Diary 11|8, 9|2014: Nuvolari's Revisited. Glassware Surplus.

[title type="h5"]Saturday, November 8, 2014, Nuvolari's Revisited.[/title] An ongoing topic around the Cool Water Ranch is that there aren't enough restaurants on the North Shore, resulting in our dining in the same places all the time. Really, the problem is that too many restaurants are on the Marys' unacceptable list. Tonight, I am able to get around this by insisting on Nuvolari's. We haven't dined in that 1980s Italian restaurant in Mandeville in a long time. It helps that Mary Leigh has always liked it. Mary Ann is less sanguine, for atmospheric reasons I can't dope out. But I think tonight's dinner changed her mind about that. It was quite a feast, with the only dark moment being the chill outside, penetrating the windows near our table. I ask whether something can be done. It can: the thermostat is adjusted so the girls can be comfortable. My own happy state is helped by a Negroni. Wally Simmons--whose trademark hair has reached an all-time record length, I think--is still in charge of the bar, and makes the drink just right. [caption id="attachment_45425" align="alignnone" width="480"] Tomato basil soup witch crabmeat.[/caption] The rest of the table begins with the house Caesar. I deviate to the tomato-basil soup of middling goodness. The main courses convince us that Nuvolari's belongs in our rotation. Even though a good number of Italian restaurants are on our list, Nuvolari's has always been as much a Creole bistro as well as Italianate. So it stands out. [caption id="attachment_45428" align="alignnone" width="480"] Pork chop at Nuvolari's.[/caption] I certainly enjoy what I have: a double-cut pork chop with a great sauce made of cream and Creole mustard. It is sixty percent of the price of the filet mignon that ML and The Boy share. As I keep finding around town in these days of very expensive beef, the pork chop is no less excellent than the filet--and the latter is very good. [caption id="attachment_45427" align="alignnone" width="480"] Filet at Nuvolari's, with potato cake and mushrooms,[/caption] Mary Ann is captivated by a sign that offers, for $19 a throw, three of her favorite dishes: crabmeat ravioli, seafood gnocchi, and oysters carbonara. She goes for the ravioli, and is very pleased. The Boy is a chicken fanatic, and is very pleased with the chicken florentine, which in addition to spinach also has a bit of red sauce. [caption id="attachment_45426" align="alignnone" width="480"] Chicken florentine.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_45429" align="alignnone" width="480"] Wedge salad.[/caption] Rounding out the main courses is the second salad of the evening for Mary Leigh, who is trying to keep her slender figure. The Boy gives her a little nudge about that, as men often do when their dates eat like birds. But we are an evil force, encouraging the girls to gorge themselves like that. Anyway, ML continues her worldwide survey of wedge salads with blue cheese, bacon, and tomato. [caption id="attachment_45424" align="alignnone" width="480"] Citrus cake and ice cream.[/caption] Two desserts, neither of which I've had before. One is a crumby citrus cake with ginger ice cream. I like the latter half. The other is a S'More's cake, which grabs the girls. Gooey and chocolatey. Mary Ann has several advertising clients in Old Mandeville, and we drive past all of them, to make sure that their dining rooms are reasonably full. She is very concerned that the efficacy of our ads not be called into question by wan trade. [title type="h5"]Nuvolari's. Mandeville: 246 Girod St. 985-626-5619. [/title][divider type=""] [title type="h4"]Sunday, November 9, 2014. Grinding Away At It. [/title] I return to my pantry project, in which I am removing everything from the shelves, cleaning the shelves and the items as needed, removing items that have zero chance of ever being used again, and putting it all back up, in more logical places than they occupied before. It has been twenty years at least since this has been done. [caption id="attachment_45432" align="alignnone" width="480"] Wine Glasses[/caption] I started in on the wine glasses last week. I have 171 of them. If each guest used eight glasses at, say, a wine tasting, I would need about three cases of wine and more friends than will fit into our great room. At least half of the glasses are imprinted with restaurant or winery names, or commemorate wine events I attended. I pack all those in boxes, as well as glasses in highly specialized shapes. Why do I need sherry glasses? Frasier Crane isn't likely to come over. I was going to build racks for the glasses that would allow them to hang from their bases. I cannot figure out how to do this without many hours of carpentry. Instead, I build a railing around a section of of shelving. The area is enough out of the way that glasses won't be knocked over, but accessible enough that guests can grab a new glass easily. At the end of the weekend, three and a half weeks before Thanksgiving, I am still not finished with the glassware. [caption id="attachment_43941" align="alignnone" width="480"] Mole poblano at La Carreta, again.[/caption] Do I even have to say that the entire Cool Water Ranch team breaks for lunch at La Carreta? Or that I have a chicken enchilada with molé? Or that MA eats two tubs of choriqueso with only minimal help from the others at the table? One difference: we are visited this weekend by Hillary Connell, Mary Leigh's closest cousin. She is soon to take a test for med school, and is preoccupied with that. After lunch I get back to work at my desk. I have a very busy week ahead of me. Three interviews over dinners, among other plans. And I must get a few articles done.