Monday, March 12, 2012.
Two Pizzas, Eleven Oysters.
Sometimes the elements of life merge so well that one has to pinch oneself. After eating nothing but my usual two oranges and one slice of toast all day, at the end of the show I suggested to the Marys that we have dinner at Ristorante Carmelo. They both said okay, not giving the idea even a second's demurral.
The Eat Club will be at Carmelo day after tomorrow, but the Marys won't be there. And the food I had in mind for tonight was very different from what was on our menu for Wednesday. Besides, we haven't been to Carmelo in months.
We began with a pizza, the flavor chosen by ML. What? Not pepperoni, but mushroom and fresh mozzarella on an olive-oil base, with black truffles? This is a signal change in our daughter's tastes. And my own favorite pizza here.
The rest of her meal was half of a half-portion of lasagna. Something wrong with it? I asked. "No," she said. "But I'm full." We do not fight that impulse from her. Unlike her parents, she has managed to remain beautifully slender, almost athletic.
I tasted the lasagna anyway, just to make sure. It was actually better than I expected: great sauce, homemade pasta, right amount of cheese and meat.
"I think that the more upscale the restaurant is, the worse the lasagna gets," Mary Ann opined. "I like it simple. The old, cheap dried noodles, not fresh pasta. Good dark tomato sauce with tomato paste, not the extra-virgin, fresh-herbs, heirloom-tomato kind." Subtleties have never been my wife's bag.
Carmelo was offering a special on oysters at ninety-five cents each. While this would not compete with the deal at the Acme, Chimes, Shuck 'n' Jive, or Camellia Café (all of those have oysters for around 35 cents if you hit them at the right time), Carmelo lets you have them with either a special cold mignonette or baked all'areganata. Which was how I had them.
For the second time in a month, an order for a dozen oysters brought forth only eleven. (The first was at Shuck 'n' Jive, which quickly filled the honest-mistake gap.) I didn't question it, because--as they were last night at the Acme--the oysters were gigantic. It was a struggle to eat even just the dozen minus one.
I would say that this dish could be improved by poaching the oysters first, and running the filled shells under the broiler instead of baking them. A little more crust and a little less oyster water would have been better.
One of Carmelo's daughters was doubling as waitress and bartender. She made the best Negroni I've had in recent memory. I will get her to make them for me here from now on.
Ristorante Carmelo. Mandeville: 1901 US Hwy 190. 985-624-4844.
It's over three years since a day was missed in the Dining Diary. To browse through all of the entries since 2008, go here.
