[title type="h5"]Sunday, August 28, 2016
Mary Leigh Picks Up Where She Left Off.[/title]
Our daughter Mary Leigh flew in from Washington, D.C. at midday, and it already seems that she never left. We eat at La Caretta in Mandeville, right where we were a year ago, and many other years before that, eating the same choriqueso and salsa and beef taco variants and salads.
While we're sitting under an umbrella on the patio, the skies turn very dark and one of those instant thunderstorms comes crashing down from the northwest. We grab our stuff and our food and repair to the dining room, where it's not only dry but also out of the heat. Until the storm came, it was in the nineties outside. But Mary Ann continues to extol the wonders of the great outdoors. At least the food doesn't get cold while we're out there.
I spend the rest of the day writing invitations to the two Eat Club dinners coming up in two weeks. And in updating my subscriber files. That's every bit as boring as it sounds, but not this time. An offer I made to subscribers with expiring subscriptions three days ago has been a big hit. If they renewed, I'd send half of what they pay to the Second Harvesters Food Bank, which is not only keeping up its usual big job but filling in gaps in the emergency food network in the flooded lands around Baton Rouge. The Baton Rouge Food Bank was flooded like everything else, and lost a million dollars' worth of food. I am very pleased that we can send $1000 from our minuscule publishing company. (As I write this three days later, we have been able to send another grand to the effort.)
Monday, August 29, 2016.
The Worst Anniversary.
Many and probably most Orleanians recall the headline on the newspaper eleven years ago this morning: "Katrina Takes Aim." What a change in our lives that made. Now I look at the tropical weather map and see an undeveloped tropical system expected to move to a position in the Gulf of Mexico not a lot different from where Katrina was on that fateful morning. All the other conditions are different today, and this storm probably won't amount to anything much. But one never knows, does one?
The Marys and I have lunch at New Orleans Food and Spirits, once again returning to a routine that didn't vary much when ML was still living with us. Red beans for me. Usual oversize serving, of which MA eats about a third. Salads for the girls. We remark about how well they serve us at NOF&S. And about how much has changed and how little.
This has not been my favorite year.
Tuesday, August 30, 2016.
Shaya, To Be Cool On A Warm Night.
For most of the existence of Shaya, Mary Leigh has lived elsewhere. But she is keenly aware that John Besh and Alon Shaya's Israeli restaurant is one of the very hip places to dine in New Orleans. Washington, D.C. has lots of such places, although few are as good as Shaya.
Mary Ann is long in the thrall of John Besh and company too. She has researched techniques to get tables at Shaya, which is almost always booked weeks in advance. MA says the trick is to come early and be willing to sit outside in the alleyway/patio. Of course, MA loves this space--gotta have that outdoor air! It's not too bad today, really, with a breeze blowing through.
My daughter is truly a grown-up. She asks for a glass of cava bubbly with no suggestion from me. I wasn't even there yet when the girls had ordered and eaten most of two variations on hummus. The one with crisp chickpeas and lamb and the version with chanterelle mushrooms are the best of what we ordered this day. I have avocados on toast with smoked whitefish and pink peppercorns. This is good enough, but it seems as likely to have been found in a Mexican restaurant. One must be read for these sharp turns that restaurants like this one make.
We finish with a dessert called "milk and honey," containing in its dish some halvah ice cream and straight-ahead cheesecake.
On the way out, I run into Joel Dondis, a chef/owner with many facets in the business. He is best known for Sucre and a big first-class catering operation. Mary Leigh worked for Sucre for some time, and Joel knew who she was from her work record, but he didn't know she was my daughter.
Shaya. Uptown: 4213 Magazine St. 504-891-4213.
