Monday, December 19, 2016.
N'Tini's.
The restaurant across the Highway That Has No Name from the Mandeville Post Office has been a part of my family's dining routines since it opened. That was a few years after we fetched up on the North Shore. Since then the place underwent several changes of personality and name: CreolA, Dakota Wine & Feed, Rockefeller's, and a hamburger place I can't remember.
After Katrina, among the people who moved from the destroyed St. Bernard Parish was Mark Benfatti, who had operated a pretty good café called N'Tini's in Chalmette. He was ready to resume operations as soon as he arrived in Mandeville. The dining population there welcomed him, and Mark welcomed them back, with not just food and drink but a scene, and a lot of outside activities (movie nights, Saints games, and the like).
N'Tini's evolved into a steak house. Beef had always been a big part of the menu, but it seems to have dominance now. There's a bit of seafood and big burgers.
The decor has been reworked into a geometric, modern look. Mary Ann thinks it looks great now. The change registers in my eyes as less a family eatery than a mostly-adult hangout. But that suits the clientele.
I don't know why I suggested to MA that we have dinner at N'Tini's tonight. I didn't expect to see any trends other than the renovation. It's still a medium-price steak house, and the seafood is still less than memorable. But we had a nice evening, with the waitress chumming around with us all evening. Gatherings of friends dominate the remainder of tonight's clientele.
[caption id="attachment_53438" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Spicy shrimp at N'Tini's.[/caption]
We started off with fried shrimp coated with hot sauce and honey. Better than it looked, I thought. MA has a crawfish and red bean soup. Just okay. I have a $32 filet mignon that keeps up with the tough-steak regimen I am finding almost everywhere I go lately. There needs to be more powerful heat in the cooking of steaks.
[caption id="attachment_53437" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Flank steak, a little too tender.[/caption]
All in all, a bit dull. N'Tini's can cook better than this, and they have in the past.
N'Tini's. Mandeville: 2891 US 190.985-626-5566.
Tuesday, December 20, 2016.
Radio Activity.
I had an interesting meeting with the two top management people in the local radio cluster I work for. They tell me that a major improvement in the signal emitted by my station is a month or so away. That would be a godsend, especially this time of year, when the long-standing Federal requirement that we send most of the signal into the Gulf of Mexico after dark diminishes our reach. AM radio is also hobbled by the deterioration in the quality of radios, both in cars and in homes. But those days will soon be over.
