Thursday, September 2, 02016.
Storms Divert. Forks & Corks. Out Of Time, Out Of Gas.
The tropical disturbance that presented a possible hurricane danger to New Orleans has moved away in the direction of Tampa. I always feel bad when someone else gets a bad fortune that had our name on it, but I'm even more strongly relieved that we're safe for now. I'm also pleased to see one of my Amateur Meteorological Theories continues to predict hurricanes accurately. Tom's Theory: If there have been a lot of regular, widely-scattered, very rainy summer thunderstorms throughout the season, no hurricanes will come to the same general area.
But what do I know?
ML continues to hang out around Gulf Shores alone. She hasn't dined out a lot, but she did go to a restaurant owned by Jimmy Buffet's sister and thought it pretty good. Nearby is an outpost of a familiar friend: the Acme Oyster House.
Mary Ann and I have a late lunch at Forks & Corks. MA says it's close to being her favorite restaurant on the North Shore, and I like it too. We begin with soups: white bean with shrimp for her, a chicken-andouille gumbo for me. The latter has a nice, deep roux and a fine flavor, except for one thing I find common among F&C's otherwise excellent soups: they make them with a bit too much salt. Or could their salt component be perfect, and the problem with my low-sodium habits? Everybody wants every restaurant to cook everything to his own tastes.
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Blackened fish salad with spinach. Kinda like the one we have with fried oysters.[/caption]
The chef has been using us as guinea pigs lately-not that I mind even a little. Today he has made a gratin of crawfish tails, chunks of white Gulf fish, and a good bit of melted cheese, all nicely spiced. Too much, I'd say, but I have no doubt that this will be a strong seller.
We wrap up the lunch by splitting a spinach salad topped with fried oysters. This is solidly good, especially in the 99-degree heat outside. I decided to run a poll on the radio show as to which baby salad green is best. Spinach, I am surprised to see, comes in last.
We linger too long at Forks (no Corks today) and run into traffic on the way back home. En route, I see I am nearly out of gas. I fill the tank a quarter of the way and speed off, just barely making it by airtime. Worst of all: I will get no nap before signing on. The nap is very important to the show, and I find myself less that coherent.
Forks & Corks. Covington: 141 TerraBella Blvd. 985-273-3663.
