[title type="h5"]Thursday, September 4, 2014.
Bosco's In Terra Bella.
[/title]
The radio show originates from my study today. Then I take a walk with the dogs. For once, they stay with me throughout the three miles, resisting the urge to run up the road to palaver with the other pooches--not all of whom like our dogs, particularly the monster Barry. (Short for "Barricade," which he can effectively present if you try to pass him by without giving him a scratch behind the ears. I have seen him bring cars to a halt.)
I'm proud to say that today I curled a five-pound weight during four complete laps of the Cool Water Ranch. Fitness buffs will laugh at that wimpy achievement, but this small addition to my walk has done wonders for me. If I don't wear a belt, my pants now fall off.
I apologize for planting that image in your brain.
Mary Ann and I have dinner at Tony Bosco's Italian place in Terra Bella. She once again states her love of the decor there, calling it one of the most beautiful restaurants on the North Shore. She eats a pair of crab cakes while I indulge in a cup of crab and corn soup. Then a pair of salads, and MA stops eating.
[caption id="attachment_16952" align="alignleft" width="480"]
Tony Bosco's At Terra Bella.[/caption]
I keep going with an appetizer-size casserole of Italian baked oysters, with aglio olio pasta on the side. All this is light and good. So is the wrap-up of panna cotta for dessert. But the place is nearly empty. Well, it's Labor Day week, the slowest of the year for restaurants.
[caption id="attachment_36939" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Oysters Anthony.[/caption]
The liquid portion of the meal is the first taste of Carmenet wine I've had in many years. It's a Pinot Noir, which tells me how far behind is my tracking of the Sonoma County winery. I remember them as being mostly about Cabernet Sauvignon. But this Pinot tells me they've branched out a lot. Good, too.
~
[title type="h5"]
Bosco's. Covington: 141 TerraBella Blvd. 985-612-7250.[/title]
[divider type=""]
[title type="h5"]
Friday, September 5, 2014
The Inevitable Peppermill.[/title]
Back in the radio studio today. After the main show is done I am the guest on Angela Hill's show. We talk about French restaurants around town, and how they have become ethnic restaurants instead of the grand dining parlors they once were.
I show up with a bottle of Champagne Billecart-Salon, left with me a few weeks ago by the maitre d' of Le Foret guested on my show. Maybe it was still bubbly two weeks ago, when I was supposed to be on Angela's show, but had to postpone for the trip to Los Angeles got in the way of that, and now all I have is a still wine with a big name.
The only fizzy wine I have in my office is a bottle of Barefoot bubbly. I apologize for that, but Angela and her producer were charmed, even though the stuff was clearly too sweet for a sophisticated palate.
This wasn't one of our better shows. A guy called up with effusive praise for Angela, who he called his hero and godmother. Then he turned his spotlight on me, saying how thrilled he was to be able to talk with two of his inspirations at once. This is nice to hear, but it tests other listeners' control of the gag reflex. I would have eased him off the air five times, but it isn't my show.
I had a good song ready for Angela, about being lonely in Paris. But she didn't ask me to sing, and I never impose my attempts at music on unsympathetic ears. (That's from the code of conduct among the members of the Society for the Encouragement and Preservation of Barbershop Quartet Singing In America, of which I am a card-carrying member.)
[caption id="attachment_43790" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Trout amandine at the Peppermill, with its good brabant potatoes.[/caption]
I have a few commercials to write and record, and it was after dark once I left the station. The supper that seemed most appealing to me was trout amandine and a salad at the Peppermill. And so it was, as good as ever, one of the most under-appreciated restaurants in town.
[title type="h5"]Peppermill. Metairie 2: Orleans Line To Houma Blvd: 3524 Severn Ave. 504-455-2266. [/title]
Written by Tom Fitzmorris September 16, 2014 12:01 in
