Monday, February 6, 2016.
On Route 66. DiMartino's.
I turn sixty-six, which makes no sense to me at all.
I treat myself so well during the rest of the year that I feel no neglect in having an everyday menu of dining tonight. The Marys, being as busy as I am, accept my suggestion that we lunch at DiMartino's in Covington. I have red beans and rice with smoked sausage, thereby keeping one major tradition. The beans are good and generously served. The girls have salads, which are made well by DiMartino's. The girls continue to tell me that they will take me to dinner at Antoine's with me as an evening opens up.
The word comes from the executives of the radio stations that my show will move to its new schedule this Thursday. I will host the final hour of the old station beginning at five. Then my show will come from the HD2 facet of WWL-FM, 105.3. At that moment, my familiar old 1350 AM will begin running what is known in the business as an Urban music format. That certainly will be appropriate for New Orleans. At the same time, a new FM station carrying the 1350 brand and program will take to the air. Both have good coverage in the core of the city. But according to the FCC rules, you can't have the FM without the AM. I can't say I fully understand this, but it doesn't matter, because I am increasingly enthusiastic about the new facilities from which my broadcast will continue stating on Friday.
A happy cap on the day comes when Alissa Rowe, the director of NPAS, expresses interest in the duet version of "I Won't Dance." Carol E. and I have rehearsed this well, but we both blow the lyrics badly. But the point of our efforts are clear. I think we're in the show.
[divider type=""]
Tuesday, February 7, 2017.
Galliano's For The First Time.
Mary Ann meets me in town for dinner. Still not yet at Antoine's, but at Galliano. This is a new restaurant created by the team that owns the excellent Restaurant Rebirth. Galliano takes over the former Root restaurant on the corner of Julia and Fulton, deep in the Warehouse District. I have misgivings about going to such a new restaurant--it's only open a couple of months. But Chef Ricky Cheramie has shown me enough good food at other postings that it seems like a small risk.
I am only half correct about that. Galliano's food is good, but the bugbear of lately-opened restaurants is here in force. The service staff--or, at least the staff taking care of our table--is not up to speed. The waiter mistakes my cocktail for a glass of water, and destroys it half way. I make it clear (as in I told him three times--) that the two hot dishes I ordered be brought out separately. They are not, and so the soup gets cold while the pork chop stays warm--or vice-versa.
On the other hand, the food at least offers promise for the future. The chowder of crabmeat, corn and bacon is very good. The porkchop is generous and well seasoned. But it's overcooked, and the other elements of the plate are overwhelming in substance and flavor. They should remove any two items from that plate.
The good parts of the dinner are grilled oysters, with a forceful topping that might be a bit much. The chicken gumbo passes ML's standards. The menu--which is twice as extensive as I was expecting-- goes on to include a lot more Cajun food. That last aspect may be the best part about the food here: it has a much wider panorama of Cajun flavors than we are used to.
I'll come back after the waitstaff stabilizes. I am happy to see that the former Roots space--always cool but a bit much-- has been toned down from the screaming green chairs that used to fill the room.
Galliano. Warehouse District: 200 Julia St. 504-324-4065.
