Dinner Lab series expanding into Baton Rouge

Dinner Lab, a pop-up series that originated in New Orleans and gives chefs from around the country a platform to test new dishes and ideas, will make its way to Baton Rouge.

Though an exact date and venue has not been set, Dinner Lab’s chief business officer Zach Kupperman says the series will likely premiere at the end of March. The first Dinner Lab event in the Capital City will be a five-course dinner, dubbed “El Jefe de Malay,” from Chef Mario Rodriguez of New Orleans.

Rodriguez’s resume includes working at La Petite Grocery and Gramercy Tavern.

The menu includes:

• Green mango and lychee salad with fried peanuts and cilantro crema
• Red chili mussels with Chinese sausage and green onion
• Tamarind stew with fish cake, rice noodles and prawn paste
• Goat rendang with coconut rice, pickled pineapple and kaffir lime
• Coconut panna cotta with rice cake, ginger granita and cashew crumble

Since its debut in August 2012, Dinner Lab has expanded from New Orleans into Austin, New York, Nashville and San Francisco. In the series, diners rate each course using five criteria points. Most of the culinary talent on display in the dinners are “the no. 2, 3 and 4” chefs from restaurants from across the country, according to a press release.

Kupperman says Baton Rouge’s burgeoning culinary scene was one of the reasons to bring the series here.

“We’ve been wanting to go to Baton Rouge for some time,” he says. “We have several members from Baton Rouge who come to events in New Orleans, and we’ve noticed a ton of culinary talent in that area.”

Patrons must become members to get tickets to Dinner Lab events, and memberships cost $125 per year here. For more information on Dinner Lab’s Baton Rouge expansion, click here.