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The Queen's Tea at The Cottage Cafe and Tea Room

What better way for those of us in the states to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee than with a tea party? The opening of The Cottage Cafe and Tea Room in Central run by Loretta Foreman, who owned Country Emporium until 2012 is a welcome addition for tea lovers in the Baton Rouge area.

The Cottage Cafe and Tea Room served four types of sandwiches with "The Queen's Tea," along with a few mini quiches.

Our Queen's Tea included two scones, a cup of gumbo (we're still in Louisiana and not the U.K. after all), four tea sandwiches, two mini quiches and two mini desserts. The Earl Grey cream tea was delicious, and the staff kindly refilled pot after pot for us. Foreman and her granddaughter run the shop together, and Foreman told us they wanted it to feel like you're at somebody's house, enjoying an afternoon together. We hope they don't mind frequent house guests.

The Cottage Cafe and Tea Room, 10443 Joor Road, Baton Rouge, 70818. (225) 478-2766.

The Cottage Cafe and Tea Room is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Reservations are required for lunch, and high tea is served on weekends only and requires reservations one day in advance. Afternoon tea is available without reservations from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. (Andrea Gallo, staff writer)

If you've never had pho, a Vietnamese soup with meat, herbs and rice noodles, this is a great place to try it. And if you're a pho-lover like me, it's a a prime candidate to become your go-to.

A bowl of steak pho from Bao Vietnamese Kitchen in Baton Rouge.

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The bone broth is some of the most intensely flavorful liquid you're likely to find anywhere. It's a top-notch meal anytime, but it's a particularly sublime meal if you're ever feeling under the weather. A lage bowl is exactly the right amount of food to leave you stuffed but satisfied.

Try it with a salted lemonade for a "fire and ice" contrast.

Bao Vietnamese Kitchen, 8342 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge, 70810. (225) 960-1293. Bao is open Monday-Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and is closed on Sunday. (Matthew Albright, assistant metro editor)

Pork schnitzel at City Pork

Confession: I was not the one who ordered the pork schnitzel. That wise human would be my husband, who 28-years-into-marriage understands what will happen when he makes the better menu choice than I do. Fortunately, he is a generous soul -- as that panko breaded pork cutlet, brown bacon gravy, creamy orzo and pickled redcabbagewere delicious.

City Pork's pork schnitzel is served with creamy orzo and pickled red cabbage.

The schnitzel itself was thin and crispy. The gravy was good, and I loved the pickled red cabbage (a throwback to the amazing sauerkraut I developed a taste for during the time I lived in Slovakia). In fact, the red cabbage dish was more similar to Eastern European sauerkraut than any I've had outside of...Eastern Europe. All that said, the creamy orzo (which I would describe as an orzo risotto) was the star of the show.

The contrast between the crisp schnitzel, the tangy cabbage and the creamy orzo created high perfect-bite potential. Most of my favorite meals are centered around getting the right ratio of different flavors and textures in a single bite. City Pork's schnitzel is an excellent opportunity to do just that. The only problem was I didn't get many chances -- since it was my husband's plate. If you're curious, I ordered the BLT, a personal favorite. It was good, but I like mine with a significant slathering of Duke's mayo and just the right dash of oil and vinegar, salt and pepper. Fortunately for me, my husband knows just how I my BLTs -- and makes them for me to welcome summer. Sufficeth to say, next time we go to City Pork, we'll both be ordering the schnitzel.

City Pork has two locations. 7327 Jefferson Highway (225) 615-8880 and 18143 Perkins Road E (225) 998-0744. Check individual locations for hours. (Jan Risher, features editor)

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The Queen's Tea, steak pho and pork schnitzel: Best things we ate this week - The Advocate