Chef Charles Bistreaux took its breakfast on the road last Thursday. Chef Charles Wilford Sr. joined host Rob Krieger in the FOX 8 studio kitchen on July 9, with St. Roch Market operator Kevin Pedeaux along for the ride, to make the case that the market is a breakfast destination, not just a lunch and dinner one.
The centerpiece came together on air in minutes. "Right now I'm working on a four-egg omelet that has a little spinach in it," Wilford said, working the pan. "And then right here, we have my shrimp and crawfish New Orleans style sauce that's going to go on it." Krieger, watching the omelet turn over in one clean motion, called it "expert level" cooking. "I try to make an omelet, and it ends up just like scrambled eggs," he admitted. When it landed: "Perfection."
That dish is the New Orleans omelet, and as Wilford pointed out, it comes with French toast on the side. Also on the counter: the barbecue shrimp and crawfish biscuit. "It's a cheddar biscuit with a crawfish cream sauce on top of it," he said. "I did our bacon in the oven, and then we have the cream sauce that goes on top, the barbecue shrimp and crawfish on top."
Pedeaux, who starts most mornings at the market anyway, vouched for the chef's range. "He can whip up anything," he said. "I'm there every morning getting coffee, and I'm like, hey, wake me up something low carb. He can just kind of do it with his eyes closed."
The segment's real message: don't skip breakfast at St. Roch Market. "I'm there between 7:30 and 8 o'clock in the morning, and we are doing breakfast," Wilford said. "We got omelets, biscuits, grits. We got shrimp and grits. We have the bistreaux omelets every day." And as he noted on air, the breakfast counter sits right next door to the coffee shop. "It's like it was done on purpose," Krieger said.
Chef Charles Bistreaux serves breakfast daily from 7:30 a.m. at St. Roch Market, 2381 St. Claude Ave. You can watch the full segment at fox8live.com, and read more about Wilford in our profile and his new lunch menu.