[title type="h5"]Wednesday, January 14, 2015.
First Try At MoPho.[/title]
In the hallway during the radio show, I bump into the Big Boss. He gives me a very strong indication that my on-air schedule may shortly move back to its best possible time, from three until noon. But he has other matters on his mind, and I don't want to press this. My fingers are crossed, and while they are I wish that Spud gets a good new gig, too.
The Marys are in town. Mary Ann suggests that we go to MoPho for dinner. That's a surprise. Even though the owner/chef of MoPho is Michael Gullata (formerly chef de cuisine of John Besh's Restaurant August), I have never known her to show even a glimmer of interest in Vietnamese food.
Mary Leigh is an easier sell. The Boy and I have her hooked on Thai cooking. So we converge MoPho, in the L-shaped strip mall across the street from the Bud's Broiler on City Park Avenue.
The main word received about MoPho is that it's always packed, and that chefs from other restaurants are among its most avid customers. It is busy this evening, but we get a table immediately. Three servers--none of them Asian--begin working on our high-top.
[caption id="attachment_46306" align="alignnone" width="430"]
Tuna crudo, first dish in the tasting menu at MoPho.[/caption]
The menu includes a chef's tasting menu: a starter of tuna crudo, hanger steak as a main, and a citrus cheesecake for dessert. This is not exactly a "tasting" menu--that steak is big enough to split between two people. But this prix-fixe $38 dinner is clearly the best dining strategy for me tonight. It lacks only one element: soup. It is a cold night, and Vietnamese dining relies heavily on broth. I ask for a cup of beef broth with noodles; I get a generous bowl. I eat what I can and the girls try it, too.
The first course of the tasting is rare tuna, seared at the edges, lined up along a stripe of thick, peppery Thai-style yellow curry. Complex, fresh delicious.
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Cabbage stir-fry.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_46304" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Fried oysters with easter-egg radishes.[/caption]
The Marys appetize themselves with fried spring rolls and a pile of cabbage strips in many colors, stir-fried into something that tastes much better than it sounds. While they worked on that, my secret identity is unveiled, and the first of a few amuses-bouche appear. This one is a quartet of big, plump fried oysters on a pool of what looks like a thick, light-brown New Orleans meuniere sauce, but tastes much spicier. MA is not strong on oysters, but she loves this almost as much as I do.
[caption id="attachment_46301" align="alignnone" width="480"]
MoPho's hanger steak, part of the chef's tasting menu.[/caption]
Now comes that steak, which has the combination of chewiness and flavor for which hanger steak is celebrated. The chef is well enough trained to slice it across the grain, and it goes down deliciously, abetted by a bunch of winter vegetables and a medium-potent orange sauce. I eat a little more than half and am stuffed.
[caption id="attachment_46300" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Pork belly and shoulder with kale and the like.[/caption]
Meanwhile, the Marys work on a noodle dish with lots of greens, pork shoulder, and pork belly, mixed with what I think is kale and a number of other slightly bitter vegetables. This is MA's kind of eating, and she goes nuts over it.
[caption id="attachment_46299" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Satsuma Cheesecake.[/caption]
The dessert part of my "tasting" is camouflaged by a number of other desserts that the kitchen decides we need. The only one they don't bring--because I ask them not to--is the chocolate. It is made with sesame oil, something Mary Ann cannot abide. But she chews me out for making the decision. So the score stands at Chocolate 1, Sesame Oil 0. I think.
[caption id="attachment_46298" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Apple beignets.[/caption]
The citrus cheesecake is good, but the best of the desserts is a pile of little apple beignets.
Really, this is a great dinner. The premises are rough--it feels like a bar more than a restaurant. There are advantages to this, says chef. They have a big roll-up door in the back of the place, where is a large pit where they are roasting whole pigs and whole lambs on weekends. No way I would want that to shut down for atmospheric considerations.
[title type="h5"]Mopho. City Park Area: 514 City Park Ave. 504-482-6845. [/title][divider type=""]
Written by Tom Fitzmorris January 21, 2015 13:01 in
