Tuesday, January 23, 2018. Mary Ann is excited by a sandwich shop in Lakeview. The Backyard is very simple: it's targeted for families, especially those with young members who might want to play in the yard before or after grabbing a lunch. The edibles are dominated by sandwiches, many of them in the category of Advanced Hot Dogs. Indeed, that's exactly what I found to eat on the menu. It's New Orleans style hot sausage, made by the master of that item: Vaucresson's Chaurice, whose peppery sausages dominate the red-bean-and-chicken-gumbo category locally. The chaurice came out on a large hamburger bun. This was the beginning of my problems with eating here. Although the guy behind the counter was quite to deliver anything you asked for, that would still not bring steel, fork, or spoons. All they had were thin plastic implements. I pulled the sandwich apart and tore away the sausage as best I could, but it was uncomfortable. This is not the kind of place for me, despite the better-than-average ingredients. But I can see why Mary Ann likes it. She likes children, and this is a fun place for kids. I suspect also that they do a more robust trade during the daytime. In the darkness, it's hard to figure out where to go to get in and place an order. Wednesday, January 24, 2018. I haven't sent out any renewal pitches to the NOMenu Daily, and we have a milestone to note. just passed. The first edition of the newsletter came out on January 3, 1977. So we've published just over forty years. It was a biweekly at first, then went up to a monthly. When the Web appeared we used it for all it was worth and became a daily. I wonder how many words I've written in this endeavor.
