Monday, June 24, 2013.
Solving The Puzzle. Oyster-Artichoke Soup And Red Sauce Flows At Mandina's.
I'm moving toward a major re-configuration of the NOMenu web site, whose underlying software--about three years old--is overdue for an overhaul. One important matter: the present site is hard to use on a smartphone. And recent statistics show that more people are using smartphone software to get on my pages than computers.
I was thinking I'd have to pass this off to a freelancer who knows what he (a guy in India) or she (a lady in New Zealand) is doing. However, as I fiddle around with the job, it's proving easier than I expected. The project has evolved from a complete mystery--the kind that makes one wonder whether one has lost dozens of IQ points--to a difficult but fathomable puzzle. Between yesterday and today, I have made more progress with the job than I would have imagined possible a week ago.
When I ended the radio show at six, I was surprised to learn that the Marys were eager for dinner. One of those little voices that speak for our appetites has been telling me to eat red-sauce Italian food for the past week or so.
Mandina's, anyone?
The Mandina's on the North Shore has been steadily improving, and its once-echoing dining room has been busy our last few times in. I was ecstatic to learn that oyster-artichoke soup had become available. It hasn't been for most of the Mandeville location's seven years. Which drove me nuts, because at the Canal Street original Mandina's, the oyster-artichoke soup was a) the best of its kind in New Orleans, made in the style developed by its inventor, Chef Warren Leruth; 2) the best soup at Mandina's, even topping their famous turtle soup; and possibly iii) the best dish of any kind at either Mandina's.
Well, bring it on. Great. Fresh. Lots of oysters and oyster flavor in the broth. Terrific. The North Shore eating scene went up noticeably as a result. Huzzah!
All three of us had massive red-sauce-and-pasta dishes before us. Mary Ann: lasagna. Mary Leigh: chicken Parmigiana (also the favorite dish of The Boy, who now cannot be reached even by telephone during his Army training in the Northwest). Me: eggplant Parmigiana, the least good of the batch. However, this is three times now that the red sauce has been excellent. At the old Mandina's, I never thought much of it (and still don't).
Owner Frank Marcello is almost always there and working when we visit. But he has another restaurant, just opened in Baton Rouge! He's one of the hardest-working people in the business. Little by little, he's making this Mandina's work. If only it were more visible.
Mandina's. Mid-City: 3800 Canal. 504-482-9179. Mandeville: 4240 La 22. 985-674-9883.
To browse through all of the Dining Diaries since 2008, go here.
