Just the right amount of okra to boost thickness without being overpowering. The roux should have been a little darker, but that's getting into nitpicking territory. It was served over white rice, in the proper fashion. Overall, a very good version that I will certainly order again.

The chef's proficiency with the gumbo gives me confidence that the shrimp creole, etouffee, and jambalaya are also worth trying. I'll be back.

I'll go ahead and add my $0.02. Thanks to nr706 and all the other early reporters, I decided to talk the short walk from work to Cajun Charlie's and was glad that I did.

ChiNOLA wrote:Finally, the gumbo. While I didn't notice any of the blue crab that they claimed was in there, this gumbo was very good indeed. It had generous portions of shrimp, high quality andouille, and plenty of chicken. Just the right amount of okra to boost thickness without being overpowering. The roux should have been a little darker, but that's getting into nitpicking territory. It was served over white rice, in the proper fashion. Overall, a very good version that I will certainly order again.

I enjoyed the gumbo a lot. I couldn't find any blue crab in the mix either, but everything else was very nice, as ChiNOLA reported.

The dinner menu looks to be almost double the lunch menu, which is another reason I left here thinking that this place might best be experienced by a group who can order multiple plates.

--Zee

ChiNOLA said:

The roux should have been a little darker, but that's getting into nitpicking territory.

I recall that at the Evanston lunch, Charles Murray said he used a roux that was darker than what you usually get in the Chicago area. Perhaps he didn't take it to full New Orleans style or are we getting into a matter of differences in taste? I'm no expert on New Orleans food and am curious.

George R wrote:I recall that at the Evanston lunch, Charles Murray said he used a roux that was darker than what you usually get in the Chicago area.

That's setting the bar awfully low. There's not much good gumbo available around here.

George R wrote:Perhaps he didn't take it to full New Orleans style or are we getting into a matter of differences in taste? I'm no expert on New Orleans food and am curious.

I'm basing that comment on the great Paul Prudhomme, who says in his essential cookbook Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen, that a BLACK roux is the proper color for making an authentic gumbo. It takes some practice to make a black roux without burning it, though (I usually stop at very dark brown when making gumbo at home). Also, most of the better gumbos that I have had in New Orleans use a very dark brown (but not necessarily black) roux - much darker than Charlie's uses.

There is a connection that's worth mentioning between Paul and K Prudhomme and my favorite New Orleans chef, Frank Brigtsen, of Brigtsen's Restaurant. Frank is a protege of Paul's, and worked under him at Commander's Palace and in the kitchen at Paul and K's restaurant, K-Paul's, for many years. When it was time for Frank to leave and start his own place, the Prudhommes bankrolled his new venture. K has since passed away, but Paul and the Brigtsens remain friends to this day. I think that's pretty cool, especially in a town with as competitive a dining scene as New Orleans.

I believe (paraphrasing) that Chef Murray never claimed his food was exactly true to what New Orleans purists would specify. (After all, I doubt you'd get Fanny's spaghetti anywhere in New Orleans.) I think he may have adapted his recipes a bit for northern tastes, and he readily offered that he can heat it up - or make other alterations if customers ask for them. But the bottom line for me (a North Shore native, FWIW) was that it was tasty, fairly complex, well done and relatively inexpensive.

Darker roux = more flavor but less overall thickening properties (than lighter roux), IIRC. Chef Murray has probably found a balance that works for him, regardless of its absolute authenticity. It'd be an interesting issue to discuss with him.

I really can't wait to try this place. Thanks for the useful discussion.

=R=

nr706 wrote:I believe (paraphrasing) that CHef Murray never claimed his food was exactly true to what New Orleans purists would specify. (After all, I doubt you'd get Fanny's spaghetti anywhere in New Orleans.) I think he may have adapted his recipes a bit for northern tastes, and he readily offered that he can heat it up - or make other alterations if customers ask for them. But the bottom line for me (a North Shore native, FWIW) was that it was tasty, fairly complex, well done and relatively inexpensive.

I'm certainly not bashing Cajun Charlie's (except for the rib tips), but I definitely AM an admitted New Orleans purist, for which I remain completely unapologetic. There's so much inedible crap sold outside of New Orleans under the guise of being "Cajun" this or that that it was very refreshing for me to find a place that is this good, for a change (not to mention that it is only a few blocks from my house).

That said, nothing can really compare to the best Cajun and Creole food, made with local seafood & ingredients in Louisiana. That's the standard to which all of these "New Orleans Style" places strive (by definition), and where they come up short (as some inevitably will), I'll point it out. Isn't that the point of this site?

