If the upcoming NPAS event weren't different from our usual concerts, this would be our dress rehearsal--the last run-through before the main performance. But everything about this is different and fun. The audience will be at the Abita Springs Quail Farm. It's really is a farm for quails, an undertaking that's practiced by quite a few people in that part of St. Tammany.
The theme of our chorus is love, a commonly-practiced pursuit. Aside from singing in the chorus, I am doing two solos: "If I Loved You," and "The Way You Look Tonight." My kind of music. It will accompany a buffet dinner for the audience, who I supposed is also looking for love. In the Richard Rodgers song, I will keep my focus on hitting three semi-high Gs, which will push me to my vocal limits, or, perhaps beyond. I used to sing this with the opera singers that entertained diners at the now-extinct Café Giovanni.
Speaking of which. . . Chef Duke LoCicero, who operated Café Giovanni for twenty-six years in the French Quarter, has finally come out of hiding. On the radio show this Wednesday, he will announce that Café Giovanni is kaput. The Decatur Street restaurant may already have new tenants. Duke is now the chef of N'Tini's in Mandeville, working with the restaurant's owner Marc Benfatti. Mark operated N'Tini's since shortly after Katrina, and ever since. Recently, the name and menu were changed to "Due North," a concept restaurant that went nowhere and is now forgotten.
Duke and Marc will be tell all in the Wednesday NOMenu Dining Diary. For the moment, I note that Chef Duke has lived on the North Shore for almost as long as Café Giovanni has been in operation. He very much welcomes his relocation to N'Tini's, which will save Duke a lot of commuting on the Causeway. Besides, we could use another Italian restaurant on the North Shore.
N'Tini's. Mandeville: 2891 US 190. 985-626-5566.
Come back here tomorrow for more details. Or tune in the radio show between 3 and 5 p.m. on 105.3 FM HD2.
Diary TU-02-06-2018-Another Year Drifts Past.
Mary Ann's plans for my birthday party today made me suspicious. After a fantastic collection of my best friends turned up at Antoine's when I turned six-o--I didn't think she'd sneak another party like that one again. Especially because we're gathering at Antoine's.
It proved to be just another day at Antoine's between Mardi Gras krewe lunches and dinners. It does, however, feature an exceptionally fine array of food. Most of it was suggested by my waiter Charles Carter. Particularly fine was an ancient dish that I haven't thought about in a long time, even though it's one I recommend often. Noisette d'Agneau Alciatore is a pair of what look like beef tournedos, but in fact are lamb chops. It has two sauces: bearnaise and a slightly-sweet brown sauce with a little pineapple hidden among the other flavors. There is nothing remotely like this anywhere else, either at Antoine's or elsewhere.
The dish has a personal element. When I first began dining at Antoine's in the early 1970s, it was on the menu as "Noisettes d'Agneau Maison d'Or." A noisette is something like a filet mignon, meaning a small, beautiful nugget of something delectable. The Maison d'Or --meaning "house of gold"--was either a very classy jewelry store in France, or an equally upscale hotel in Brussels, Belgium, during the late 1800s or early 1900s. The sauce in this dish was a thick, golden concoction, but I don't know the recipe.
The personal part of this is that my first dog--a Golden Retriever with which I surprised my girlfriend of the time, although not to her pleasure--was AKC registered as Noisette d'Agneau Maison d'Or. Not long after, without becoming aware of my wonderful dog, Antoine's changed the makeup of the dish. It remained at Antoine's for a long time, then became obsolete. But I kept ordering it, as I did tonight. It appears to have undergone a resurrection. It was the best noisette d'agneau in years, perhaps ever.
The dog Noisette lived on with me until dying of cancer at about twelve. By then we had moved to the Cool Water Ranch. With its woods and pond, it was heaven for Noisette until the end. She retrieved thousands of thrown tennis balls while she was still with us.
Antoine's. French Quarter: 713 St Louis. 504-581-4422.
