[title type="h5"]Tuesday, October 14, 2014, Part 1.
Vincent Riccobono. Chef Willy. Wayfarer. R'Evolutionary Sommelier.[/title]
After two weeks of almost unmanageable crowds for the Radio Round Table, we're down to a calm four people today with a good assortment of interests. Two I had never met; two I haven't encountered in a long time.
I always like talking with Vincent Riccobono, the owner of the Peppermill. His father operated the extinct Buck Forty-Nine chain of local steakhouses from the 1950s until the 1980s. The Buck Forty-Nine was the first real restaurant I dined in frequently--in my teens, when I didn't know any better. What I didn't know until today is that it was Vincent's grandfather, not his dad, who got the family into the restaurant business. I did know that it was his mother who persuaded his dad that times had changed, and to keep up they needed to invent a new concept. That was the Peppermill, New Orleans's first fern restaurant.
The other long-time, no-see restaurateur is Willie Haddad, the proprietor of La Rosetta in Slidell. This is his fourth? fifth? sixth? Italian restaurant, three of which were in Slidell. Chef Willie and Vincent Riccobono have a spectacular dish in common: baked oysters Italian style, with shrimp and mushrooms under the bread crumbs and garlic.
I meet Kevin White for the first time. He's the chef at Wayfare, one of the most interesting eateries on the Freret Street casual-gourmet strip. The place is hard to describe without reverting to the obvious: a big and crafty bar, a long list of sandwiches, and an equally long list of bar food (or appetizers or small plates; all those qualify). Mary Ann is especially fascinated by all this, and we've had a few remarkable meals at Wayside.
She is intrigued by Kevin, but she didn't tell me why, except to say that I should ask about his background. Turns out he's been about everywhere, working in numerous major restaurants here and elsewhere. He certainly has his menu calculated out to a dozen decimal places.
Finally, we have Molly Wismeier, the director of wine for Restaurant R'Evolution. The restaurant is serving a Krug Champagne dinner tonight, and they thought Krug would be worth a few words on the radio. Indeed it does. It's been a long time since my last taste of the high-end bubbly. It sounds good enough that Mary Ann decides to go to the dinner. She says I may be her date.
The dinner is so interesting that I must defer my report on it until tomorrow, when I have enough time to do it justice with words and pictures.
