Coffee Call, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
I was with my dad all afternoon in Baton Rouge at his doctor’s appointment (which is why I haven’t been able to approve comments for hours). After we finished, we treated ourselves to cafe au lait and beignets. Oh, man, oh man…
I hope that all went better than expected at the doctor’s. I will say and extra prayer for blessings, strength and peace for you, your dad and your family tonight.
RodDreher says: Thanks for your prayers and good wishes, Rebecca, and Favog, thanks for asking about my dad. I think he’s okay. He’s just had some breathing difficulties, and they’re going to do a lung test. It doesn’t seem serious, but when you’re 77 … . His cardiologist last week told him he was “deconditioning,” which is doctor-speak these days for, “getting old and going to pot.” My mother, who is notorious for malapropisms, told someone on the phone that “the doctor said Ray is decomposing.”
Seriously, I think Coffee Call’s cafe au lait is my favorite coffee in all the world. I don’t know how they do it, but it’s perfect. I could drink a gallon of the stuff. And those beignets — Lord have mercy, I don’t know if the state of Louisiana produces anything quite so delicious (and that’s saying a lot). I’m very, very glad Coffee Call is about 35 miles away from me. No telling how big I’d be if it were in easy striking distance.
Any readers who are driving down I-10 through Baton Rouge really, really owe it to themselves to take the College Drive exit and go about a half-mile down to the shopping plaza where Coffee Call is. You cannot imagine how delicious this stuff is. It has to be tasted to be believed.
Jamie O'Neill says: What is it with America and these thick inelegant mugs? I remember the old West Wing series and my startlement that the President in the Oval Office should be drinking coffee from a mug. And offering mugs to visiting dignitaries - ex America semper aliquid novi.
baconboy68 says: Since I don’t drink coffee, I can’t account for the cafe au lait, but the Coffee Call beignets are truly excellent. It is not unusual for there to be a line out the door on Sundays after church. And they have a drive through, for people who like to get powdered sugar all over their car, because who could wait until they got home to eat one?
baconboy68 says: What Rod looked like after he got done eating:
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/voracious/Tonymontana.jpg
Kale Zelden says: Rod you are KILLING me with these posts from home. My only consolation is that you are about to enter the uninhabitable time and I’m entering RI brilliance. Cheers.
SecularMisanthropist says: Those look tasty.
Monterey22 says: Had my first-ever beignet this year. At Downtown Disney. Don’t laugh. When it was warm, it was actually quite good. But I discovered they need to be warm and very fresh.
I’m glad to hear your father is doing okay. I must say, though, that I’ve only had beignets at Cafe du Monde, they sat in my stomach like lead. I didn’t feel right the rest of the day. I’ve not yet had another go at them.
Mighty Favog says: Get Mr. Ray walking around St. Francisville with the grandchirren every day. He’ll keep in better shape, and the young’uns will learn about life and their town.
Couldn’t hurt. Hell, maybe you ought to follow them with a tape recorder.
I’m starting to cry a little bit. The only thing seriously wrong with Omaha is that Coffee Call isn’t here.
And the thing is, if someone DID open a version of Coffee Call here, it would be an instant hit.
If you ask me, Café du Monde in New Orleans’ French Market is where you go to be seen having (too-small cups of) café au lait and beignets, but Coffee Call in Baton Rouge is where you go to really have you some café au lait and beignets.
BTW, how’s your dad doing?