What do you do with a lusty Latin nightclub when your peeps aren’t grinding? Open a Cajun eatery, of course. Welcome to Touch of Soul, Cajun soul food gem (within a gem?) located within Kaos Bar and Nightclub on South Wenatchee Ave.
Club Kaos has had many names during the time your heroes Artichoke and Truffle Butter have lived in the Wenatchee Valley. Though we have done many late night walk-bys past it on the way to or from Wally’s, neither of us had ever been in the current iteration. We were not only eager to experience a new-to-us ethnic restaurant in town, but also kinda weirdly curious to see the inside of this establishment. Would a Cajun eatery cohabitating with a Latin dance club be paradoxical, or a match made in heaven? While Touch of Soul operates Wednesday through Saturday for lunch and dinner until 8, Kaos Nightclub opens Friday and Saturday nights at 9. We dearly wanted to see the changeover of clientele from diners to clubbers, but with these hours of operation, there’s no chance the twain shall meet.
The ambience inside Touch of Soul/Kaos Nightclub screams “booty call” more than “sedate date nite”; featuring bright colored lighting, a truly impressive number of TVs, dripping chandeliers, and an abundance of texture and color. Lively zydeco tunes play in the background of a Latinx bump and grind - a quirky juxtaposition. During our late March visit, belated but jaunty St. Patrick’s decor was morphing into a festive Mardi Gras vibe. Carnival masks up front, leprechauns in the back? Sure, count Artichoke and Truffle Butter in! Adjacent to the restaurant seating area is a fun side room/faux porch with bongos, blue couches, and leopard prints. If people haven’t done coke off of other people’s body parts in there, we would be shocked and dismayed. The riotous look of the establishment is completed by a ship railing surrounding the booths, protecting patrons from going overboard onto the empty (during dinner) dance floor. Also, please touch the trippy silvery textured wall covering. Just do it.
The clientele during our visit was a mish-mash of confused-looking boomer couples and the adventurous after work crowd, though we did roll in on the early side. It seemed to be a theme for folks to ask the hostess “is this a soul food restaurant?” upon entering. Because apparently the location is odd enough to warrant the frequent query despite “Touch of Soul” being printed on the front door. Touch of Soul was doing brisk take-out business during our visit, perhaps because of the rather eccentric location. We can safely say this is the only place in Wenatchee where you can get frog legs and alligator bites to go.
After assurances that we were, indeed, at the Cajun restaurant, we were greeted in true southern fashion (we think, since it’s been a hot minute since we’ve been exposed to such a thing) by the very personable owner, KB. Incredibly hospitable, KB is from near Lafayette, Louisiana, and he clearly loves his work. Touch of Soul is a family business, as KB’s brother is the chef, and his wife is a server. KB, innately sensing how we roll, immediately recommended an “Incredible Hulk” cocktail. Truffle Butter declined, but Artichoke was up for anything… and fully admits she was actually kind of into this monstrosity of a beverage. Other booze options on offer include a Cajun-themed old fashioned which was on the sweet side. As a cock snob, Truffle Butter would have loved to see some truly classic 1800s era New Orleans cocks such as a Sazerac or Vieux Carre; though they do have a Hurricane, which was strong and sweet as hell. Drinks on offer are comparable in terms of quality and price to most (but not all) restaurants that serve cocktails in Wenatchee.
After settling into the frenetic ambiance and down-hominess of the proprietors, we were ready for the star of the show to arrive. Yes, we’re talking about food… We ate. A LOT. Hush puppies come as a free appetizer. Classy AF and Truffle Butter is a sucker for a cute boca. Next up, we tried the boudin balls: deep fried balls of rice and pork, served with spicy aioli sauce. This app was on point, but not really necessary if you’ve just smashed a hush puppy (you dirty bastard). The Cajun fries were hot, fresh out the fryer and right on the edge of too salty, but retained a good crunch. We wouldn’t call them remarkable, but they certainly disappeared from the table. BUT: We need to take a full stop to talk about these collard greens, friends. These slow-cooked collards taste like a MFing dream, meaty flavor, great texture, and a healthy grease sheen. Like, you could seriously just eat these and be satisfied. We’ve sampled collard greens served by famed soul food dives of the PNW (shout out to La Montage and Delta), in the south, midwest, and in big cities like Philly (although it’s been a minute). The collards at Touch of Soul were – we shit you not – better. Just... Wow.
Moving on to mains with enthusiasm, we meet the Louisiana Philly: cheesy fishy madness. Shrimp, American cheese, melty as hell with some nice peppers, not over-salted. Would we wish for a better bun? Yes, emphatically. Was it still fab? Hells yes, and we’d order it again. Next up, let’s discuss the crawfish étouffée: a thick sauce made with Cajun cuisine’s holy trinity (celery, onion, and bell pepper) over white rice, served here with crispy fried catfish. This dish was good, but not the highlight of the menu, in our opinion. The rice is nice and al dente, and Artichoke, having had a lot of catfish in her formative epicurean years, found the breading crispy and the fish mild, not muddy. Rounding out our exploration of the mains, was the crabby shrimp n’ grits: not a sexual position with a skeezy partner, but, in fact, an ass-kicking entree. Well-spiced and loaded with shrimp in a creamy sauce and served over flavorful grits… complete with a softshell crab (cornmeal battered and fried) on the side. No shit. This was Artichoke’s first soft shell crab. There was a bit of struggle as she came to terms with her own personal version of Alien vs. Predator: although she looked violated, she kept mowing down this unholy beast, and loved every fug-licious bite. Unfortunately, we were way too full and broke to hit the jambalaya or the gumbo. Or the OTHER gumbo. Or the fried chicken. That’ll be the next trip. Because there WILL be a next trip.
Artichoke and Truffle Butter’s bottom line on our Touch of Soul experience: the service was fantastic: they will check on you and the whole group was a delight. The location is a bizarre and hilarious mashup of two seemingly disparate businesses… or are they SOUL MATES? While the ambience might not suit everyone, if you can move past the cognitive dissonance of date nite food quality with date nite prices, while at a divey AF dance club, you’ll be well rewarded. The food at Touch of Soul tastes like it was made by someone who loves us - and it is so worth the trip. We bickered over the leftovers, and we will be back to sample the rest of the menu. If you’re on a budget, try coming at lunch, or maybe just hit the sides (like we did with your mom). If you’re skeeved out by the easy to wipe down plastic walls, order online for pickup – we won’t blame you – but don’t pass this gem by! Just the collard greens themselves are not to be missed.
Hot tip: we hear there’s a monthly shrimp boil and a Thursday late night zydeco dance party: check their insta (touchofsoul.wa) for deets.