[title type="h5"]Saturday, May 9, 2015.
ML Is 23. Celebration At R'Evolution.[/title]
The remembrance of Mary Leigh's birth always begins the day before, as Mary Ann is mindful of a day in which the doctor told her to go home, the baby wasn't coming until tomorrow. We went all the way home and came all the way back when it was clear that this prediction was wrong. Shortly after midnight, I became the first person to see our daughter, our second and final child.
She has been thinking for days about where she might want to go for her birthday celebration. She has a big steak on her mind. But it can't be done--at least not at the level of expensiveness she has in mind. As it often does, Mother's Day is interfering with ML's day. And a lot of people are celebrating Mom's Day--the busiest of the year for restaurants--on the day before. As Ella Brennan famously said, "We ought to get rid of Mother's Day and replace it with Mother's Week."
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Amuse-bouche.[/caption]
ML finally decides on R'Evolution. Which has good steaks and is a beautiful place. But we can't seem to get in touch with anyone over there until four-thirty, when the reservationist seems ready to tell me that there is nothing left at any time we'd be interested in.
And then she changes her mind, and gives us our request for six o'clock. I'll bet I know what happened. My phone number was grabbed by the restaurant's computer, which keeps track of who calls. They saw my name. When we got there, a few major members of the staff were waiting to usher us in--even knowing that we prefer the one major room at R'Evolution that has tablecloths.
I'm glad this system is becoming common among restaurateurs. I am very reluctant to drop my name to get special treatment--even though on a day like this it may be called for. It wasn't me who wouldn't decide where she wanted to go. But my daughter is a woman now, and she expected the men in her life to deliver the treatment to which she is accustomed.
We're off to a good start, and the evening remains that way. This is the best dinner I've had at R'Evolution, after six or seven previous. The menu has changed, but not drastically. But for some reason I find it easier to choose a dinner of dishes with high possibilities.
We begin with as fine an amuse-bouche as I can remember. There's a spicy, cold shrimp with herbs, little pile of crisp vegetables cut into spaghetti, a spoonful of an intense broth with a peppery finish, and some black beans rolling around a tortila with a schmear of guacamole.
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Oysters on a salt disk.[/caption]
The Marys and I go through the routine we have for the Acme Oyster House. Grilled oysters rest on their shells atop a large puck of pink Himalayan salt. I eat the oysters, the girls sop up the "Bienville butter" (an inaccurate name, but never mind) with their bread.
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Tortelli pasta and a salad.[/caption]
I have an extra course, and here it is: crawfish bisque. Not classic Cajun style--there is tomato in it, which in Cajun country would have started trouble. But not bad at all. I gobble it right down, and am ready for a pasta course for the whole table. Mary Leigh and I split an order of tortelli pasta (sort of like a really small, flat ravioli). Mary Ann and The Boy share some rigatoni in a tomato sauce with a Bolognese flavor. This is the perfect time in a meal for pasta, and we all enjoy this quite a lot.
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Rigatoni.[/caption]
We are all drinking Champagne. Our daughter is now a confirmed lover of good bubbly wine. This one is Charles Caszanove, a genuine Champagne from Reims, but one I have never heard of, let alone tried. I try it. It is decidedly citrusy. As it goes around the table, everyone approves. I don't mention that it's $80 the bottle.
On to the beef. ML and The Boy split a filet mignon. If they get married--as seems likely, but who knows when--they will not have to fight over steak doneness, the way MA and I do. The young adults both get their steaks medium-well. They have potatoes au gratin and Brussels sprouts. The latter item seems to have pulled off a taste-changing trick for the ages. Used to be that a few people liked the little cabbage-like heads, and the rest of the population hated them. Now everyone I know loves Brussels sprouts as much as I always have.
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Short ribs.[/caption]
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Bouillabaisse.[/caption]
Mary Ann is very pleased with a fall-off-the-bone-tender beef short rib, with a well-reduced sauce. As for me, the main deviates completely from the others. Bouillabaisse, one of my favorite dishes, is chock-a-block with fish, shrimp, lobster, mussels, and scallops. I think I saw a few crawfish tails in there, too. The broth is heightened in its flavor with a well-reduced fish stock, red peppers, saffron, and an assortment of juices from the seafood. Yum yum.
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The captain reveals wonderful things at the table.[/caption]
The miniature jewelry box that will later bring us some dinner-closing bon bons makes an early appearance at the next table. There we a see a couple having a lovely evening, with a bit more than the average attention from the servers. One of them asks the lady to open the top drawer in the box, and in it she finds a ring. An antique, with a rock of size significant enough that MA goes over to take a look. Mary Leigh remains seated, praying silently that I do not get up and sing a song for these lucky lovers. (I have my limits.)
The management sends us a bunch of desserts: a bread pudding topped with a grating of caramelized sugar, a chocolate molten cake (an ML favorite) and a kind of a custard with three or four garnishes atop.
The R'Evolution staff doesn't miss a cue or a trick all night long. The captain at our table has a uniquely dramatic way of talking up each dish. I haven't seen this style of presentation in a very long time. I have not been knocked out by R'Evolution before, but I am tonight. And--more important--the Marys are thoroughly pleased. This is how a girl should be treated, their attitudes tell me.
[title type="h5"]R'evolution. French Quarter: 777 Bienville (in the Royal Sonesta Hotel). 504-553-2277. [/title]
