I’ve heard the song “La Vie en Rose” three times in the past week – twice live; once on a banjo – in New Orleans themed venues. The first was by a quintet at the Mahogany Jazz Hall on Chartres Street in the French Quarter Saturday night, then again at Mr. B’s jazz brunch, on Royal, with a banjo-led trio the next day. Then, when I returned to Orlando, it was playing on the sound system when I walked in to Voodoo Bayou on Sand Lake Road’s Restaurant Row.
I never considered the Edith Piaf song to be a jazz standard, but there you go.
Was it cheeky of me to visit Voodoo Bayou right after a trip to the Crescent City? Maybe, but why not have the real thing fresh in memory to compare it to?
Voodoo Bayou, which moved into the space that was previously occupied by Moonfish, is the third location for the brand started by True Grit Hospitality of West Palm Beach (the others are in Palm Beach Gardens and Ft. Lauderdale). It also has two restaurants called Calaveras Cantina and a third brand, Roka Hula, planned for Delray Beach.
To open the Orlando VB, TGH called on Justin Plank, who was most recently the chef at Terralina Crafted Italian at Disney Springs. Plank’s been in the area a long while; at one time the legendary Park Plaza Gardens in Winter Park was renamed Chef Justin’s Park Plaza Gardens. According to his Linkedin profile, he left Voodoo Kitchen in June.
The interior of the Sand Lake restaurant has a stereotypically gothic decor, with stained glass windows spaced out behind the bar, which runs the length of the main dining area. There are cobwebs – perhaps from the spiders climbing on the stained glass windows – on the cross-embossed churchlike light fixtures overhead. It’s quite dark and moody. It’s the sort of decor that’s difficult to find in the actual New Orleans unless you hang out in Anne Rice novels.
I stopped in for a quick lunch recently and ordered the Gumbo Ya Ya as a starter and Shrimp & Crawfish Étouffée for my entree.
A ya ya gumbo is distinguished from a traditional gumbo by its darker roux and that it’s made with chicken and sausage instead of the usual seafood. Voodoo’s, however, includes shrimp with the chicken and andouille. At least it does in theory. Shortly after I placed my order, my server returned to tell me the kitchen was out of the gumbo. I was the restaurant’s first customer of the day.
So I waited for my étouffée, and I was pleased with it when it arrived. Étouffée – the word means smothered – begins with a roux but the finished result is more like a gravy than a stew, as you’d have with a gumbo. If you can find gumbo. I was warned the the dish would be spicy but it was far from scorching. Instead, the peppery notes were forward but not domineering. There were three plump, firm shrimp and one crawfish splayed over the rice, which sat in the center of the bowl.
My server tried hard to please but was overly familiar and didn’t seem able to “read the table.”
Some of the prices may surprise you, especially on the dinner menu. My lunch étouffée was $20, but it’s listed at $28 on the evening menu. But you need to know that all prices include an 18 percent service charge, which goes to the server, according to a note on the menu. With that taken into consideration, I found the $20 fee for the ample portion to be more than fair.
And it’s cheaper than flying to New Orleans.
Voodoo Bayou is at 7525 W. Sand Lake Road, Orlando (map). It is open for lunch and dinner daily. The phone number is 407-574-5755.
