Monday, October 2, 2017. Rain And Unusual Fusion. A tremendous thunderstorm causes flooding (again!?) in New Orleans and came close to filling the ditches at the Cool Water Ranch. It also made me a little late for our NPAS rehearsal. I am beginning to learn most of the music, but I need further work on some of it. It's on days like this that I become jealous of my musician friends who can read the notes without trying hard.
After the usual tussle over where MA and I will have lunch, I offer Bacobar. It's a handsome and well-served café with a menu that I find eclectic, but not in a delightful way. Not much of the food blends together for me. The obvious explanation for this is that the kitchen is aimed at younger diners than me. But I feel a need to at least try to keep up with the culinary currents, and I approach it with an open mind.
We begin with a down-to-earth guacamole, with habanero chiles, raisins and pumpkin seeds. Next on MA's side of the table are blue-crab crabmeat rangoons. The difference between these chips and the ones that came with the guac is very subtle. The crabmeat-and-cream cheese dip that came with the rangoons hid the flavors and appearance of the crabmeat. Why bother?
On the other hand, the soup of tomatoes, Thai basil and a few other spicy elements was sensible and excellent.
On my side of the table I was of two minds, split between a Vietnamese-style poor boy and chipotle brisket, the latter enclosed in a baco--the bready, fluffy sandwich enclosure. The waiter said the brisket is the same on both sandwiches. Now I am sure that the poor boy would have been better.
The people who run this restaurant also own the DTB on Oak Street. They have their act figured out there. Or would a twenty-two-year-old call that adaptation to my age?
Bacobar. Covington: 70437 Highway 21. 985-893-2450.
Tuesday, October 3, 2017. Gumbo And Opera, Together At Last. Some six years ago, Ron Iafrate ("I a fray-tee") Thought he could make something out of of his best specialties: gumbo. That's something of a no-brainer in New Orleans. But what he had in mind was to keep moving beyond the two most common gumbos (seafood and chicken), and to invent some highly original variations. Not only has his instinct proved correct about this broader hunger for gumbo than was being marketed at the time, but he planted what proved to be a tremendous customer base. Chef Ron's Gumbo Stop is almost always packed, both with people who want to sit down and have a big bowl of their favorite isotope, and those who need a few gallons of the potage for a party.
Our conversation took many more looks at gumbo. Chef Ron was once asked whether he could make a gumbo with pasta in the bowl. The two of us set about calculating what would be in such a concoction. We hit a snag when we had to decide whther this would be a chicken gumbo or a seafood gumbo. But the enterprise was interesting enough that it even pulled in a few radio telephone callers.
By the way, not only does Chef Ron actually make such a thing, but he has created a version made with meatballs. Digging into this endeavor gave us one of the best hour-long shows we've had lately.
After that matter, Maestro Robert Lyall--the Artistic Director for the New Orleans Opera--stopped in to talk about the program mounted by the opera this weekend. This has become a tradition on my radio show. Even though the connections between the usual food subject of The Food Show are tenuous. (I always recommend going out to dinner or brunch either before the opera, and indeed the association stages its own brunch these days.)
Lyall now knows that I will allow him to talk at length about the current operas. Indeed, he usually goes on for the whole hour. I expected to hear complaints about that, but we've had curiosity instead. And the opera fan, who are rabidly devoted to the art, think it's a great idea. But I am surprised that the radio station management also thinks so. An audience of people who listen to opera is a pretty impressive audience.
Finally, this is the seventy-fifth year for the New Orleans Opera, whose roots go back almost two hundred years, and tap into a long-running New Orleans cultural component.
Chef Ron's Gumbo Stop. Metairie: 2309 N Causeway Blvd. 504-835-2022.
