[title type="h5"]Wednesday, April 1, 2015.
Munich. Snow. Lakeview Pearl. Menchie's.
[/title]
Very late getting the NOMenu Daily out today. The special report on a restaurant that creates all its dishes by using 3-D computer printers took long than I expected. But it seems to have been worthwhile. Some fifty messages came as a result of it. About half of those said that they bought into the notion, and about half of those actually drove to the corner of Toledano at N. Earhart Blvd. looking for the place. All but one of the writers said this was one of my best of these annual efforts. That was a relief. I had my doubts about whether any of the above responses would be favorable at all. Only one--from a fake email address--said it was a poor work.
I see that Gambit has an April 1 restaurant report, too. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say. I don't know how long they've written their spoofs, but mine began in Figaro in 1974, long before Gambit published its first issue.
Mary Leigh, who expresses misgivings about my leading people astray on this day every year, has other things on her mind. She and Mary Ann flew in their first-class pods into Munich, where it was snowing and would continue to snow for another 36 hours. Mary Ann is not letting something like snow prevent her from driving across southern Germany and into the Czech Republic. In fact, it wouldn't even slow her down. ML reports that MA hit speeds of over 130 kph on the autobahn, even though it was under construction, with tight sections with zero shoulder width on both sides. MA is having a ball while ML writhes in misery, not only because of the breakneck speeds into terra incognita, but also because she has a bad cold. All of this would scare me, too.
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Uni (sea urchin) at Lakeview Pearl.[/caption]
Meanwhile, back in New Orleans, I dine at the Lakeview Pearl, a new sushi bar with Pan-Asian characteristics. It's a great location, on the corner of Harrison Avenue and Canal Boulevard. The place was quite busy, although the seats at the sushi bar were mostly free. I ask the chef what is looking good today, and he recommends the uni. Sea urchin, which in its own way comes out with the texture and richness of a cold pâté, but with a decidedly briny-sea character.
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Burning Man roll at Lakeview Pearl.[/caption]
Then my benchmark for new sushi bar: the Burning Man roll. Seared (but still mostly raw) pepper-crusted tuna on the outside, alternating with slices of avocado. Inside the rice roll is spicy chopped tuna. No crab stick or crab salad. It is well-made, tight, and filling. The day will come when I will not be able to consume a whole Burning Man roll.
I wonder where these sushi names come from. My guess is that this one has something to do with the bohemian Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert every fall. But how is it that all sushi bars of any ability serve this exact roll now. Ten years ago, it was unknown. Did they learn it from a book? Do the wholesalers of fish to sushi places give them the ideas? The latter is more likely. A lot of sushiterias order set-in-stone shipments of fish and other ingredients, which is why so many of them are so similar.
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Baked mussels.[/caption]
When I placed my original order, I asked for some mussels on the half shell as a hot appetizer. Somehow, this fell off my ticket, and I had to ask for it again. The shells are filled with a mayonnaise-based sauce thickened with sushi-style caviar, with three mussel meats in each shell. My standard for this dish is at Mikimoto, and this one is not as good as that one.
I have room for a light dessert. I go around the corner to Menchie's, a frozen yogurt shop. The only reason I did is that Mary Leigh and I (and The Boy, when he was in town) frequented the Covington Menchie's until it closed down a couple of months ago. It had become one of our regular stops after dinner. This Lakeview Menchie's is open, but has a minor problem that would be easy to address. It's on the second floor, and if there were lights in the stairwell leading to it they were not on this evening. It was dark, and I was glad I had a little flashlight in my pocket.
My flavor choice was sharp blueberry.
[title type="h5"]Lakeview Pearl. Lakeview: 6300 Canal Blvd. 504-309-5711.[/title]
