[title type="h5"]Monday, June 2, 2014.
Celebrating With A Boring Pizza.
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The man says that the sun will come out tomorrow, but it's still raining today. The Abita and Bogue Falaya Rivers are close to lapping the undersides of the bridges that pass over them.
KT Automotive calls midday to tell me my car is fixed, for just under a grand. But I am pleased, because two of the three problems were solved by fixing the third issue--a malfunctioning clutch. Now the slippage and the grinding noise are gone, and I can shift gears easily again. These guys are terrific.
Even though the Marys get caught in the eastward-moving rain system, they get into town at around six. They're hungry, and I haven't had supper myself. Mary Ann wants to go to Johnnie's Pizza, across the parking lot from good old Zea. As many times as we've looked at the place, we have never tried it. For once, our instincts are correct. The place appears to be aimed at kids, with a plethora of video and other games on the second floor, making so much racket that even I preferred to sit outside, despite the slight wetness out there.
The salad bar almost makes the pizza look good, but the whole thing is as ordinary as I've seen in a long time. "Chuck E. Cheese without the rat," says Mary Leigh.
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[title type="h5"]Tuesday, June 3, 2014.
Return to Marti's.
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Some seven months have elapsed since the resurrection of Marti's by the owners of Gautreau's. The last time that name appeared on the bright yellow awning at the corner of Rampart and Dumaine was 1989 or 1990, after a run of about eighteen years. Marti Shambra passed away at a young age, and a fire in the building put an end to the once-stylish cafe. It was followed by Peristyle, a much better restaurant than Marti's, but not as cool. Marti created a trendsetting restaurant with an innovative menu for its time. A significant presence of gay staff and clientele set the style. Everybody who wanted to see or be seen went there.
[caption id="attachment_42554" align="alignleft" width="320"]
Marti's dining room, with Negroni.[/caption]If Marti had survived to keep the restaurant going, it would be at about the same stage of restaurant evolution at which we find it now. With the exception of oysters on the half-shell and the spinach salad (which made its debut in New Orleans at Marti's), none of the menu is the same as the original. But adjusted for changing tastes over twenty-four years, it's Marti's all over again.
Mary Ann feels that her four days out of town entitle me to a special evening out. My suggestion of Marti's resonates with her curiosity of the place.
The bar is nearly full at five-thirty, but that's too early for the dinner crowd. We are the first ones there, although several more tablesful follow us. Patrick Singley, who owns Gautreau's, Ivy and now Marti's, is at the front door. So much for sneaking in.
Patrick tells us that he performed a few renovations to the place, but I have to think very hard to figure out what's different. The tables are new, and handsome enough that they get by without tablecloths. That trend is unstoppable, except in restaurants with ugly tables.
The background music is New Orleans R&B and jazz. When we sit down, Professor Longhair's "Go To The Mardi Gras" is playing, with the line "You will see the Zulu king down on St. Claude and Dumaine." That's a block from here. The recording studio that made the record was across the street. Mary Ann clucks at me, but that sort of thing gives me a good feeling.
I think back to my earliest visits to Marti's, and recall that the entire dining room--walls and ceilings--was covered with those dark cork panels that were the essence of modren decor in the 1970s. (We had them in the offices of Figaro, too, at about the same time.) Such a thing would be laughed at now, but it's been forty years.
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Raw oysters from the bar. . . [/caption]
[caption id="attachment_42556" align="alignnone" width="480"]
. . . and baked oysters from the kitchen.[/caption]
I order a Negroni and an order of fries. The drink is very generous, the fries fresh-cut, hot and good. The waiter spills the beans on the specials and the regular menu items of note. We must begin with oysters: six raw for me, and six baked on the half shell with a pimiento, bread crumb and cheese topping--also for me. Mary Ann rarely eats more than one oyster at a sitting. She keeps up with me by having a very good risotto with shrimp and corn. The food is interesting enough to practically dictate the conversation.
[caption id="attachment_42557" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Shrimp risotto.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_42558" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Rabbit cooked two ways.[/caption]
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Filet mignon, perfectly broiled--or is it?[/caption]
The chef, the waiter, and Patrick all tell me, separately, that what I want for an entree is the rabbit. The legs are done confit style, the tender meat falling off the bone. The saddle is made into a light sausage. All as good as advertised. Mary Ann wants a steak, but she has some difficulty in persuading the kitchen that she really means medium well. (I find this hard to believe, myself.) I check each attempt as it comes out, and I find it perfect.
[caption id="attachment_42560" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Beignets and cappuccino.[/caption]
The dessert hits the spot: four beignets that make the French Market look slipshod, and a cappuccino. Mary Ann wants none of it, but I'd be amazed if she did.
The only missing essence of Marti's is the buzzing dining room of old. But it's a Tuesday in June, things are slowing down for summer, and word of the return of Marti's are less than charged with energy. Few people ask me about it. The old Marti's clientele is getting old or gone. Tennessee Williams, who was a Marti's regular, is not around to add his eminence. And the name Marti's means nothing to people in their thirties or younger.
Yet, I think the place has what it takes to build a new phenomenon. It's great to have Marti's on the scene again, managed by someone who gets the idea.
[title type="h5"]Marti's. French Quarter: 1041 Dumaine. 504-522-5478.[/title]
Written by Tom Fitzmorris June 11, 2014 12:01 in
