Tallulah Crafted Food and Wine Bar, the restaurant and wine bar inside the Marriott-owned Renaissance Baton Rouge Hotel, is all about bringing balanced Southern cuisine to the table. Executive chef Jason Hebert wants the experience to be “casual fine dining” that can work for the various occasions that might bring someone to the restaurant—be it for a quick bite for business travelers or a celebratory dinner for locals.
Following a restaurant menu revamp that brought Hebert to the restaurant last April, Tallulah became dedicated to prepare-to-order meals. The restaurant uses ingredients made in house, butchers its own meats, prepares its own fish, and makes its own stocks and sauces. “If we can do it in house, we’re gonna do it in house,” Hebert says. Dishes like cedar plank redfish, seared scallops and the signature crab-stuffed crab cakes “can be really fancy or really approachable and easy to eat with home-cooked stuff,” he adds.
Even the cocktail menu, recently reworked by a new manager, brings classic Louisiana fare like the Sazerac into company with a variety of new-wave cocktails utilizing local ingredients as much as possible.
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With a menu ranging from prime New York strips to braised short ribs to herb-crusted chicken, the dining experience is a tribute to Tallulah, Louisiana, the hometown of hotel owner Mike Wampold. Bringing the spirit of the seat of Madison Parish to Baton Rouge, the atmosphere is welcoming yet sophisticated, which Hebert says can work for almost any audience.
“It really was a stretch of writing a menu that could reach the masses at every different price point,” Hebert explains.
Located right in the middle of the Renaissance’s lobby, walking into Tallulah feels stepping into a sports bar crossed with and a fine dining restaurant. It has ample lighting and seating space for the businessman just passing through or the couple seeking a romantic getaway.
“We have that balance between the sandwiches and po-boys, then going into the higher-end stuff with scallops and steaks,” says Hebert, who was trained at the Louisiana Culinary Institute.
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By the end of a meal at Tallulah, Hebert and his cooks hope diners will appreciate the unique way their food was prepared.
“We’re gonna be as creative as we can,” Hebert says.
Tallulah is inside the Renaissance Baton Rouge at 7000 Bluebonnet Blvd., open Monday through Thursday, 6-10 a.m. and 4-9 p.m., and on Friday, 6-10 a.m. and 4-10 p.m. On weekends, Tallulah is open from 6:30-10:30 a.m. in the mornings, and 4-10 p.m. and 4-9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.