Sunday, March 4, 2018. The scheduled movements are over for a weekend-long wedding in honor of Mary Ann's niece. But that doesn't mean that the family will so much as slow down in the frequency of its meetings. Today's brought together a dozen people for a supper at the Blue Crab at West End. When I arrived (after my 90-minute radio show), the attendance had risen to fifteen, jammed across the open-air deck. This setup almost certainly meant that Mary Ann--a lover of outdoor dining--had a hand in the seating.
The waiter was unusually skillful. That was a big help, because we needed to get separate checks. He told us about all the famous restaurants where he had worked in New York and elsewhere. We knew about his skills because he told us about how things wore in restaurants where he formerly worked. The separate-check imperative at was quite an undertaking, given that it's against house rules. With good reason, I'd say. But in this case, it was a life saver. Among the diners was several young men--brothers or cousins of bride--who rarely get involved in large groups like this.
My order was simple: a dozen raw oysters, followed by char-broiled oysters in the style of Drago's. The oysters were flagrantly salty, meaty and given of the aromas of the sea. One of our number is from the Chesapeake Bay area and sometimes raises oysters himself. Louisiana oysters are so much better than the bivalves of the Northeast that he couldn't help but be impressed. Still, not many people went for the raw oysters. This is exactly what I had in mind, so I could put away eight or none on my own.
I had an easier time distributing the grilled oysters, which everybody loves. (And they did tonight, too.) That finished my eating. But other orders were interesting as well. One I found intriguing was made with red snappers and a sauce that was somewhere between a cheese sauce and a cream sauce. Also noteworthy was the price for that (and the crabmeat on it), a shade above $30.
This is the first time I've dined at the Blue Crab in awhile. It's as good as I remember. But one aspect of the place cries out to be remedied. The larger parking lots nearby are across Lakeshore Drive from the restaurant (unless you're lucky enough to get closer. There is no median of any kind, and crossing Lakeshore Drive reeks of danger--especially at dusk, when it's uncertain whether drivers can see the pedestrians. I managed to cross when a group of some eight others made a move through the traffic. This made us visible long enough for us to make it across. I don't know who planned this road, but it deserves a rethinking. Luckily, I was able to return to my car when Mary Ann--who, in her secret identity as The Parking Witch--managed to find a space right in front of the restaurant's entrance.
After about half an hour spent dividing the checks, the gathering ended. I always enjoy spending time with these people from MA's deep family. Some of them were instrumental in letting our family reside in Washington D.C. while Katrina's damage had been settled and we could come back home. And that is something we'll never forget.
Blue Crab. West End: 7900 Lakeshore Dr. 504-284-2898.
Monday, March 5, 2018. The Siblings Depart For Drago's. Well, I thought that yesterday would be the end of the big wedding in Mary Ann's family. But a few lingerers hang on to have a big oyster dinner at Drago's. That's something of a tradition among the siblings who live elsewhere. For example, two of MA's sisters live on the West Coast, and one more came in from Maryland. You can't get char-broiled oysters on those places. And we who live in the New Orleans area don't go to Drago's as much as we'd like, because in these days of Lent the place is even busier than it always is.
We take the usual overtime to decide what to eat. I go for the obvious first choice with three dozen of the original char-broiled oysters. We pass the hot shells around and sop up all that butter-and-Parmesan-cheese sauce in them. Yum, yum--
Random idea: How about replacing the ratings in NOMenu from fleurs de lis or stars with Yums. Drago's, for example, would be a Yum Yum Yum Yum restaurant. Don's would get Yum Yum, period. Readers who have an opinion on this change are invited to call me during the radio show: 504-260-6368.
The next course to appear during the Drago's eat-em-up included quite an assortment of flavors. It's a combination of shrimp and grits, with its barbecue shrimp quality in the sauce, with grillades and grits, made with what looked like barbecue brisket. The person who ordered this was very happy with it, and suggested I go for it too.
Other dishes of note included fleur de lis shrimp, the sharply-seasoned fried shrimp that you can't stop eating once you start. A shrimp and pasta dish asked for by MA's sister and near-twin. And a new addition to the menu at Drago's: a taco of chicken and some spicy accouterments. Drago's just began offering that recently, and Klara Cvitanovich (wife of the late Drago himself, she is almost always in the restaurant, directing activities at the front desk). Klara says that the new Drago's tacos have been in astonishingly high demand.
My entree is one of the sleepers on the menu. It's called the Mediterranean crabmeat salad. It's a big platter consisting of lettuce, lump crabmeat, and a white, lightly-flavored dressing that reminds me of ravigote sauce or a light remoulade. The amount of crabmeat here is hard to believe. I could not finish it, despite its goodness.
The final touch in this meal was a bottle of Dixie beer. It's back in the market, thanks to the patronage of Tom Benson, owner of the Saints, the basketball Pelicans, and almost everything else, it seems. But Mr. Benson had a health lapse recently, and everyone is worried about him.
I don't have an accessible memory of Dixie Beer from its glory years. What I drank to day is not brilliant, but not bad, either. It has more of a hoppy taste than I expected. But it's nice to have this shot from the time machine.
I was expecting these words to be the final report about the big weekend in the weekend just past. But no! MA and all her brothers and sisters except one got together for lunch at Café B. A rather good one, says MA. Yum Yum Yum Yum, they say. Diring this finale, they talked about the reception and its food, which wound up being much better than was expected. Fine Thyme out of Ponchatoula did the cooking and serving, I learned and will now remember.
And now I think we have this affair set into words. But there are quite a few other young cousins, nieces and nephews waiting for their turns at the altar. Or so we think.
Written by Tom Fitzmorris March 07, 2018 16:12 in
