Southern Hospitality does not always accompany Southern Food...not at Catahoula anyways

Ahh New Orleans, the epicenter or Creole culture/food, Southern Hospitality, Jazz music, and copious amounts bead and alcohol-induced nudity - a mystical place for those, including myself, who have never been there. For better or worse, Hurricane Katrina exposed the entire world to a side of New Orleans that tourists rarely see. It can be a gritty and unyielding place, where the poverty and inequality run as deep as tradition. Part of that tradition, is a level of hospitality and appreciation of life that has been said to be unrivaled anywhere else in the world.

Catahoula, a Creole-inspired restaurant on South Front Street is taking a stab at bringing some of The Big Easy to Philadelphia. When the weather is cooperative, they offer both indoor and outdoor dining, the latter of which is on a patio off to the side of the restaurant. The inside doesn't offer anything terribly exciting or necessarily Southern in terms of atmosphere, but the outdoors is very pleasant. The brick patio, wrought-iron furnishings and dangling holiday lights make you feel just a little bit closer to Bourbon Street. The music, decidedly not very southern, was an excellent mixture of alternative and indie rock (nothing too heavy as to mess with the chill vibe, of course).

The menu, full of modern interpretations of Southern classics, did it's best to mix old with new. Dishes such as Duck Jambalaya, Roasted (cajun-seasoned) Shrimp flatbread, and Smoked Gouda Grits obviously have traditional Southern elements, with new twists. This time around ( it's the second time I've been here) I was with my co-worker Candice. In a few weeks, she'll be Queen Village's newest resident and I've taken it upon myself to take her to or fill her in on the neighborhood hotspots. By taking her here, I was continuing to fill that role, or so I thought.

Our menu selections included:

•  Big Mama Kieran's Pickled Vegetables
• Cornmeal-crusted Oysters
• Roasted Shrimp Flatbread

That doesn't sound like much food for two people, but Candice wasn't particularly hungry and being a vegetarian, there wasn't a great deal of options for her. Before I ordered my two choices, I asked the waitress if the Oysters were a meal sized portion or an appetizer. She insisted that they were an appetizer, and despite my better judgement, I ordered them as such. They came out, and while I was certainly pleased to see that they were freshly breaded and not previously frozen, the portion was quite large and could have sufficed as a meal. With that being said, they were quite good. The menu indicated that they were served with a "spicy tomato jam" (think = ketchup + chutney) that was hardly spicy, and in fact bordered on being sweet. I still thought it was good, it just wasn't what was listed. For the vegetables, despite their relative simplicity, Candice enjoyed them right up until the point that the waitress prematurely took them from her. At this point, the entire dining experience did a nosedive. For the remainder of the meal, we had to do everything short of firing off a few rounds to get the waitresses attention. I understand that we probably weren't her highest grossing table in terms of food, but we certainly consumed enough alcohol to make up the difference. For something that wasn't that complicated to prepare, my flatbread took forever to get to the table and was lukewarm, at best, when it arrived. They had used smoked gouda on the flatbread, which was no surprise as it was listed on the menu, but they put it on the very top. Anybody that knows anything about cheese, knows that smoked gouda doesn't melt, or certainly not without a lot of effort. Because of that, the dish didn't look cooked, causing me to hesitate a bit before biting into it. Since the oysters were so filling, I didn't eat much of the flatbread. It certainly wasn't the best flatbread I'd ever had, but it was decent. Once I wrapped my head around the cheese issue, the initial layer of "creole tomato" (which probably should have been used with the oysters), was quite spicy and had good flavor. The shrimp were well cooked and added an interesting element to the dish.

Overall, based solely on the food, I enjoyed Catahoula (both times I've been there). Especially when sitting outside, you get a slightly different vibe than you do at most other places in Philadelphia. The question is, does it succeed in bringing some of NOLA culture to Philly? As I stated before, I've never been to New Orleans, so there are certainly better candidates to answer this question. Having said that, though, I would say that in some aspects "yes", and some "no". The very laid back atmosphere is something that I've long associated with South, and I liked that right up to the point when I realized that it also translated to the waitstaff - in a bad way. I hate to say it, but when trying to mimic a culture renowned for it's hospitality, you need to get it right, or you might as well not try at all. The food could be flawless (and while Catahoula's isn't, it's still good), but without services levels to match, it's not a complete picture. As a phoodie, bad service can be annoying, but that's not really why I dine at most places. Unfortunately, like most American's I have stereotypical ideas of what service should be like, depending on the type of restaurant, and if those ideas aren't reinforced upon dining there I am disappointed. If I dine at a French restaurant and the waiter is anything short of a complete prick, then I become a little upset. If I dine at a family-owned Italian restaurant, I expect to be treated like the newest member of said family. If I'm not, then it puts a bit of a damper on the whole experience. In the end, when choosing a restaurant, I feel as though the expected level/type of service influence the decision just as much as the type of food. When I go for Southern food, I expect it to be served with a smile and a sometimes uncomfortable (for a Northerner) level of socializing by the waitstaff. At that, Catahoula was a major failure. Unfortunately, Philly doesn't have many options specializing in this type of food so when I do get hankering for it, I'll need to make a decision. Should I go to Catahoula and be served by a distant and ditzy waitstaff, or find some other type of food? When that situation presents itself, I'll let you know, but for right now the jury's still out....