Diary 10|30|2014: Lakehouse At Sunset.

[title type="h5"]Thursday, October 30, 2014. Sunset At The Lakehouse.[/title] All consciousness is perforated, allowing in one person the escape of insights that other people capture. I saw an example of this tonight in my sharp-witted daughter, who misses almost nothing. In this case, she and her mother (collectively the Marys) missed the significance of the Lakehouse restaurant's logo. It's a blobby red dot, surrounded by a halo in yellow. "I don't like their logo," one of them said. "Me either," said the other. "It has a kind of New Age look. It just looks weird." "It's the setting sun," I said, stating what to me was obvious. Not that I am all that observant or sensitive. I just got lucky. "Oh, yeah!" says the younger Mary, as if she had just resolved an optical illusion. I didn't bring up the fact that the sun was just then setting over Lake Pontchartrain. For the next six months, the views of the descending ball of fire will be consistently available. "I still don't like it," said MA. "But I like the restaurant!" We are here because the weather has been beautiful, even if perhaps a bit too cool for comfort. MA is happy to put up with that for her love of outdoor dining. The Lakehouse has been erratic during most of its ownership by Cayman Sinclair, a skillful restaurateur who is also in the business of cooking and serving meals to movie crews. The latter industry takes up most of his time. [caption id="attachment_45245" align="alignnone" width="480"] Crab claws at Lakehouse.[/caption] Except for that part-time feeling the place has--the abbreviated menu gives that sensation--it's a good place to eat. We begin with a dish of crab claws for MA, a very large salad topped with slices of blackened beef tenderloin for ML, and the smallest bowl I've ever seen of crab and brie soup for me. [caption id="attachment_45242" align="alignnone" width="480"] Blackened beef salad.[/caption] We debate whether to go indoors. It's getting colder by the minute outside. I'm the only one dressed for this: jacket and tie, as always. I offer my clothing to the Marys. They just stick it out, so as not to present an argument that sitting out here is not a good idea. Not that any logic from me would be accepted. [caption id="attachment_45243" align="alignnone" width="480"] Barbecue shrimp at Lakehouse.[/caption] Mary Ann has some headless barbecue shrimp that look and taste more like blackened shrimp, but good at that. ML is still working on that salad with the steak on top. She says the more she eats the better she likes it. It is indeed a handsome platter. [caption id="attachment_45244" align="alignnone" width="480"] Sheepshead with crabmeat.[/caption] I have seared sheepshead with crabmeat. I never neglect that fish when I find it on a menu, and the efficacy of that strategy proves itself again. [caption id="attachment_45241" align="alignnone" width="480"] Satsuma cheesecake.[/caption] The only dessert that attracts us is the satsuma cheesecake. Satsuma are in season, and ML has been eating many of them. The cheesecake employment of the citrus is effective and luscious. Good dinner, and the red ball in the logo is now a part of our recognizable iconography. [title type="h5"]Lakehouse. Mandeville: 2025 Lakeshore Dr. 985-626-3006.[/title]