Friday, January 8. Sweet But Cold Seventeen. Impastato's. We awoke to a temperature reading of nineteen, but no problems. The cat Twinnery was waiting for us at the door. He went outside late last night. I waited for him to return to the inner warmth, but he never did. He seemed no worse for his eight hours in the frigidity. (Although he did tell me all about it before starting in on the matter of breakfast.) Cats are like women. A fellow may think he knows what's best for them, but he must go along with whatever they want to do.
Mary Leigh's top agenda item was tonight's Sweet Sixteen Party, hosted by her school. Like the one she attended last year when she actually was sixteen, it took place at Generations Hall in the Warehouse District. She went despite her advanced age because seniors have the right to do that. She also wore her most attractive dress. It was not what you would call cold-weather wear. Having to deal with the cold adjusted her attitude downward, and she didn't like the looks of the invited male contingent, either. After an hour she left, early enough that she joined us for the last part of dinner. She said she's never been colder in her life.
Mary Ann and I were dining at Impastato's, where the dining rooms under the faux stained-glass ceilings were full and warm. Something happened there that I've never before seen. Mary Ann insisted that all she wanted to eat was the redfish with crabmeat. No appetizer, no pasta, no salad. Joe never lets me get away with that. But I guess he knows that you have to go along with whatever women want to do. I assumed that I would get the full monte, so I ordered a martini (mmm), the Italian baked oysters (yum), the pasta combination (yum, yum), and the pork speidini. The latter was on fire with flavor and tenderness tonight. It's slices of pork wrapped around a stuffing of prosciutto, garlic, herbs, and bread crumbs. They skewer three of these and bake them in the oven. Yum times seven. Made me eat too much food.
I skipped dessert, though.
Impastato's. Metairie: 3400 16th Street 504-455-1545. Italian.
