[title type="h5"]Monday, July 21,2014.
Down To A Family Of Three. N'Tini's.[/title]
Jude and The Redhead leave for home at midday. Mary Ann is doubly mournful of their departure. Things are not all right with her world when our son isn't around. His leaving in the company of another woman to whom he has made a major commitment--while undeniably the way life goes--still is not something his mother is quite ready for.
The dinner Mary Leigh and I had at N'Tini's a week ago was good enough for a reprise. This time, we are accompanied by The Boy, who has good news: he has a job working for a health club in a highly general capacity. With college behind and his hitch with the Army still many months away, he has to do something. Mary Ann has talked him into writing notes for NOMenu.com on Twitter. That's a worthwhile endeavor. I don't have time to do it, and maybe we'll get a few new followers.
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Sirloin strip at N'Tini's.[/caption]
We eat light, at least by the standards of N'Tini's--an institution born in St. Bernard Parish, where massive portions are a way of life. After a round of salads, the Cute Couple divides a sirloin strip steak topped with a tall nest of onion rings.
The waiter is a young guy who I think is new to the trade, but who has enough personality that perhaps he could do very well. He may be the frankest dispenser of personal food opinions I've encountered this side of Galatoire's. He puts forth advice ranging from enthusiasm to pure disdain about the dishes he can bring. I like this in a waiter, who knows very well that some dishes are clunkers.
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Sesame tuna with Asian noodles and seaweed.[/caption]
I have been eating far too heavily during the past week, and I pare back to a tuna steak, seared rare with a coating of sesame seeds. It shared a plate with spaghetti in a beige sauce and seaweed with an unnatural green color. Is that it's real shade? It could be, because this is not the first time I've run into the stuff. It's the same color in sushi bars.
On the table is a tent advising us on a number of matters. First is that we should eat and drink locally. I'm all for that. Then we are told about N'Tini's new flavored frozen coffees. But the dictum I will remember longest is the one recommending "frozen king cake martinis." I don't believe I've seen those four words in one sentence before, let along consecutively. Frozen King Cake Martini? Think about it, if you can.
[title type="h5"]
N'Tini's. Mandeville: 2891 US 190. 985-626-5566. [/title]
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[title type="h5"]Tuesday, July 22, 2014.
Flat Day. Thai Class For The Young Eaters.[/title]
I know before I travel ten rods that I have a flat tire. Again? Yes, but a different wheel, in a tire that still could travel many more miles were it not now ruined by my rolling to the only nearby turnaround. The only thing good about it is that it let me use the measurement "rod," which I had to look up to recall that it's five and a half linear feet.
I have barely enough time to commandeer Mary Leigh's car and get to the radio station in time to go on the air. Ordinarily, I would just have broadcast from home, but this is Tuesday, and we have a studio full of guests.
Mary Ann has booked a barbecue theme show. The participants are Neil McClure of the Magazine Street BBQ shop of the same name; Gene and Patrick Young, brothers and founders of Squeal Barbecue on Oak Street, and members of the 610 Stompers; and Alex Hill, the franchisee of Dickey's Barbecue Pit in Covington and Slidell.
The burgeoning interest in barbecue around New Orleans and the rest of America has brought to the fore a basic truth about barbecue purveyors. They agree on only one thing: that they disagree about everything else. I try to get these four guys to
demonstrate this, but all I get in return is reality, no words. The Squeal guys and Hill all bring food. Neil wasn't being cheap; he just did what Mary Ann told him to do. (When people bring food to the radio show, it causes all sorts of problems, and I don't shut up long enough to taste the stuff anyway.)
The Squeal men have feathers in their caps: they are featured prominently--as the best barbecue in New Orleans--in an article in USA Today that shows New Orleans as the tenth best barbecue town in America. That may not seem like much, but this is the first time our city has made that at all. Barbecue may be the hottest style in town.
When the show ends, I head straight home. Mary Leigh doesn't need her car--The Boy got his own vehicle for a graduation present, so they are still mobile. But if I don't deal with the flat tire today, all sorts of problems loom. I elect to remove the wheel, bring it to the guys at Superior Tire in Covington tomorrow, give them a couple of days to find the right tire (for some reason, this is almost always a problem), use ML's car (I like driving an Audi once in awhile anyway) for a day or two, then watch another $200 disappear.
After I prop the car up securely, I remove the wheel and get ready for dinner. Mary Ann is busy across the lake. That leaves the Young Adults and me free to have a Thai dinner. The Boy says that he tried Thai once a couple of years ago and liked it. ML was ready to sample it, too.
We go to the Thai Spice, which has emerged as the best Thai restaurant in Covington. To me, anyway. I explain the menu to them, then order something that's no longer available. (I was just looking for something new!) The Boy gets pad thai, hot but not Thai hot. ML has chicken fried rice. I forget to tell her that Thai fried rice is usually a little on the sweet side, but she says nothing about this.
I wind up with Taste of Ginger, a stir-fry with a lot of vegetables and a bit of chicken. I'm not all that hungry--the barbecue guys brought enough food to take care of my appetite for the day. But we manage to kill everything we're served.
Now let's see whether I can get my daughter to have Thai food more often than once a year. It would be nice.
[title type="h5"]Thai Spice. Covington: 1531 US 190. 985-809-6483.[/title]
