[title type="h5"]Friday, March 6, 2015.
Old Vs. New. Bouillabaisse @ Flaming Torch.[/title]
The radio station's website (3WL1350.com) has a daily poll in which anyone can vote. One of my jobs is to dream up a survey every day. We refer to the poll throughout the show, but as far as I know none of the results are archived, and once the day's program is over, the outcome vanishes into the void.
I have a good idea for the polls this week, and the first one went up today. Do you prefer the old Commander's Palace, or the new Commander's Palace? I ask. I don't specify what I mean by "old" and "new," because it depends too much on what time you and Commander's Palace first met. For example, I used to hear reminiscences of the years when the Garden District jewel was owned by the Moran family, before the Brennans bought it in the 1960s. Been a long time since I've heard about that.
The new Commander's Palace wins by four percent. That is closer than I expect. I'd vote for the old Commander's, with my criterion for oldness being before Katrina. Tomorrow, the old and new College Inns will come under consideration.
To dinner at the Flaming Torch. I need to talk with owner Zoehre Khaleghi about her plans to serve breakfast on the weekends, so I know what I'm doing when I ad-lib the commercials. She tells me that she doesn't quite have the breakfast perfect, although she's not ashamed to serve it. Could I mention the meal just in passing for now?
I stay for dinner. It's still very cold outside, and I'm thinking about the Torch's French onion soup--the kind that comes in a crock with a drumhead of cheese over the top. But Zoehre tells me I really ought to try the eggplant soup. I was thinking about it, but my diet in advance of The Procedure bans tomatoes. Tomatoes and eggplants are related. But how much could it hurt me? I get the soup. It is very thick and very good, with a reddish color (from tomato, probably) and a circle of sour cream.
[caption id="attachment_46906" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Bouillabaisse a la Flaming Torch.[/caption]
Then I have another soup, but one so much lighter in its broth that it contrasts with what came before. It's bouillabaisse, which Zoehre tells me gets it color from saffron, and a good bit of it, at that. It gets substance from big shrimp, slabs of fish, gigantic scallops, some of the most enjoyable clams I've ever eaten (I'm no fan of clams, either), but no mussels (the ferocious winter weather up north has put a crimp in the supply). It's good, and really too big to finish, but I do anyway. Seafood in a low-fat concoction supports overeating.
It's a slow night (been very busy the rest of the week, Zoehre says), and she sits down with me and a bottle of wine. It's red wine, and I ask if there is a cheese plate that might blend more agreeably than the aftertaste of all the seafood I just ate. The chef comes out with about two pounds of six cheeses. It is very enjoyable.
[caption id="attachment_46905" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Cheeses at the Flaming Torch.[/caption]
Some other tables fill up. Everyone in the house is a regular customer and is very pleased to be here. That's what kind of place this is. We all enjoy the warmth of the fireplace, one of the few in restaurants in these parts.
[title type="h5"]Flaming Torch. Uptown: 737 Octavia. 504-895-0900. [/title]
