Friday, May 19, 2019.
Taken Out To Antoine's.
Mary Ann has lately voiced repeated requests to go to Antoine's. I don't need an armtwist to get me to go along with that. But if the request comes from MA, I know there will be a subtext. Nevertheless, I'm ready for some Rockefellers.
The captain at Antoine's tells me that he has 600 reservations on the book for tonight. Reason: graduations are going on for Tulane, Loyola, Xavier, and UNO. Some graduates come from as far away as LSU. These celebrations are well known to the restaurants, who keep close track of the graduation schedules.
But we showed up early, and I got one of my usual tables (in the Annex, the big red-walled room in the back). Mary Ann was still a half-hour away, time that I fill with a Manhattan. While waiting, I am approached by at least a dozen waiters, only a few of which I know well. It occurs to me that this has happened every time I've dined at Antoine's lately. Apparently there's a new policy for the waiters--especially the newer ones--to drop by the table occupied by any regular customer in the house. Most of them offer much more than a quick good evening, and have something to say about the weather, the crowd, or anything that might make for a good if brief palaver.
The soufflee potatoes come out when MA shows up. She eats the combination crab ravigote and shrimp remoulade, and that's that. I cut loose with oysters 2-2-2, which proves something I've said for a long time: oysters Rockefeller, Bienville, or Thermidor are better for sharing than for eating in their entirety. My hunger is decidedly blunted by the time I get to black drumfish Florentine (broiled fish atop a layer of created spinach (Antoine's makes that better than any other restaurant), and glazed on the outside.
Today is the birthday (in 1861) of Dame Nellie Melba, the famous opera singer in whose honor melba toast and peche Melba are named. The latter is a dessert made of ice cream, peaches, raspberry sauce, crumbled almonds and an orange wheel. It has been on the menu at Antoine's as far back as anyone can remember. Even though I am quite full, I can't help but honor the singer by having her namesake dessert. She was supposed to have been so striking a beauty that chefs were always inventing dishes for her, as if they had a chance.
Antoine's. French Quarter: 713 St Louis. 504-581-4422.
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Saturday, May 20, 2017.
Nuvolari's In The Rain.
A couple of friends are interested in joining me and MA for dinner at Nuvolari's in Mandeville. I like the place, and would go there more often if Mary Ann had been more favorably disposed to the place. She likes it now, but went through a long period of indifference.
That's a funny form of prejudice, of which many are guilty--including me. It's also one of the reasons why I think it's a bad idea to visit new restaurants until they have their act together. A good example of this showed itself when Emeril's first opened in 1990. I was there on the first night, and the predictable program of problems played through the evening. As a result, it was months before I went there again, during which time the Emeril's had become one of the two or three best restaurants in town.
Everybody at the table tonight felt good about the current performance at Nuvolari's. The menu has changed a good bit since last time we were there, and that flattered the Italian side of the menu. Two of the dishes--which the whole table shared--were house-made ravioli with a rich, interesting sauce, and a fettuccine with a different creamy sauce and a peppery sidenote. The always good house Caesar filled the gap between the starter and the entree, while I went off the beam with a cup of tomato-basil soup.
Entrees include chicken parmigiana and shrimp in a sauce that almost but not quite was barbecue shrimp. I had cioppino--the Italian answer to bouillabaisse. It was loaded with shrimp and clams but absent mussels. And it was riddled with various local white fish. The sauce/broth (it's somewhere between the two in textures and flavors) was mils and seafood. That's not my favorite way to play dishes like this, but it is legitimate.
White chocolate cheesecake for dessert. I think I was the only one who went for that course. No surprise: the two ladies talked about their successes in losing weight more than anything else. I don't even want to think about what their alternate subject. So I won't write about it, either.
Nuvolari's. Mandeville: 246 Girod St. 985-626-5619.
