Lousiana dreamin'

This is catfish as it was made to be: moist, slightly musty, coated in crunchy cornmeal. You can taste the bayou in every bite.

I used to live in Florida, close enough to New Orleans to attract some great Cajun joints.

This catfish, along with some outstanding smoky red beans and rice and delicious etouffee, was served up this weekend at Culpepper's Louisiana Kitchen.

Now, I should explain that The Gazette's had some ups and downs at Culpepper's.

Nate, our restaurant critic loved it, and he took along a family of New Orleans transplants, who also loved it. On a later visit, however, Teresa, our food editor, complained about the restaurant's food not being hot enough.

Whatever problems they had serving food hot were not at all in evidence when my family checked it out on Friday. The sampler platter arrived steamy as did everything else.

This really was the best Cajun food I've had since leaving Florida.

NOTE: I hadn't called ahead of time, but the owner did recognize me when I came in with my family.