....brought to you by Ole Fontenot's Swedish Cajun Cafe right here in St. Paul. (A LITTLE ATMOSPHERIC CAJUN FIDDLE).

TR: Yeah, this is Ole Fontenot here, and boy we got a heckuva menu for you, that's for sure. We got your Cream of Mushroom soup with the crayfish in it, boy, that's pretty spicy too, yeah, and we got the blackened meatballs too ---- hoo boy that's a humdinger --- and there's the blackened potatoes and the blackened beans too --- yeah, whenever Tina's in the kitchen, most of it comes out blackened, that's for sure ---- and we got shrimp with melted cheese and we got oysters on the half shell with melted cheese and that comes with the red beans and macaroni and then we got the herring gumbo with file sauce on it ---- that's not the worst you'll ever eat ---- and if you go for the herring, you're going to love our lutefisk etouffeee with the blackened rice pudding for dessert. And if you've never tried creamed alligator on toast, hey, do you have a surprise coming. Oh boy.

(MUSICAL TAG)

GK: It's a multicultural experience --- Ole Fontenot's Swedish Cajun Cafe. So your father was from Louisiana?

TR: That's right. From Baton Rouge. Mother was from Minneapolis. It was a mixed marriage.

GK: Good. Thank you, Ole.

TR: I learned all my cooking from my mother.

GK: I gathered that. -------------

©1998Garrison Keillor