[title type="h5"]Monday, March 23, 2015.
Talking With Food Disseminators.[/title]
An organization of Louisiana food processors asked me to give a talk about the state of local cuisine and restaurants. From what I was able to see, most of the program was about technical stuff. They asked me whether I had a Power Point presentation. I have the software, but I've never figured out how to use it. My specialty is amusement on the subject of eating. I can always leave them happy if I make the crowd laugh. First, the Trilogy On A Theme of Soup Du Jour, which still remains fresh and potent after 40 years of use. After that, I do it the way I do on the radio: ad lib. It fills forty-five minutes.
The event is at Holy Cross College in Algiers. I have not been that way in a long time. I am surprised how few restaurants of interest are in the vicinity. The West Bank in general seems to beg for more and better eateries.
Here's how long it's been since my last crossing of the river. As I approach the toll booth to return to the East Bank, I come to a full stop with a dollar bill in my hand. I didn't know that the bridge is toll-free again. The enormous truck behind me was not happy with my coming to a halt. I'm lucky I'm still alive.
The scheduling of my talk forces me to manufacture the radio show from the studio. I am usually at home on Mondays. This also meant that, even if I leave for the North Shore immediately after the show, I will be fifteen minutes late for chorus rehearsal. But the NPAS gang is celebrating the new doctorate just earned by our brilliant accompanist, and when I arrive they are just beginning to warm up. And I don't sound much better if I warm up than if I don't. [divider type=""]
[title type="h5"]Tuesday, March 24, 2015.
Poppy Visits. Martin Wine Cellar's Deli At Dinner.[/title]
It is one of those days on the Round Table Radio show. I have five guests in the studio, but only one that Mary Ann said was coming. The Hogs for the Cause event's founders--Rene Louapre and Becker Hall--are replaced by a couple of other guys in the foundation. No big deal. They know what's going on. Nevertheless, I leave the interview with a misconception that will cause Mary Ann a problem later in the week.
Also here is a guy representing the LA1 outfit, which makes rum, vodka, and whiskey down among the canefields along Bayou Lafourche. He has been with us before (and recently, at that). But they are pouring at the Cause, so we admit one for him.
[caption id="attachment_39608" align="alignleft" width="320"]
Poppy Tooker, celebrating her birthday on the balcony at Tujague's.[/caption]All of these unexpected (but not disruptive) guests are balanced by the person I knew was coming. Poppy Tooker hosts a weekly radio hour on WWNO, the public radio station at UNO. She is always kicks. Her reason for existence on my show today is that she is soon to publish a cookbook for Tujague's.
She shows up with a good story. While rooting around in the third floor of Tujague's 159-year-old building, proprietor Mark Latter found a recipe in the handwriting of the longtime owner Philibert Guichet. It was for what he called "whiskey punch." He apparently entered it in a contest he didn't win. So he set the recipe aside, never to see the light of day until a few weeks ago. It was never served even at Tujague's. Until now. Poppy and Tujague's are organizing a party later in the week to roll out the 100-year-old formula for the first time.
Poppy didn't bring either a sample or a recipe. From what she told me, it sounds a lot like a Ramos gin fizz. I can't make it to the party, but I will have dinner at Tujague's to try the drink.
Not tonight, though. I am running desperately behind on some of my freelance assignments, and must have a simple dinner. I go to Martin Wine Cellar. If I had thought about it before I pointed my car towards the Causeway, I would have gone to the new/old Martin on Baronne Street, which just reopened for the first time since Katrina.
[caption id="attachment_47076" align="alignnone" width="480"]
The order counter at Martin Wine Cellar's deli.[/caption]
But it's been a long while since I last eaten at Martin in Metairie. I step up to the counter and discuss the possibilities with the lady standing there. Why Martin's continues to refuse to give table service in its otherwise first-class dine-in deli is a mystery. But I have been eating from it since its earliest days, when not only servers were missing, but tables and chairs, too.
[caption id="attachment_47077" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Mean green chicken at Martin's.[/caption]
I get a roasted bird with an herbal glaze, vegetables, and risotto. As I start in on the chicken, I am met by the Naylons. Their son Patrick was a buddy of Jude's during their mutual time at Christian Brothers School. Our families were good friends, until the boys went to different high schools. They know that Jude has got himself all married up. But have I heard that Patrick is getting hitched himself, in the next few months? No, I haven't. And what do I think about that chicken? I tell them I love it. They try to order it, but my order was the last one. Sorry! It was actually quite delicious, too. They can believe it. They eat here all the time, living as they do only a few blocks from Martin's.
I finish dinner with a slice of carrot cake. Two slices are left, but it's neither dry nor soggy. It is, however, too large a wedge for me to have finished. I'd better watch it. If I keep eating like this all those 58 pounds will come right back.
[title type="h5"]Martin Wine Cellar Deli. Metairie: 714 Elmeer. 504-896-7350.[/title]
Written by Tom Fitzmorris March 31, 2015 12:01 in
