[title type="h5"]Friday, August 15, 2014.
Tony Angello's, For A Change.
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My day works out better if I send up the radio show from home instead of from the studio. That gives me the whole morning to write, and time in the afternoon to take a forty-five-minute walk around the Cool Water Ranch, followed by a nice nap. Then I go into town for dinner in late afternoon. What a great life!
The real impetus behind that schedule today is that Mary Leigh needs to deliver a batch of cupcakes to one of her regular customers in Carrollton. Then we meet up with Mary Ann, who has an unexpected idea for dinner: Tony Angello's. I haven't been there in several years, and I don't believe that either of the Marys ever have.
My only concern is whether we can get a table at last-minute notice (the only kind MA ever offers.) But it's the middle of August, the final approach to the slowest time of the year for New Orleans restaurants. I don't have to appeal to Dale Messina (who runs the dining room), let alone Mr. Tony himself. There are lots of tables available.
[caption id="attachment_43538" align="alignnone" width="480"]
A slow summer night at Tony Angello's.[/caption]
We couldn't have picked a better one. To our right are Chuck and Rae Anne Williams, one of the two couples that own MeMe's in Chalmette. But we just dined at their place a week ago! Another example of the New Orleans Incest Phenomenon, which proves that only 500 people live in the entire metro area. Or else things like this wouldn't happen.
When we walk up, Chuck is enjoying oysters Rockefeller, one of the specials today. When the waiter arrives, I was going to ask for an immediate lock on those oysters, as well as some Bienvilles, which have always been a signature dish at Tony Angello's.
But first the waiter has to tell me that a long time ago (he has been here for years) he waited on me in another restaurant. More New Orleans Incest! On the other hand, waiters move around so much that perhaps that's the true explanation.
He also tells me that the man at the next table ordered the last half-dozen oysters Rockefeller. Oh, well. How about a martini instead? Haven't had one of those since the cruise in April.
The man eating what should have been my oysters turns around. "Hello, Tom. John Jay." The city's most famous salon entrepreneur. He is with his lady, who is beautiful and well groomed. Of course she is.
"You took my oysters Rockefeller!" I tell him. He has only eaten half the order, so he passes the other three to me. The waiter intercepts the pass and takes it to the kitchen for a warmup.
[caption id="attachment_43539" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Oysters Rockefeller at Tony Angello's[/caption]
I got to know John Jay in my early years of radio, when he was constantly showing up on talk shows to hold forth on his ideas of great haircutting. Then and now, he has the personality of a star.
[caption id="attachment_43540" align="alignnone" width="274"]
Artichoke at Tony Angello's.[/caption]
Mary Ann--who had her hair cut a few times at John Jay--was ecstatic to discover that Tony Angello has stuffed artichokes, with lots of butter and garlic and herbs and bread crumbs. This is one of her favorite dishes, a taste for which she passed on to Mary Leigh, who also goes after it with gusto.
We pass on the multi-course feed for which Tony Angello's is famous. I start with the oyster-artichoke soup, which taste the same as when I last wrote about it in 1977. Then the Rockefellers and the Bienvilles, both tasty and filling. The Marys split an Italian salad. Then eggplant Tina--sort of a lasagna made with eggplant in the place of the pasta--for ML. She doesn't like it, or the red sauce. But this is the old-style, sweet, smooth sauce preferred by people three times ML's age. And ML makes her own red sauce from scratch, so she has strong ideas on the subject.
[caption id="attachment_43541" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Spiedini, the best dish at Tony Angello's. [/caption]
The waiter and Dale both say that by some miracle I ordered the best dish in the house: chicken spiedini. It's the standard Italian stuffing with a bit of ham, all run up on skewers and baked. This is a Mr. Tony dish, all right.
Mr. Tony is pushing his nineties now. But he still shows up for work every day. I find him sitting alone in the bar, having a little snack. We exchange the hug he gives to everyone who knows him even a little.
And I remember the day, about two months after Katrina, when passing by I saw him standing outside his restaurant. It had stood in flood water deep enough to lap the roof. After the hug, he said, "I'd like to invite you in for dinner with me. I'd like to, but I can't. Let me show you why." He took me into the dining room, a forest of studs.
"Come in and have lunch with me," he tells me now. I say I will, but I know I can't. The radio show pre-empts lunch every day. I'm going to figure out a way, though.
[title type="h5"]Tony Angello's. Lakeview: 6262 Fleur de Lis Dr. 504-488-0888. [/title]
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[title type="h5"]Saturday, August 16, 2014.
Adventures In Thai Hot.[/title]
We have been rained upon with gusto all this week. The grass needs cutting, but the tractor would get stick in the mud. I am barely able to take my daily walk, the lightning is so threatening.
Mary Leigh and The Boy have decided not only that they like Thai food, but that they like it very hot. The three of us (MA is not a Thai eater) meet for dinner at Thai Spice in Mandeville. At least that's what we do after they go to Thai Pepper instead. I don't think I heard them wrong. Since I'm paying, they'll have to come to where I am. But I agree that Thai Pepper is the better restaurant, if by a small margin.
[caption id="attachment_43543" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Green curry at Thai Spice[/caption]
Green curry, three-star hot (just below "Thai hot") for me, with chicken. The next generation gets two orders of pad Thai. One each two-star and four-star. The Boy is not just playing macho by getting the latter. He says that it's almost impossible to make food peppery enough for him. Indeed, he all but inhales the noodle dish. How wonderful to have the appetite of a twenty-two-year-old!
[title type="h5"]Thai Spice. Covington: 1531 US 190. 985-809-6483. [/title]
Written by Tom Fitzmorris August 25, 2014 12:01 in