ChiNOLA wrote:That said, nothing can really compare to the best Cajun and Creole food, made with local seafood & ingredients in Louisiana. That's the standard to which all of these "New Orleans Style" places strive (by definition), and where they come up short (as some inevitably will), I'll point it out. Isn't that the point of this site?

I agree there's a lot of crap out there going under the term "Cajun." And I appreciate the fact that you commented mostly positively on Cajun Charlie's (damn - should I try to get a job as his press agent?). But isn't the bottom line whether it tastes good and is a pleasant experience? I appreciate knowing if a cuisine differs from its insprirational source - and I've learned more from your posts - but the deviation doesn't necessarily detract from my enjoyment of it.

And, for the record, one of the worst upscale meals I've ever had was at Commander's Palace (an off-night, I'm sure).

nr706 wrote:But isn't the bottom line whether it tastes good and is a pleasant experience? I appreciate knowing if a cuisine differs from its insprirational source - and I've learned more from your posts - but the deviation doesn't necessarily detract from my enjoyment of it.

I suppose that's a matter of opinion. I mentioned, with a disclaimer that it was getting into nitpicking territory, that I felt Charlie's roux should be a bit darker in their gumbo. GeorgeR asked for clarification, which is why I expounded further on that topic. I guess it's exactly because of the vastness of the "Faux Cajun" landscape that I even comment on such relatively minor things in the first place, but it really does make a noticeable difference in the taste of the end product, which, to me, affects my enjoyment of same.

nr706 wrote:And, for the record, one of the worst upscale meals I've ever had was at Commander's Palace (an off-night, I'm sure).

Don't even get me started on the topic of bad meals at highly regarded restaurants in New Orleans. Believe me, I've had my share of them.

Commander's, however, has become somewhat of a weekday lunch spot for me when I'm in town, due in no small part to their 25 cent Martinis. You read that right. Martinis for a quarter apeice at lunch during the week. Only in New Orleans.

HAD THE BRUNCH LAST SUNDAY AND LEFT FEELING MORE THAN SATISFIED. THE BRUNCH OFFERED FOUR CHOICES AND I,LL SAY THEY WERE ALL TOP NOTCH. THE FRIED CHICKEN AND CATFISH HAD A CRISP AND WELL SEASONED CORNMEAL BREADING (SOME OF THE BEST SINCE GRANNY STOPPED FRYING) THE BEEF RIBS WERE GOOD AND THE SPARE RIBS WERE SUPRISINGLY GREAT CONSIDERING THERE WERE NO SIGNS OF A SMOKER ON PREMISE. MY BUDDY WAS ABLE TO ORDER DIFFRENT SELECTIONS SO I WAS FORTUNATE TO TRY MOST OF THE MENU. AND FOR 12 BUCKS IT WAS A STEEL. NOT TO MENTION CHEF CHARLIE IS GOOD PEEPS. HOPE THIS JOINT CATCHES ON.

I realize that this thread has been concentrating mostly on the cajun offerings at CJ, but for me, the main draw is a chance to get some Fannie's Spaghetti. In fact, I doubt I will ever try anything else on the menu (unless I'm with someone else who gives me a taste). Unfortunately my schedule will make me wait at least three more weeks before I can get there. I was wondering if Charlie is also serving fried chicken. The classic Fannie's combo is spaghetti and fried chicken and I wolud be in heaven if that combo was available.

stevez wrote:I realize that this thread has been concentrating mostly on the cajun offerings at CJ, but for me, the main draw is a chance to get some Fannie's Spaghetti. In fact, I doubt I will ever try anything else on the menu (unless I'm with someone else who gives me a taste). Unfortunately my schedule will make me wait at least three more weeks before I can get there. I was wondering if Charlie is also serving fried chicken. The classic Fannie's combo is spaghetti and fried chicken and I wolud be in heaven if that combo was available.

Looking at my menu from last Thu - I do see Fried Chicken w. potatoes and cole slaw @ $8.99, add spaghetti for another two bucks. But I'd really recommend getting the catfish, too.

"so much inedible crap sold outside of New Orleans under the guise of being "Cajun""

Not to start anything (I love NO), but I happen also to have friends and relatives who live in Louisiana but well outside of NO. I think they would quite disagree with the premise.

