It is true that Delta people will drive a hundred miles to eat and party with their friends. It is in our genes. We grew up with memories of our parents driving all over the delta to those “Special Restaurants” to do just that and we have continued that tradition with our own family and friends.

One of those places is Giardina’s, a restaurant with a wonderfully long tradition of great food and charm. You don’t even have to say where a restaurant like that is located. All you need to say is “Giardina’s”. Another place like that is Madidi’s. Bill and Morgan’s vision has produced an incredibly great Delta destination for us and the world to enjoy. Ted Posecai has been a Delta culinary icon for years. His restaurant is a true reflection of his wonderful cooking skills and will be a delta tradition for years to come.

Crawdads will be celebrating its 25th year in 2009. From humble beginnings, Crawdads has carved its niche by introducing crawfish into the Mississippi Delta Cuisine along with great steaks and original dishes served in a Delta Hunting club setting.

I asked David Crews our Chef and General Manager how we could best honor the “Delta Restaurant Tradition” of great food and fun. He came up with the “Delta Degustation”. Degustation means “a careful and appreciative tasting of various foods”

We have joined forces with our friends from Giardina’s, Madidi, and Posecai’s to showcase a collaboration of these chefs talents. We hope this night leaves you with an appetite fulfilled and a desire to experience this cuisine in future “Degustation” events to come at Madidi, Posecai’s and Giardina’s.

On Behalf of all of us we welcome you to the inaugural start of the Delta Degustation, and look forward to this evening’s fun, drink and future in the Delta.

Andrew M. W. Westerfield-Owner
Chef David Crews-Chef de Cuisine

Best Steaks or Best Steakhouse in the Delta from the Cleveland News Leader, Delta Magazine and the Bolivar Commercial 2 years straight and even Best Restaurant in the Delta by the News Leader.

People ask me, “What makes a Crawdads steak any different or better than another steakhouse steak” I answer with this; First, I start with great a great piece of meat, USDA Choice, then 99% of all butchery is done on site, so I have total control over what the final product looks like. Because of our volume, steaks do not “stick around,” the average rib eye or filet served at Crawdads was probably cut with in 12 hours of cooking. Our volume gives us the ability to cut meat in the morning and serve it at night with very little meat carrying over to the next day, so quality is at its highest.

Now for our “secret ingredient,” charcoal. We char grill all our steaks over open pits, baste with a special liquid, and use a dry seasoning of salt and pepper. All the steaks are cooked by time and monitored closely by our highly trained grill chefs.

The real reason that people love a Crawdads steak is this. “We cook steaks the way people used to cook them, in the backyard over charcoal, and people miss that. They can come to Crawdads have fun, eat dinner, have a drink, and do what ever; then go home and let us clean up. It’s all the fun of a backyard bash at someone else’s house!”
Chef David Crews

The word Alluvium is a Latin word, literally meaning “to wash against”. The word is mostly used to describe the sediment that is deposited by a river or moving body of water. This sediment is mostly composed of silt, sand, clay and gravel but in some instances gold and even platinum can be found. The areas where the alluvium materials have been deposited are known as Alluvium Plains or Alluvium Deltas, these are some of the most fertile areas in the world.

I give you that back ground because it helps me explain why I call our cuisine “The Alluvium Cuisine”. Here at Crawdads, we are located in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, where the Mississippi river has deposited its Alluvium. Just like the Mississippi River which is fed by hundreds of other rivers, I take my influences from many different sources, Creole, Southwestern, French and even Thai and blend them into my style of cooking. I use the “sediments” deposited from other regions in my life and use them to make my style of cooking unique. These “sediments” are the “condiments” for the fusion of cooking that combines to make the meals we serve at Crawdads.

I love to take the “Delta Food” and blend it with other regions, such as parmesan and crab meat crusted Catfish or taking a pork loin and topping it with a Chipotle sauce. I think that the true measure of a regional chef is to take what is “normal” and make something that is unforgettable. A great example of this is what the Acadians did in New Orleans, they took what was available in the area and blended it with what they knew, which was French Style cooking. Today this is one of the foremost regions in the food industry all because they took what they knew and used what they had.

2008
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2007
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