Wednesday, September 27, 2017. MA calls to tell me that she is suspending an edict from earlier this week to the effect that she will not dine with me this week. Good news! No option is more pleasing to my ears than sharing a table with her. I even have a an intriguing option as to where this supper will occur. Today during the radio show, a caller asked me what's going on in the building next door to the Camellia Grill. For many years, that was the sidewalk-and-balcony hamburger shop under the name O'Henry's. But that outfit closed down, and it's been empty for months. I knew that, but I wasn't sure what if anything had taken its place.
Now I know. The name of the new restaurant is Batture, a reference to that stretch along the Mississippi River between the levee and that water. People have been known to squat long-term there, and there's a lot of lore generally. Good name!
I am not through the door when a familiar face greets me. It takes me a few minutes to realize that this is Chef Willie Haddad. He has owned a number of restaurants in Metairie, Uptown, and several consecutive eateries in Slidell. His last restauraurant of that group was called Rossetta, a pretty-good Italian restaurant in East St. Tammany. I can't recall ever having had less than a good dinner from Chef Willie. But I had completely lost track of him. Batture is apparently his recent return to the restaurant business. He sure can pick the locations. This one is in the middle of a big, young population and has easy parking.
Batture is not an Italian restaurant, but a standard New Orleans-style seafood house. My menu made that clear: I start with a good turtle soup, then have a platter of perfectly-fried but simple catfish. Mary Ann has a large pile of big barbecue shrimp. I don't have to ask her how she liked it. The big serving was soon gone, before I could get a chance to taste it. But this is a dish for which MA's standards are high, so I assume that this was very good indeed.
We wrap up with a well-made pecan bread pudding. I learn that Chef Willie's main man in the dining room is Anderson West, a chef who put on more than a few hours with Chef Andrea and his restaurant.
Now there was a lot of restaurant mysteries solved quickly!
Batture. Riverbend: 632 S. Carrollton Ave. 504-592-7771.
[divider type=""]
Thursday, September 28, 2017. It's the hottest day I remember this year. At least it is on the North Shore, where the temp went up to 96 Fahrenheit before I could get to the Causeway. The bad part of this is getting in the car at home. It's a roaster in there. It's a good thing I have no intentions of siring any more children.
The highlight of the radio show is a visit from LoriBeth de Grusha. She is the third generation of her family to operate Johnny's Po-Boys, which I consider a contender for best poor-boy shop in the city. Opened in 1950 in a wonderfully accessible corner of the French Quarter, the place has a big menu of not just poor boys but plate lunches and breakfasts. The prices are those of a neighborhood joint, not a French Quarter spot.
Lori is perfectly delightful as a radio guest. She talks almost constantly--a highly desirable habit for a radio yak show visitor. She had many stories of her customers and her grandfather's food.
She was also nice enough to bring in several roast beef poor boys, along with a poor boy stuffed with crab cakes and another made with fried oysters. It's too bad we have so few staff around the radio studios at my time of day. We had a few sandwiches left over, although I'm sure they were all eaten at some point.
I ate about half of one of the roast beefs. It was exactly as delicious as I remember from the past. But I somehow had room for supper. Mr. Ed's Oyster Bar and Fish House--the branch of that five-shop operations that once was Bozo's--would satisfy my never-ending appetite for oysters.
I started with a cup of oyster-artichoke soup. Then a half-dozen of Buffalo-style oysters. That dish, created a long time at Mr. B's Bistro--is exactly the same as Buffalo chicken wings, but with oysters in lieu of chicken wings. A great improvement if you ask me.
A third oyster dish finished me off. This one is char-broiled oysters that ought really to be called "Oysters A La Drago." All this hit the spot, even though I didn't arrive all that hungry.
I wonder what's coming up in the former Bozo's parking lot across the street. There's a lot of construction lately around the Lakeside Mall. The most important restaurant among them is the national chain of Fleming's Steak House. This will be a battle with Ruth's Chris. That should be something to see.
Mr. Ed's Oyster Bar & Fish House. Metairie 3117 21st St. 504-833-6310.
Written by Tom Fitzmorris September 29, 2017 12:01 in
