Friday, August 11, 2017. Paladar 511.
Last week Mary Ann informed me that her next conquest of a new local restaurant would take place at Paladar 511. That works for me, because I've heard a lot of reports--all glowing--since the place opened a bit over two months ago. Some of the rumors stressed the hipness of the place, but radio callers who dwelled on the subject go on to make it sound like the must-visit restaurant of the moment.
That feeling seems to be shared by Paladar's customers, who filled the place so thoroughly that we couldn't even score a few seats at the bar. But now that I've taken in the scene, I'm eager to get back here soon. I think the girls will go along with that. I hope somebody makes a reservation this time.
MA and I were out and about because we'd been invited to an event at the Audubon Aquarium. It was orchestrated by one of the seafood marketing agencies in Louisiana. MA saw the invitation and liked the sound of the event. There would be food and wine, that we knew.
What else was there was hard to figure. A half-dozen chefs were there cooking--if you can call it that-- up an array of chilled, marinated seafood. With the exception of a stew along the lines of shrimp etouffee, all of the food was ceviche, sashimi, seared but mostly raw tuna, and the like of that. All of that appeals to me, but MA doesn't so much as check out dishes dominated by nearly-raw fish. We are there about twenty minutes, if that long. I did persuade her to sample crabmeat West Indies, a Gulf Coast delicacy in which the crabmeat is served cold, but thoroughly cooked.
As for the content of the event, I fully endorse the stand of the Louisiana Seafood Marketing Board and outfits like it. We have to preserve our seafood species from extinction, and it's possible to do that while still keeping the commercial markets open to restaurants, chefs, you and I. Lots of sustainable species out there.
During our short visit, I ate enough to not need supper. MA didn't want to eat to begin with. We headed for home. Not a very good day for my gourmet investigations.
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Saturday, August, 12, 2017. Lakehouse.
We learned today that Jude has scored a big new job. He made an impressive jump that has attempted since spring, when it looked daunting. What he landed in the last couple of days is well beyond that goal. I am not allowed to be even a little more specific. I can say that he has gone far beyond what my career was like at his age. I wasn't married or a father then, either. I am far beyond pride in his success and happiness.
MA and I decide on Nuvolari's for dinner. We call for a reservation, but they have none. MA says we ought to just go inside and wait until I am recognized, at which point a lot of people believe I start being treated like an important person. It didn't work. Nobody there knows me. Which is good as far as I'm concerned.
We go around the corner to the Lakehouse, where we had a good Eat Club dinner recently. The ground floor is filled with a birthday party. The celebrant saw me approaching the door, and wondered whether I would be attending his party. I couldn't tell whether he thought that would be a good or a bad idea.
When I finally find a manager, he tells me that all the a la carte dining has moved to the second floor, and that we would be welcome there. Not only that, but we got one of MA's beloved outdoor tables. And to top the occasion, the waitress Helen took care of our table. She was our regular server at several restaurants on the North Shore (notably N'Tini's, which is Due North now) for many years.
It's still daylight when we land, but the darkness and romance soon set in. (Not for us, but one can dream.)
I begin with toasts topped with very tender duck meat, surrounded by a scattering of corn and a slightly sweet, buttery sauce. I thought this was pretty good. There was a bit too much of it for an appetizer.
As the darkness fell over the Causeway, I get a generous fillet of pan-seared tripletail. That's a celebrated fish in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast. Its fins are so muscular that they look like extra tails and arms, too, if you have a good imagination. I found this excellent.
Mary Ann was not as lucky. She ordered short ribs, one of her favorite meat dishes. But this one has been cooked either too long or at too high a temperature, and was difficult to eat. She was miffed, because she was cut out of a dinner with a usually-favorite dish. She didn't like the sauce, either, which was sweet to the taste--not one of her favorite qualities.
But we'll be back, especially now that the Lakehouse is actually serving walk-ins on Saturday nights, something they have not done in years. The clientele for the food and the ambience here cry out for it all.
