Eats

Eats Calendar

by Kari Walker

Off the beaten path ideas for date nights - it's anything but dinner and a movie.

INDEATS ALL OVER OCTOBER
Off the beaten path ideas for date nights - it's anything but dinner and a movie.
By Kari Walker

Photos by Kari Walker

Café Vermilionville's appetizer sampler (see below) and champagne pair beautifully with courtyard dining and music on Wednesday evenings.

October 2 - Café Vermilionville's Courtyard Concert Series. 6-9 p.m. Enjoy the sounds of Drew Landry as you and someone special enjoy spirits and small plates in the lush courtyard. Café V. has selected a prix fixe al fresco menu that includes one small plate and a choice of wine, beer or champagne for $30. INDEats suggests the steak frites - grilled tenderloin, crispy thin potatoes and an arugula salad with a lemon-olive oil vinaigrette. The concert series runs weekly on Wednesday evenings until Nov. 2.

October 9 - E's Kitchen. 6 p.m. Take a cooking class together and experiment with outdoor grilling with Mica Youngberg. The New Orleans native now resides in Lafayette and will be demonstrating how to grill up local seafood to perfection. Be the envy of the tailgate party when you and your partner show off grill-master skills from this class. The cost is $20 per person, and reservations can be made online at www.eskitchen.com.

October 19 - Acadiana Center for the Arts Gulf Brew. 6-9 p.m. The annual beer festival makes a move to greener pastures at the Horse Farm but is still the same locally sought-after destination for sampling what's on tap. In addition to beer tasting, several food trucks will be on site for dining, and there will be entertainment by Trains and Devils, Cedric Watson and the Babineaux Sisters. General admission is $30, but upgrade your date to VIP status for $75 and be treated to speciality beers, including those from a firkin; beer and small bite pairing by Bread and Circus Provisions; and maybe the most coveted perk of all: private bathrooms. All proceeds benefit the AcA's efforts to highlight the culture and creativity of the community.

October 25 and 26 - Blackpot Festival. This two day festival at Acadian Village is for lovers of cuisine cooked over an open flame in one of the timeless treasures in any Cajun chef's kitchen, the blackpot. Join in sampling of the cook-off on Saturday, Oct. 26, as competitors dish up tastes from three categories - gravy (sauce, gumbo, etc.), cracklin and jambalaya. Admission to the festival is $20 for Friday and $30 for Saturday, but Saturday's admission also includes cook-off samplings. As you and your companion taste around, enjoy the sounds of live music, including Corey Ledet, Yvette Landry and the Red Stick Ramblers. If you're feeling adventuresome, consider camping on-site for the weekend - snuggle up around a fire or join in an after-hours jam session of guitars, fiddles and voices.

October 31 - Lafayette Science Museum's Museum of Fear. Enjoy the hauntings on Jefferson Street in costume for a spooktacular Halloween night out followed by a few tricks and treats over dinner. INDEats suggests the bar at Pamplona for a ghoulish good time - order up a Sangria that could easily be fit for a vampire or a Dark and Stormy for another sinister sipper. End the night strolling around downtown in search of dazzling and frightful costumes alike.