Diary 7|3|2014: N'Tini's Heads Up.

[title type="h5"]Thursday, July 3, 2014. N'Tini's Jumps. Life Looks Good. [/title] A new development in our daughter's life. The Boy--who for the past month or so has been living with his parents in Pittsburgh and Baltimore--has decided it's time to strike out entirely on his own. It would be a breach of his privacy to explain his motivationa, but I will say that it's the right move. He's twenty-two, out of college, and has a major military commitment coming up in six months. He's ready to move on, and he should. I think young people ought to be out of the house by twenty-one, anyway. (Jude was gone at sixteen.) The Boy is moving back here. Mary Leigh is ecstatic about this. Mary Ann, only slightly less so. I think it's fine. We like The Boy too. My daughter and I talk about it all over dinner tonight at N'Tini's. We haven't been there in some time, and she agreed to the idea after only a half-hour of cogitating on the possibilities. Our longtime waitress, Helen, has moved on to real estate. However Karen, a server with an equally friendly personality, has accepted call status on our table. She said that we were there on a lucky night, because they had three-dollar martinis. I was planning on having one--martinis are off my drink rotation, and I indulge only once every couple of months now. But then I learned it was a promotion for some kind of vodka. I don't do vodka, and quote my old friend Paul Labruyere: "When it comes to vodka, I'd as soon dump it down the sink then hit myself over the head with the bottle." So it was full price for a gin martini. On the other hand, it was a double, served with pickled ginger a la sushi bar, instead of the olive. This was actually suggested by Karen, who said that the idea came from N'Tini's new chef, Mark McInnis. Is he here? That's great news. Mark turned up most recently during a good period at the Lakehouse, whose schedule is too erratic for a steady recommendation. N'Tini's is, by contrast, a steady operation. [caption id="attachment_42975" align="alignnone" width="480"] Peppered, seared tuna at N'Tini's.
[/caption] I learn that Mary Leigh loves baked potato soup, made with all the things you load a spud with: bacon, sour cream, cheese, and green onions. My starter is seared tuna served sashimi-style, with a great sauce and--sure enough--some of the pickled ginger like in the drink. N'Tini's evolves ever in the direction of a steakhouse. It's always offered more and better than most restaurants on the North Shore, to the point that owner Mark Benfatti installed my "New Orleans Cut" idea. (It's an extra-thick strip sirloin cut into two round, thick steaks.) I mention this as a possibility for me, but Karen learns that the kitchen no longer cuts it that way. I give her the spiel about what a superior steak comes out of that presentation, but all the sirloins are already cut. [caption id="attachment_12596" align="alignnone" width="400"] Filet mignon with peppercorn sauce and fried onions[/caption] So I have a thick filet mignon with a creamy peppercorn sauce, encrusted Pittsburgh style in honor of the return of The Boy. It is the best steak ever at N'Tini's, surpassed only by Keith Young's and Gallagher's Grill on the North Shore. ML has her cherished wedge salad. She says that her taste for the wedge is diminishing lately. She's never afraid of moving on when the time comes. During all this eating, ML and I have a lighthearted, long conversation about life, where it's going, what makes us happy, and how all of this might play in the looming future. She has many irons in the fire, all of them promising. I feel that she has no need to worry about anything, but that she will, and that's what life is all about. It's not often we've had a talk so enjoyable, and we both head home feeling good. [title type="h5"] N'Tini's. Mandeville: 2891 US 190. 985-626-5566. [/title]