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What kind of adventure party starts at 7:30 on a Saturday morning? When you’re in Zydeco country in Acadiana, Southern Louisiana, don’t ask. Just make up your mind to get up early and get ready to eat, drink, dance and laissez les bon temps rouler (let the good times roll). |
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Everybody dances with everybody at the Zydeco Breakfast at Café Des Amis in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana |
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Set your alarm for five AM. Scramble out of bed, jump in the shower, dry off, put on your dancin’ shoes, grab your camera and your notebook, ‘cause it’s gonna be a great big honkin’, eatin’, drinkin’, dancin’ par-tay like none you’ve ever seen starting at the crack of dawn.
Acadiana holds a very strong and special cultural space in southern Louisiana, especially when it comes to music, food and dance. And we’ll take you to one of its very special, secret, local, places. |
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Mark Roberthon, Café Des Amis chef |
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Café Des Amis t-shirt |
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We head off early for Breaux Bridge, just east of Lafayette, to the Café Des Amis where the original and only Zydeco Breakfast is about to happen. As lines form around the block, we crunch through the back door and crowd into the kitchen to meet with master chef, Mark Roberthon. |
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He briefs us on our imminent adventure and advises that we try the café au lait, the mimosas, bloody Marys, beignets (Louisiana doughnuts), boudin (Cajun pate) and couche couche (Creole porridge). And don’t forget the beer. |
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Photos courtesy Cafe Des Amis |
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Visit www.cafedesamis for their whole mouth-watering menu complete with translations, recipes (especially for boudin) and more photos.
This Zydeco Breakfast at Café Des Amis in Breaux Bridge, LA, (which is, as rumor has it, the Crawfish Capital of the World), started by accident in 1999, when visiting members of the Belgian Parliament wanted to experience a Cajun breakfast and asked if they could bring along some musicians. Et voila! The Zydeco Breakfast was born!
This Zydeco Breakfast is now legendary, the first and only of its kind. Count on this event to be mobbed every Saturday morning with wall-to-wall crowds. |
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Big drums for a small cafe |
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Dancing Zydeco |
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It’s Saturday morning at 6:30. Long lines have formed outside the Café with locals and visitors alike waiting to storm in an hour later, have a traditional Cajun breakfast and then dance, dance, dance to live local and internationally known Cajun, Creole, Zydeco, Gumbo Zydeco and Swamp Pop bands.
Everybody dances with everybody—young and old, seasoned and newbie, lovers, strangers, old friends and new. It’s something that seems to happen only in Zydeco Country. No one is shy and everyone loves to dance (and drink and eat!) Doesn’t everyone just love a party on an early Saturday morning? |
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Leroy Thomas |
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Leroy Thomas and his Zydeco Roadruners |
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Café Des Amis has a rotating Saturday morning roster of bands, but this morning we were treated to the Zydeco music of Leroy Thomas and his Zydeco Roadruners.
Visit www.zydecoroadruners.com for more music, downloads and information about this legendary band.
(**See note below.) |
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Dickie Breaux, owner and proprietor, oversees his unforeseen fame and fortunate success. Visit www.cafedesamis.com for more information. |
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Known to all locals as The Judge, this well-dressed gentleman comes every Saturday morning to take part in the festivities. He dances with the best of them. |
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Art on the walls and the restroom doors at Café des Amis is the work of Gabrielle Savoy, daughter of two famous Cajun musicians, Marc and Ann, who run the Savoy Music Center next town over in Eunice. www.gabriellesavoy.com. (More about them next issue.) |
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Many mornings and most every night in this part of the world you can find either a jazz breakfast or a block party goin’ on somewhere with music, beer , food and dancin.’ It’s Acadiana. Laissez le bon temps rouler—Let the Good Times Roll. |
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Our guide on this day’s adventure was Todd Mouton, Louisiana Folk Roots Executive Director. Now Todd’s title may make him sound like he’s a stuffy “executive,” but he was dressed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt as seen here with owner, Dickie Breaux, and was as down-home and friendly at 6:30AM as one could ever imagine. His family name goes wayyyy back in the history of Acadiana, as his ancestors have been here since the beginning of this culture. His group, Louisiana Folk Roots, runs a great summer camp for kids in Lafayette dedicated to the preservation and promotion of learning the Cajun and Creole heritage. Check out their site for further educational programs and details at www.lafolkroots.org that are open to all ages |
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