[title type="h5"]
Monday, July 20, 2015.
New Doctor. N'Tini's New Look. [/title]
Today I meet my new doctor. He replaces Thom Franklin, who retired after keeping me and no doubt hundreds of others in good health for (in my case) some twenty-five years. I move on to only my fourth primary care physician in my adult years. I need to see him only because my hypertension prescriptions are running out. It's good to know that they don't just keep them rolling over without my checking in. My new doctor adjusts one dosage a little downward, and gives me slightly different instructions for taking them. I run through the disturbing issue I had back in November, and he becomes the third doctor to tell me that it's only in my head, and I shouldn't worry. I'm sure--and I am relieved to know--that this is good advice.
A few days ago I got a message from N'Tini's alerting me to a series of classes for young people learning the ropes of dining room etiquette. How far we have come when a restaurant founded in Chalmette gives such instruction. I hope it takes. All we need now is a curriculum about etiquette on the part of restaurateurs. Maybe it might get tablecloths back.
Since the last time we were here, N'Tini's has renovated its main dining room. They have done an admirable job of this, clearing out a lot of dated decor that goes back to the days when this was CreolA, back in the 1990s. A tall, new wine rack is a particularly nice touch. The kitchen--which had been semi-open--is now isolated from the dining room, with good effects on the noise level.
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Hamburger and sweet potato fries at N'Tini's.[/caption]
Every time we go to N'Tini's, we are told that a new menu is about to go into force. Indeed, the menu I am handed always seems significantly different from the previous one. But in substance it doesn't seem to change at all. Indeed, the menus seem to be getting shorter. I detect a decline in imagination. For example, the Monday Burger special is two hamburgers for $16. But the Marys only want one of them. Fine, says our regular waitress, (Helen, one of the best on the North Shore). One burger is $8. But that's the price when it's not Hamburger Monday. Hmm.
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Sirloin strip sans excitement at N'Tini's.[/caption]
I have a sirloin strip steak of only modest goodness. The grill isn't hot enough to sear the steak to develop the flavors and break down the natural firmness of that great cut of meat. It is cooked to the temperature, so if I send it back, it might be crustier, but it will be overcooked. I just put up with it, eating only half.
When N'Tini's showed up in Mandeville not long after Katrina, it opened with an emphasis on steak, and very good ones indeed. The official name on the marquee and menu is "N'Tini's Martinis And Steaks." What I'm saying is that maybe they ought to reassess their steak cookery, to restore the excellence I remember getting routinely until the last year or so.
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A perfect creme brulee.[/caption]
The dinner ends cheerily with an excellent creme brulee, baked perfectly and studded with fresh fruit. It's not even overly sweet--a problem I find with many versions of this elegant dessert.
Four weeks from today, I leave on a two-week circumnavigation by rail of the western two-third of the country. While I'm on the road, I will attempt to write the piece of fiction that will, I hope, be a huge success. If it isn't, at least it will be fun to write. I will have few distractions on the train.
Before I leave, all I have to do is to write ten complete NOMenu newsletters. I did some digging around in the archives, and found that an assortment of Dining Diaries from as far back as 1997 was more interesting than I expected. All I have to do is read through all of them, and cross my fingers that readers will like them too. The most promising are about newly-opened restaurant which, after five or ten or fifteen years left no trace of their existence. (Anyone remember Indigo? Jackson? Louisiana Grille? Royal Palm? Saltwater Grille?)
[title type="h5"]N'Tini's. Mandeville: 2891 US 190. 985-626-5566. [/title]
