Girl goes on vacation to Mardi Gras. Girl sees Guy across the street. Guy walks across the busy street to meet Girl. They talk. Vacation is over and Girl comes home. Guy leaves his job in the Tulane University art department and comes looking for Girl. They find each other. Guy fixes Girl and co-workers lunch. Everyone loves it. Tells him he should start a restaurant. So he does. A decade later and it is still going strong.

That is the story of Carter and Deb Hutchinson. They are the owners of Mooresville's Zydeco's 5, Indiana's little gateway to the Crescent City. I had the pleasure of enjoying my birthday dinner at Zydeco's and I must say it was an amazing experience.

From the outside, the restaurant looks like any other business along Main Street except for the crooked sign proclaiming where you are. Stepping foot inside of the restaurant it another thing. You are greeted with a barrage of bright colors much like you would expect to see at Mardi Gras. Original artwork having mostly been done by Carter hangs throughout. Ads for Louisiana brewing company Abita Beer are here and there. All of the tables have pictures, ads, and menus underneath their glass tops. The silverware is rolled into a napkin with beads tied around.

Then there is the food. We started with two appetizers, Alligator Skewer and the BBQ Shrimp Boutte (boo-TEA). The gator was breaded, fried and served with a pungent cocktail sauce. The shrimp were huge. If I hadn't known, I would have thought them to be small lobster tails. There were five and they came out with some tasso which is smoked and extremely spicy pork. I typically eschew salads so I went for the garlic soup. Out came a bowl of cream of garlic soup with a huge crouton on top. It was perfectly creamy and I also got my favorite part of a salad, the crouton. Next was the main course which I had the sampler platter and my wife ordered the Jolie Blond Pasta. For mine, out came a square plate with four bowls of different contents. Red Beans and Rice, Half & Half, Crawfish Creole and Lagniappe (lan-yap). Each was delicious in its own way, but I think my favorite was the half gumbo and half jambalaya. Something about the two standard Cajun dishes put together made it so right. My wife's pasta was very tasty although extremely spicy. It had tri-colored pasta, crawfish, and tasso in a spicy sauce. Very good but a mouth burner. For dessert we shared a slice of Pecan Pie with a shot of amaretto on top. I thought it was great but my wife thought it was a little rich from the shot.

I can't wait to go back to Zydeco 5's. Just remember that next time you go to "MoorZville", there is more to eat than a cafeteria.

World Famous Zydeco's 5 @ http://zydecos.net

If you have any questions about any food or restaurant topic feel free to contact me at mattmason628@sbcglobal.net