I just went to Cajun Charlie's yesterday for lunch. Great meal - both gumbo and Fanny's spaghetti. It will be a hard choice from here on out - but goodbye Dixie Kitchen!

With regard to JeffB's comment, I imagine that what was meant was outside of "Greater NO" for no one would mistake the magnificent food in Layfayette, Baton Rouge, etc. with the faux Cajun cuisine in (name your least favorite non-Louisiana city).

GAF wrote:I just went to Cajun Charlie's yesterday for lunch. Great meal - both gumbo and Fanny's spaghetti. It will be a hard choice from here on out - but goodbye Dixie Kitchen! . . .

I'm jealous. As I (along with nr706) found out earlier this week, they're closed on Mondays.

=R=

JeffB wrote:"so much inedible crap sold outside of New Orleans under the guise of being "Cajun""

Not to start anything (I love NO), but I happen also to have friends and relatives who live in Louisiana but well outside of NO. I think they would quite disagree with the premise.

I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at. Please expound.

ChiNOLA wrote:

JeffB wrote:"so much inedible crap sold outside of New Orleans under the guise of being "Cajun""

Not to start anything (I love NO), but I happen also to have friends and relatives who live in Louisiana but well outside of NO. I think they would quite disagree with the premise.

I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at. Please expound.

I think Jeff read your sentence to be suggesting that as soon as one passes the city limits of New Orleans, the Cajun food on offer is inedible crap. Gee, I hope you were not trashing the rest of Louisiana, because I would have to strongly disagree - the best Cajun food, the very best, probably comes from places outside the city, don't you think? I know I have had some mighty fine meals down Lafayette way.

Yeah, the point was that, relatively speaking, New Orleans is not particularly Cajun and someone from Breaux Bridge or Lake Charles might say that its near impossible to get a great Cajun meal there.

I'm not gonna offer an opinion on the cajun food of louisana outside NO, I will offer an opinion on that avaialble in evanston.

I visited Cajun charlie's the other day - and am pretty happy it's opened up fairly close to me. However I was unimpressed by the gumbo (both veggie and "cajun grill", or even the spaghetti (though both the kids liked that). What I did like quite a bit was anything and everything that was fried - chicken, vegetable appetizer, oysters, catfish.

IMO the way to go a charlies (and you should go) is to view it as an opportunity to have a whole deep fried meal.

I didn't get a chance to try the peach cobbler, as we took that to go, and then I had to run some errands - judging by how much was left when i returned (nothing) and how quick that was - I'll say that the family liked it quite a bit

You're right, of course. I should have said "Outside Louisiana".

Not wanting to get into a whole long-winded "Cajun vs. Creole" thing, I was rather carelessly mixing the terms in my earlier posts in this thread.

Now that I think about it more, N.O. itself is actually a hotbed of the "Faux Cajun" genre that I detest so much. Plenty of sub-par "Cajun" places there - mainly targeting tourists.

ChiNOLA,

I knew you knew that

But as folks such as Antonius and Erik demonstrate, there is a didactic element to the discussion here. I just wanted to clarify for whoever might be reading along.

By the way, I don't want to oversell this but I did have a pretty darn acceptable chicken gumbo the other day at, get this, the Village Tap in Roscoe Village. The Mexican kitchen folks do a good job with bar food, generally but I was surprised when I tasted a freind's gumbo. It's not something I would have thought to order.

PS, FWIW, Marco who is a great host and sort of oversees things on the food side at Village Tap has been working in Northside bars with decent food for some time, having moved over from JT Collins' Pub when it closed due to landlord tenant issues.

Marco is from Veracruz. He and I are in agreement that this town needs a Veracruz-style Mexican restaurant to complement its several solid Pacific-side Mexican options. He claims, I'm sure correctly, that what is sold here as huachinango veracruzano is not, at all. Cochinita pibil, black beans, etc. It would be nice. That's Marcos' dream.

Ate here again today & sampled their very fine fried chicken.

Cajun Charlie's fried chicken is good. Really good. Certainly in the same league as, and maybe even better than the Fried Chicken at Evanston Chicken Shack and Hecky's, both of which are top notch in my book.

Stylistically, Charlie's is closer to Hecky's than to ECS, and I'd be hard pressed to name a favorite between the two. I do slightly prefer Hecky's style to ECS'.

As an added bonus, Charlie's is within a stone's throw of both ECS and Hecky's - a situation that is just crying out for a side by side Evanston fried chicken taste off between these three worthy contenders.

Anyone interested?