Saturday, July 15, 2017. A Second Dinner Unearths Steaks and More Crab & Corn Soup at Due North.
A typical Saturday, with a radio show from noon until three p.m. At its end, I attempt to mow the Cool Water Ranch's three acres. I get the tractor started easily enough, it's not long before I run the tractor into a cypress knee. Those things are so solidly in the earth that this one stopped the tractor and its engine cold. Trying to fix it, I find that the shield around the cutting blades has been bend, and the blades are hitting it. The only good news about this is that I have had it happen twice in the past, and I know exactly what to do. But I wasn't going to do it this day, what with rain coming.
After my afternoon crean-up rituals, I address the matter of dinner with Mary Ann, subject to the usual differences in appetites. I thought I could move the process along by suggesting that we revisit the Legacy Kitchen. Mary Ann is already on record as liking the place, and it's almost brand-new. She can also satisfy her preference for outdoor dining here. It's a little warm, but tolerable. And we needed a place where Mary Leigh's dog Bauer can be tied up next to our table. The unusual-looking pooch (hard to explain; I'll run a photo of him someday) likes to cross the lake to go swimming in the lake.
This Legacy Kitchen is nicknamed Due North. It's also familiar to a lot of Northshorinians: until a few weeks ago, it was the former N'Tini's. Of course, it's too soon to review Due North. I'm sure things will change over the months. On the other hand, we're going for Menu One for tomes when I'm dining with the Marys.
First, cheese fries to go with an unusual, fruity martini that even the Marys like. I am geting it to memorialize the many classic martinis I had at N'Tini's, back in the days when I was still drinking those.
Next, it's tortilla chips with blue cheese. Now corn and crab soup. I had forgotten that this was the soup of the day when we were here a few days ago. Then a big, green salad of the kind ML loves.
We have two standard entrees on the menu. One of them is roasted chicken with a sauce that looks Mexican but isn't. I couldn't figure what it was supposed to be. I do know that it was not supposed to be served at cool room temperature.
Mary Ann had the most impressive dish of the evening. Legacy Kitchen has adoped steaks as a specialty, and here was filet of substantial size, tender enough for even my teeth, and bathed in enough sauce to keep it from bring just a steak.
It was a pleasant evening despite the few defects. And, again I tell you, the place just opened.
Legacy Kitchen (Due North). Mandeville: 2981 US 190. 985-626-5566.
