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There’s a vibrant farm-to-table movement happening in Lafayette these days, and much of it can be credited to Chef Manny Augello and Abi Broussard Falgout of Bread & Circus Provisions. Augello hails from Sicily and Falgout a traditional Cajun family where food is an art, a religion and mostly derived from local farmers and producers.

“Because Manny is from Sicily and I grew up in a traditional Cajun family, we actually find non-farm-to-table food bizarre,” Falgout said. “Both of our heritages are known for their culinary ingenuity and thriving with limited resources.”

The two first established Bread & Circus as a booth at the local farmer’s market, selling cured meats, pickles and condiments in addition to specialty items such as sandwiches. Their goal was to deliver food grown and raised locally that lacks the preservatives and additives routinely found in packaged foods.

“In a way, having access to mass-produced ingredients from around the world sucks the soul out of food,” Falgout explained. “Plus, we are surrounded by some of the most passionate and talented food producers in the country. It's an honor to showcase Acadiana through food.”

When their products sold at the farmer’s market were well received, and the community began pleading for more, the duo opened a restaurant six months later at 258 Bendel Road, near the corner of Bendel and Pinhook roads. Bread & Circus bases its menu on what’s available from local farmers and producers, serving it up in a variety of delicious ways.

“We use old-school techniques from around the world,” Falgout explained. “The result is a mash-up of iconic Cajun and international foods that highlight the richness of Acadiana.

Bread & Circus is more like four restaurants in one. A menu of hearty and inventive sandwiches, soups, salads and plate lunches are served daily at the counter, and the lunchtime atmosphere owns a Brooklyn deli vibe. Come dinner, Bread & Circus turns into a candlelit full-service restaurant with a hip ambiance, an unexpected menu and incredible cocktails. For Saturday brunch, the environment morphs into a sunny, Motown version of dinner, and by Saturday night— from 10 p.m. to midnight — Bread & Circus transitions once again, serving one-of-a-kind snacks and cocktails as their “late night service.”

“It's where we let our kitchen (culinary circus freaks) run wild,” Falgout said of the late Saturday night offerings. “They produce a new menu each Saturday. All the cool kids come. It's a lot of fun.”

Favorite lunch items include the smoke-rubbed house-made chips, the fried chicken on Wednesdays that arrives with a smoked gouda mac and cayenne buttermilk slaw with a honey hot dipping sauce and the Juicy Lucy Thursdays which features their trademark burger. The latter was described thus in Thrillist.com’s “Where to Get the 10 Best Burgers in Louisiana” article: “The hand-ground beef burger is perfectly seasoned and flavored, stuffed full of cheese, served on a brioche bun that’s so tender that it should fall apart, but never does, with tomato, lettuce, and a caramelized onion mayo." Hungry yet?

Dinner favorites are more laborious to choose, Falgout said.

“That’s like making me choose my favorite child,” she said. “It’s different depending on which mood I’m in. But I’m always in the mood for ramen. I can honestly feel my soul bathing in that rich, delicious broth when I eat it.”

The Bread & Circus ramen featured on The Cooking Channel’s TV show, “Chuck Eats the Street,” marries handmade udon noodles with ginger-braised boneless pork ribs, miso broth, a house pickled egg, Louisiana shiitake mushrooms, sprouts and raw vegetables. Another dinner favorite of Falgout’s is the house-cured charcuterie board.

For brunch, a must-have — besides the house Bloody Marys — are the bounuts, boudin-stuffed donuts served with Poirier’s cane syrup.

Like the ever-changing menu, Bread & Circus offers daily specials. For lunch, they provide a daily plate lunch, sandwich, soup and vegetarian special.

“If you can resist the other menu items, the vegetarian special is almost always a kitchen favorite,” Falgout said.

Beer is half price during Friday’s lunch service and late night includes $1 Miller High Life and $2 shots of Jameson. Every week, the dinner specials feature new charcuterie and cheeses from Wanda Barras’ Belle Ecorce Farms.

Remember those cured meats, pickles and condiments? Visitors to Bread & Circus may purchase those to take home as well.

Bread & Circus Provisions
258 Bendel Road
Lafayette, Louisiana
(337) 408-3930
BAndCProvisions.com

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You may make the reasonable assumption that Wing Fingers, a restaurant, and bar serving, most notably, chicken wings, is just ordinary. You would be wrong. The eatery on Johnston Street near the UL campus is anything but ordinary.

The restaurant started as a food truck when owners John Hackney and Taylor Cooper were hanging out building a fire pit. John remembers saying how he wanted more than his current job, but it took Taylor to convince him they could make it happen.

The pair teamed up to serve boneless chicken wings in a new way. There are signature sauces for the wings, and each portion comes atop a base dish of your choosing with garnishes tailored to transform ordinary chicken wings from appetizer into craft entree. Wing Fingers has expanded their offerings in the brick-and-mortar space to include bone-in wings, burgers, chicken sandwiches, and a full bar as well.

Those wing dishes, boneless or traditional, are offered with seven sauce or dry rub options with garnishes to match. These include the Strange City: honey mustard-habanero sauced wings with roasted red pepper coulis and pickled mustard seeds; the Strawbanero: strawberry-habanero sauced wings with fresh strawberries and strawberry gastrique; Buffalo: the classic reimagined with pickled celery ribbons and gorgonzola mousse; and Lemon Pepper Dry Rubbed wings with lemon zest. Once you choose your wings, you’ll decide what to have them served on. You have options like fries, pepper jack mac and cheese, and slaw.

The burgers and chicken sandwiches, each served on honey butter brioche, involve options as well. Once you decide between the beef patty or the fried chicken, you have topping options like the Basic B: house-made mayo, lettuce, and tomato; the Bad B: habanero honey mustard, lettuce, tomato, fried onions, and roasted red pepper coulis; and the Pepper Jelly B: pepper jelly, slaw, sweet peppers, and pepper jack cheese.

The menu also features a full complement of appetizers like fried pickles, pepper jack cheese sticks, fried jalapeños, and the Loaded Team Porch Fries topped with a honey garlic dry rub, pepper jack cheese sauce, pepper bacon bits, fried jalapeños, and an egg.

The team at Wing Fingers has pushed limits of what a chicken wing place can be, just as they set out to do. As John puts it, “If you’re looking for something basic, we only have a few options for you.” He says that the Strawbanero is everyone’s go-to choice, but his favorite is the Bad B style chicken sandwich.

He describes the vibe as “youthful, vibrant, and memorable,” and it really works. The bar carries several Louisiana craft beers, and there is a large stage for live music. There are events and specials every Friday and Saturday when the restaurant is open late.

Wing Fingers is open at 1043 Johnston Street every Sunday through Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and every Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.