Diary 06|21, 22|2014

[title type="h5"]Saturday, June 21, 2014. Courtyard Breakfast: Non-Starter. Tractor: Starter. Welcome To Your Fifth Star, Pardo's! [/title] I had a few more stops to make on my Saturday rounds, putting me in a familiar neighborhood at breakfast time. I have not been to the Courtyard Café since the Marriott management ripped out its familiar, comfortable and good mini buffet and replaced it with a stiff new concept called "The Bistro." The name should be "The Discomfort." You stand in line at a counter and order from a short list of breakfast combinations, all of them with contrived, corporate-promotion names. And pay half again as much as breakfast had been here in the good old days. The same staff is still there. I didn't ask them what they thought about the new menu, and they didn't tell--although I think I may have picked up a vibe. It seems to have been devised to run people through breakfast as fast as possible, with no attention to pleasure. It offends me and the memory of dozens or hundreds of wonderful breakfasts here with my kids when they were little. I'll not darken their door again. When I get home, a surprise is waiting. Our old lawn tractor, after a week and a half in shop, sits in the driveway--not just repaired but washed and and shiny. "It's unbelievable!" Mary Ann says. "You turn the key and it starts!" The key hasn't made that happen for at least seven years, and even jump-starting it stopped working last year. I had a radio show to do at noon, after which I go out there, turn the key and, indeed, hear the engine come to life without hesitation. The grass is high and the going is slow. It takes two hours without a break to shave the Cool Water Ranch's front acre. I have to stop when it starts raining, but the obvious part is done. I found it nostalgic, and happy for the rebirth of this old unit, which the kids gave me for Father's Day some twelve years ago. They chose this particular model because they liked the face made by the front grill and the headlights. After cleaning myself up and taking a nap, I and MA go to dinner at Pardo's. We are taking a risk by going without a reservation, but on the other hand if we are able to get a table, it's a sign that this dinner is meant to be. Almost as soon as we sit down, I have the feeling that we are in for a dinner at yet higher a level than the excellence we've found at Pardo's in the past. I'm not sure why this is, but I go with it. Osman Rodas, who owns the place, says that he's hot on the lamb, and recommends either the lamb cheeks on the main menu, or a special of chops. I get to talking with Chef Marvin Tweedy, who says the same thing. How about a half-order of both the lamb dishes? I ask. He thinks that's a great idea. [caption id="attachment_42838" align="alignnone" width="480"] Mussels with curry.[/caption] I already have the rest of the dinner figured out, and start with mussels, made with a yellow curry sauce thicker than the typical mussel broth. This is so good that I make a mental note to add it to the 500 Best Dishes list on Monday. The fresh-cut fries make a thatched roof over it all. [caption id="attachment_42839" align="alignnone" width="480"] Parfait of crabmeat and shrimp.[/caption] Mary Ann has an intriguing starter. The menu calls it a parfait, the layers starting at the bottom with a puck of panneed eggplant, crabmeat above that, avocado, green chili remoulade, yellow tomato jam on the roof, and a savory green herb finial at the top. She says it's terrific, and proves that by giving me not even a bite of it. I get a salad of arugula with fresh mozzarella and herbs. I reaffirm: arugula is the best salad green in the world. [caption id="attachment_42841" align="alignnone" width="480"] Filet mignon (tournedos, really) at Pardo's.[/caption] Mary Ann is in a steak mood, and gets a tournedos cut into two pieces. Undercooked for her, of course. Its easy to understand why asking for a well-done steak in a place like this is met with disbelief by the chef. But that's my wife. It's seared some more and all is well. [caption id="attachment_42842" align="alignnone" width="480"] Chops and cheeks.[/caption] And here are the two manifestations of lamb. I've had veal, beef, and pork cheeks, but lamb cheeks are new to me. The sauce is a lamb demi-glace (I think), the cheeks have a blob of tomato sauce on top, with baked sweet potato forming an understratum. It is as interesting and enjoyable as I was expecting. Offering a combination of both contrast and similarity at the same time are two grilled lamb chops, with a meatier texture than that of the soft, melt-in-the mouth lamb cheeks. The lamb is further abetted by a Chateauneuf du Pape--Osman's response to my request for something from the Rhone or Australia by the glass. Somewhere in the second glass, I commence to thinking about other dinners I've had that compared with this one. Not many. And given the loss of two five-star restaurants in recent weeks, I begin asking myself and Mary Ann for reasons Pardo's shouldn't get my top rating. Mary Ann loves Pardo's so there is no resistance there. I ask for an espresso to sharpen my mind. [caption id="attachment_42843" align="alignnone" width="480"] Mango and sorbet.[/caption] We have a dessert of thin, cold slices of mango fanned out on a platter and topped with a ball of raspberry sorbet. Mary Ann doesn't like desserts, but has to force herself to try a slice of of cheesecake with sliced peaches and strawberry coulis. Osman sits down and says that he's been waiting for someone to come in with an appreciation for a dark, unctuous sherry that he wanted to try. I rationalize that lots of frequent customers get after-dinner drinks on the house, not just restaurant critics. I accept. The sherry is marvelous. I dismiss myself from the table so Mary Ann and Osman can talk about his young children--MA's favorite subject. I make my way to the kitchen and tell Chef Marvin that he's just earned for Pardo's a fifth star. He looks at me as if he didn't know what I was talking about. [title type="h5"]Pardo's. Covington: 69305 Hwy 21. 985-893-3603. [divider type=""] Sunday, June 22, 2014. Riding Around.[/title] We have dined well the past several nights, and Mary Ann is determined to put a stop to that today. I use up my time working on a tedious, long project that will make it easier for my readers to find recipes, which are notoriously difficult to index. I wish I had someone on staff who will do things like that, but I don't seem to have a gift for hiring people. Once the temperature drifts downward in late afternoon, I finish the lawn mowing I didn't get to when it started raining yesterday. I do get it all done, even the big meadow in the back, whose highest stalks of grass are three or four feet high. The old lawn tractor with the cute face runs perfectly, save for a flame- throwing backfire when I turn it off at the end of the project.