Tuesday, September 5, 2017. My doctor's office called to tell me that all my numbers are in order. Among them is the one that warns of oncoming diabetes. But everything's cool and I am reasonably healthy, if in dire need of a haircut. The nature of my coiffeur is that it looks fine for weeks, then suddenly turns into the hairdo of Morgus.
I get to town early, trying to make it to a welcome meeting for the whole staff for our new market manager--the big boss over our eight radio stations. I arrive just in time to see the core managers leaving for a more private lunch. They're all smiling. Good sign.
With three hours before I go on the air, I have the rare opportunity to have lunch--a meal I almost never eat. I have it at the Bon Ton Café. I eat there once a year in early winter, and seldom any other time. I have a salad with a Creole-mustardy dressing, followed by a platter of fried catfish. It is very good, as it always is, crisped to order. Side of mustard greens on the side. I can't remember the last time I had mustard greens, but I remember where I was at the time: the Flambeau Room, the restaurant in the University Center at UNO. That was the first restaurant I ever reviewed in print, back in 1972. Mustard greens were popular in those days, and I'd developed a liking for them, in places like the Coffee Pot in the Quarter and the Buck Forty-Nine Steak House. It is pure coincidence that the greens would turn up (pun intended) right now, when I am celebrating forty-five years since the Flambeau Room serving.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Irma is setting records for its power. It's in the middle of the Atlantic, which is too far out for future trajectories to mean anything. It could certainly hit New Orleans, although at the moment the computer projections have it taking a sharp right turn as it approaches Florida. The turn is good news for New Orleans, and bad for Miami. Either way, I'm tense. The Marys are as usual disdainful of my concerns.
Bon Ton Cafe. CBD: 401 Magazine. 504-524-3386.
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Wednesday, September 6, 2017. Smoothie And Barbecue. The image makers for Smoothie King are on the radio with me today. I am aware that the healthy, chilly vendors of the beverage have a much higher profile than it did when I first invited the King's minions to go on the air with me, some twenty years ago. The name covers one side of the Arena next to the Superdome, which I imagine must be an exquisitely effective promotion for the place.
In fact, I have no idea how big it is. Around the country, they have 910 smoothie shops. That is not a typo. And it's still a New Orleans-based business.
We taste a few of the most recently popular smoothie. Some of them taste like a liquid salad from a blender. A little mental adjustment may be needed for this new concept. And there was plenty more where that came from.
After the show I call Mary Leigh for supper, and she is free. She also supplies us with an idea on where to eat: the Smokehouse Grill. It's in the space on the corner of Hammond Highway and Lake Avenue where many previous restaurants, good and not so good, have resided. ML had some food from there, but not a comprehensive amount.
It's early, but the population of the dining is small even in that light. The server is efficient and knows the menu well. Although a sign outside says "Not Just Bar-B-Q," barbecue is clearly the mainstay. Some of the items on the "more-than-just BBQ" list include chicken wings, crawfish bread, crab cakes, chicken and fettuccine Alfredo, fried seafood platters, three thick steaks, and grilled fish.
But the barbecue did seem like the obvious stroke for me on my first visit there. I have "the Hog 9," a sandwich on a hamburger bun, piled high with smoked pulled pork with cole slaw and barbecue sauce. It is enormous, and shows no glaring problems. I'd say the smoke aspects of the total flavor were less than I like to find, and that the meat was a bit on the dry side. That could be fixed with more sauce. Or they could smoke the shoulders more delicately.
Smoke House Grill. Bucktown: 200 Hammond Highway. 504-252-4797.
