[title type="h5"]
Monday, June 15, 2015.
Welcome-Back Red Beans.[/title]
Mary Ann leaves for Los Angeles today, ferried to the airport by Mary Leigh. I am not happy about this, but what can I say or do? Lots of married people leave one another for week-long trips for less reason. I'll just have to get over it.
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Red beans and pork chop, N.O. Food & Spirits.[/caption]
My first plate of red beans and rice since returning from Europe comes from New Orleans Food & Spirits. I ask them please to give me half the longshoreman's portion they usually serve, but to charge the full price. I have the grilled pork chop as the side dish, making this a ridiculous bargain at $12, including the salad. They give me the big plate.
This being right after the radio show, I would ordinarily go to chorus rehearsal after eating. But after NPAS gave its twentieth annual show last week, we are on hiatus for I don't know how long. A few weeks ago, one of the other guys approached me with the idea of getting together with a few others to sing some barbershop. I wouldn't mid doing that at all. I hope he gets in touch.
Last night I delivered my car to the dealership so they can tell me what needs to be done. So I am driving MA's 250,000-mile Honda Pilot). Ah! One good thing about MA's being in California. I can use her car in the nonce. I miss the dissolution of KT Automotive, which for years has performed brilliant, lasting repairs on my PT Cruiser. But they are gone, and I haven't found a substitute. Looks like the work needed now will set me back a grand, and take a week or more.
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[title type="h5"]Tuesday, June 16, 2015.
Reginelli's New Look And Taste.[/title]
A year or so ago, Darryl Reginelli made a deal with the owners of Commander's Palace to expand the reach of Reginelli's pizzerias. Seven of them are here in New Orleans. Lally Brennan and cousin Ti Martin see strong possibilities in Reginelli's concept, and construction is under way in a number of locations, with a particular emphasis on Texas.
I have not dined at Reginelli's in a long while. Too many other, more promising pizzerias keep opening. But I find myself in Lakeview at suppertime, and an open parking spot in the neutral ground right in front of the long-running Reginelli's there.
The first thing I notice is a change in the demeanor of the servers, greeters, and other front-of-the-house staff. They are almost too eager to please. Are they taking classes from the famously accommodating service staff at Commander's?
The menu is printed on a piece of corrugated cardboard the size of a pizza box's bottom. A lot of possibilities are on offer, particularly among the appetizers. Barbecue shrimp? Insalata Caprese? Hummus done two different ways? A calzone with Brie inside instead of the usual ricotta and mozzarella? Most of these would suffice for a complete dinner.
I get the Caprese. Not a good idea, especially in the light of my having been in Italy for a week two weeks before, where I had Caprese salads at most meals. This could not begin to compare with those. Or could they? A Caprese salad is sliced ripe tomatoes interleaved with sliced fresh mozzarella, with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and fresh basil. So the only explanation for Reginelli's anemic version is that it had to hit the right food cost percentage for a six-dollar dish. Matters like this are what keep chain restaurants from putting out great food.
I orpder an "El Fresco" pizza. Are we speaking Italian or Spanish here? It's more or less a pizza Margherita, but what Reginelli's calls a pizza Margherita uses tomato sauce, not sliced tomatoes. So they had to call this one something else. This crust is wet down with an herbal butter, then layered with fresh mozzarella, slices of underripe fresh tomatoes, spinach, onions, and mushrooms.
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Pizza "El Fresco" at Reginelli's.[/caption]
The crust looks nice, with the edge of char I like to find. But its flavor is lacking something. The dough needs a little more salt, a little more oil. I attempt to remedy this by picking up the shaker of shredded parmesan, but when I make the familiar jerking motion the top of the jar falls off, and I now have a mound of parmesan in the middle of the 'za. This is too big a problem to ignore, but not bad enough to require a new pizza. I do my best to knock off the extra cheese, and apologize for wasting all that cheese, even though it is hardly my fault. Even with all that extra parmesan, the pizza is still lacking something.
But the service staff continues with its smiling, everything's great ways. This is what chain restaurants do best. I eat two slices, and take the rest home.
[title type="h5"]
Reginelli's Pizzeria. Lakeview: 874 Harrison Ave. 504-488-0133. [/title]
