Catfish at Federal

Catfish can be fantastic or it can taste like mud. Fortunately, the fried catfish special currently on the menu at Federal is very tasty. It is lightly battered, served over creamy grits with smoked cheddar and topped with a tasso gravy. Tasso is smoked, Cajun seasoned pork. The smoked cheddar in the grits was an inspired idea. I am going to try that at home the next time I fix cheese grits.

I heard the tuna special was fantastic but it was off the menu before I could get there, so keep your eyes peeled for that too.

Run to Federal before they take the catfish off the menu!

Federal for brunch...go this weekend

A couple of weeks ago I went to Federal for brunch on a Sunday afternoon. Alivia's was packed so we headed a few door's down to Fergus's other place, Federal. The food has always been very good at Fed. I was delighted by brunch. My friend had a wonderful plate of smoke salmon accompanied by bread, onions, capers and a delicious dill, lemon butter. It was salmon perfection!

I had a croque madame which is a grilled ham and cheese (gruyere or emmenthal) sandwich with a fried egg on top. The egg was sunny side up. I would have prefered it over easy because I am not crazy about runny whites. But in spite of my egg preferences, it was very good. Federal has a delicious grilled cheese sandwich on the lunch/dinner menu so I figured the croque madame would be equally tasty. It was.

I may actually prefer Federal for lunch to Alivia's! It is certainly easier to get a table at Federal. The coffee might not be quite as good as Alivia's however.