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16
MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
MARCH | APRIL 2016
the
Seafood
issue
where he kept little Cokes, Zatarain’s
homemade root beer and large blocks of ice.
I instinctively knew that my Yankee uptown
mom (she was from Baton Rouge and New
Orleans) would not want me behind the bar
or looking at the décor consisting of antique
rifles and taxidermy, a single old-fashioned
slot machine and pin-up girl calendars. So
I would quickly hit up my dad for a quarter
or two for the jukebox so that my younger
sister Gigi and I could twist and shout and
later crocodile rock while Papa was in the
kitchen.
Papa would set a booth up with sparkling
silverware, and soon we would be feasting
on the most delicious fried potatoes I have
ever eaten, fried chicken (“that’s gonna take
a good half hour, beb”), white beans and rice
with French-style meatballs, and smothered
whatever was fresh from the garden. I often
wonder what four or five choice words my
grandfather would have for the currently
popular culinary phrase from farm to table.
Four to five printable words don’t come to
mind readily.
This is when I would hear all of the amazing
stories of the glory years of the White
Tavern. Giant seafood platters were $3.00,
a little pony was 25 and the place was
packed on Saturday nights and Sunday after
church.The restaurant opened in 1949 when
my grandfather struck out on his own after
working for his father and brother at Danos
Nite Club and Tee-Lee’s Dance Hall.
TURTLE SOUP
Before I go any further I should say that
I have lived most of my life as a city girl.
So when Rouses asked me if I would like
to write about my family, I jumped at the
chance to spend time bolstering the family
lore with first-hand facts from the family
who lived next door to Papa his entire life.
Paul Bourgeois, Mr. Paul as we knew him,
was my grandfather’s closest friend, and
when we visited, he would show us the
turtle cages in the back of the restaurant and
let us watch him clean fish or tinker with his
various homemade fishing poles and nets.
I knew that his children, who were a little
older than me, would know so much more
about the White Tavern, and boy, did they.
Raceland
Dancehalls & Bars
Raceland was home to
several famous dancehalls
and bars. A search of www.
louisianadancehalls.comturned up several 1930s
spots, including Danos Dance
Club, a bayouside institution,
the Tokio Fun Pavillion and
popular Tokio Restaurant,
and Cheramie’s King Tut
Saloon, which advertised curb
service and “your best and
last chance for fine drinks of
all kinds.”