[title type="h5"]Monday, September 22, 2014.
Stuffed Artichokes And Cannelloni. [/title]
Over the weekend, I got dozens of emails asking about the health of the cat Twinnery. (He must be all right, because he ate three cans of food today.) I also heard from five people who said that coyotes are very definitely at large in St. Tammany Parish. I have never heard or seen one, even though I drive home late one or two nights a week.
I have to make sure that Twinnery isn't attacked by coyotes. First because of the tragedy itself. Second because Jude's fiancee's father--a cat lover--tells a story about chiding movie producer Seth McFarland about letting his cats run free. (McFarland used to live across the street.) I don't want to establish any reputation for not taking care of my cats with Jude's father-in-law-to-be.
To dinner at Bosco's in Mandeville. We like the look of the one in Covington better, but this location has somewhat better food. The joke was on us: this is the night when the chef from Covington cooks at the Bosco's in Mandeville.
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Stuffed artichoke at Bosco's.[/caption]
Mary Ann began with a stuffed artichoke, one of her favorite things to eat. While I love both artichokes and the garlicky stuffing jammed into its leaves, I never was much on eating the whole thing. Can't explain why that should be, but I guess it's another example of my dislike for a few dishes that everybody else loves. Fried shrimp, olives, and intense chocolate are others.
The rest of our table's order was standard. The excellent lgreen salad with a slightly lemony vinaigrette that seems tooo simple for its goodness. Spaghetti and meatballs for ML. And cannelloni with two sauces, both of them red. (One has cream mixed in.) The pasta sheets are wrapped around a stuffing with much more spinach and ricotta than beef, but that works for me.
[title type="h5"]Bosco's. Mandeville: 2040 La Hwy 59. 985-624-5066. [/title]
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[title type="h5"]Tuesday, September 23, 2014.
Oktoberfest Uptown. New Thin Pizza. Ugly Dog Gets New Owner.[/title]
Today's Round Table radio show bears the emphatic stamp of Mary Ann. We have the chef of Salu to talk about Oktoberfest. Jon Neely, telling of the relocation from Slidell to Mandeville of his pizzeria, an excellent baker of thin-crust New York-style pie. And Jeff Bordelon, the new owner of Ugly Dog Barbecue and Saloon. Nobody can accuse us of having a snooty, gourmet program.
What I learned from these guys:
Salu has moved away from its original small-plates-only format. They still have more appetizer-size dishes than most places, but many more real entrees. Certainly the schweinshaxen (pork shank to you) can't be called anything but a big plate. That's the centerpiece of Salu's Oktoberfest, which will be around every day for the whole month. "Salu" is a hybrid of the many words we use in toasting to our friends' health. But German food is a new thing here.
Jon Neely says that the hardest part of moving his pizza operation has been finding Mandeville delivery drivers. Nobody wants to make all that money, he says.
The Ugly Dog came a long way to its new owner. When it opened, the current local mania for barbecue had not yet begun, making Ugly Dog a trendsetter. Its owner had been the doorman for over a decade at the Windsor Court, it its glory days. He knew everybody, and that probably helped him get the place rolling.
To dinner at the Metairie location of Sun Ray Grill. Dana Deutsch, the owner, was on the Round Table a few months ago, and told me that he was excited about the sushi operation at the otherwise Creole-American-Caribbean café he has always operated. That appealed to my hunger today. Little did I know that I was about to embark on the most unusual menu I've ever built for myself.
The Metairie Sun Ray is on Pink at Focis Streets, just off Metairie Road, in a building that has seen many neighborhood cafes. Most famous among them was Delerno's, for a long time the only decent public restaurant on Metairie Ridge. The premises are little changed since those long-ago Delerno's days. The design is unique, with a low ceiling being particularly distinctive. I think Mrs. Delerno may still live upstairs.
The Sun Ray hastily created a sushi bar by lining up a bunch of tall lounge-style tables with matching chairs along what had been the liquor bar. (You sometimes had to wait awhile to dine at Delerno's.) Over the top is a surfboard-shaped sign saying "Aloha Sushi." Well, most of the population of Hawaii has Japanese roots, so why not?
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The Triple Treat roll at Sun Ray Grill.[/caption]
After a long discussion with the waiter and the sushi chef about the relative merits of the rolls, we settle on the "Triple Threat." No, wait. Make that the "Triple Treat." This is salmon, tuna, yellowtail and avocado wrapped in rice, which is then sprinkled with a generosity of orange roe. Very pretty roll. Very good, too. And filling.
[caption id="attachment_43960" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Roasted pepper soup du jour at Sun Ray.[/caption]
It took the chef awhile to make that up, but in the meantime I asked for the soup du jour--a lightly creamy roasted pepper soup with a decided Southwestern quality. So we are already in multi-lingual territory.
The sushi roll is as good as it looks. I am not finished with it when the sushi chef sends gratis (everyone here, including the customers, recognizes me) a cone of salmon which he cured and then slowly smoked. The smoking gives the edges of the fish an auburn color. This is spectacularly delicious, and that's before I started picking up the aioli.
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Cured and smoked salmon.[/caption]
I didn't know that was coming, or I would have stopped right there. But to get as much investigation done as I could, I also put in an order for the smoked boudin appetizer. And the menu's claim of serving hand-cut fries also invited checking, so I asked for that with the boudin. So now this Hawaiian-Japanese-New Mexican journey is now in Cajun country. The boudin is better than the fries, with a sort of non-smoky barbecue sauce squirted on top.
I bring this journey back home with a very good, light bread pudding.
Too much food, but a great meal in a place that has not lately shown up on my radar, even though my total experience with all the Sun Rays (including the now-extinct branch in the Warehouse District) has been tasty. I'm thinking about another visit to round out a full review. I'll bet the Marys would like this, too. (Did someone mention ribs and burgers?)
[title type="h5"]Sun Ray Grill. Old Metairie: 619 Pink. 504-837-0055. [/title]
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