[title type="h5"]Friday, October 10, 2013.
Angela, Tommy And Me. Mr. Ed's Oyster Bar.[/title]
Hosting a radio talk show with more than one guest is tricky. Because listeners have a tough time knowing who is talking (particularly if the guests are of the same gender, age, and background, with no peculiarities of speech) that the hose must take counter-measures. The most common of these is to continually repeat the names of the guests. But that's irritating for every listener except the ones who just tuned in. (Unfortunately, that latter group may be the majority of listeners.)
I don't know why Angela Hill needed me on her show today, other than that I have become a fixture on the last hour of her Friday program. But she has another guest today: Tommy Cvitanovich, the owner with his family of Drago's. Tommy is unquestionably the more authoritative voice about Drago's, the restaurant business and seafood, and I defer to him on all such questions. Besides all that, Tommy was on my show just yesterday. I cast myself as comic relief, and ask questions to which I already know the answers, for Angela's benefit. (Such as: the price of oysters has tripled since Katrina, which I didn't know until yesterday.
Tommy brings a pile of food from the Louisiana Seafood Festival, in which he is involved through this weekend. Char-broiled oysters from Drago's, of course. Red Fish Grill's fantastic Buffalo-style fried oysters, Trey Yuen's crawfish fried rice and spring rolls, crawfish ravioli (what's with all this crawfish out of season?), and a half-dozen other things.
I nibble enough from that assortment that, even after a few commercial productions eat up a couple of hours, I'm not especially hungry.
I stop anyway at Mr. Ed's Oyster Bar. I start with too big a serving of oyster-artichoke soup. Then I have a half-and-half dozen baked oysters. Bienville and Rockefeller. Three of each would have easily been enough, because the shells and oysters were both very large, and Mr. Ed's recipes for both of these classics too rich by a half. Not only that, but whoever baked them didn't check the interior temperature of the oysters, most of which came out cold. Not warm--cold. Baked and grilled oysters must be bubbling hot when they emerge.
The a priori explanation for this may be that Mr. Ed has opened a second edition of his Bozo's takeoff. It's on Bienville Street between Decatur and Chartres. It's Ed McIntyre's first sally into the tourist market. I walked in front of his new place three times in the last week or so, and it's always been busy. I like the expansion in the number of oyster bars around town--especially given that the price of the bivalves has indeed tripled. But Mr. Ed may be spreading his staff too thin.
[title type="h5"]Mr. Ed's Oyster Bar & Fish Grill. French Quarter: 512 Bienville. 504-309-4848. [/title]
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[title type="h5"]Saturday, October 11, 2014.
Camellia Café.[/title]
The owner of the Camellia Café in Abita Springs offered to let me have some giveaway certificates for winners of my radio contests. I'm happy to hear that, but the last few times I was there it wasn't quite as good as it consistently had been. I figure I ought to give it another try, having not been there lately.
I go for breakfast. Basic fare, starting with what is undoubtedly the biggest glass of orange juice in town (in a plastic cup of the kind used for iced tea, so the servers don't have to refill them often). They have good coffee here, too, but served in conventional mugs.
[caption id="attachment_44697" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Big breakfast at Camellia Cafe.[/caption]
The two-egg platter holds at least three scrambled eggs. They are a little overcooked for me, but I didn't say soft-scrambled, so the monkey is on my back. I have hash browns that have been in the steamer too long to retain any crispness. And a patty of hot sausage, which goes great with the eggs.
The lady serving all this is exactly the kind of person you hope to find in a breakfast cafe. Happy and agreeable, amenable to a little joking around. I always did like this place, but the main clientele is there for the large portions and low prices. Appealing both to them and to those looking for sharp cooking is not easy.
[title type="h5"]Camellia Cafe. Abita Springs: 69455 LA 59. 985-809-6313. [/title][divider type=""]
