Monday, November 1, 2010. No Ratings, No Good. The Acme Has Oysters, But None For Me. Several times in my career, I've found myself the only writer in town who publishes restaurant ratings. It seems another such period has begun. Brett Anderson--the restaurant writer for the Times-Picayune--came out with his annual 100-best-restaurants pull-out section in yesterday's paper. It's a lot better than what the newspaper used to put out. As recently as the 1990s, twice a year they'd put out a tabloid in which every advertiser got a story, and nobody who wasn't an advertiser was mentioned.
Brett's brief writeups on the 100 restaurants did not show the newspapers red-bean ratings. And he hasn't published a rated restaurant review in many, many months. Is the Times-Picayune yet another of the many American newspapers to dispense with restaurant criticism? In this town, that amounts to gross negligence.
Speaking of a long time since. . . Mary Ann and I had supper at the Acme Oyster House in Covington. It's almost nostalgic. We've been neglecting the place in recent months, what with Mary Leigh, Jude, and sometimes even Mary Ann gone from home. For most of the time since Katrina, we'd show up there two or three times a month.
But--perhaps because there were none in the Times-Picayune--I hungered for red beans, which are good at the Acme. But almost as soon as we sat down, I put in an order for a half-dozen oysters. I wasn't thinking about those until I walked in, but the power of suggestion overwhelmed me.
I ordered the beans later, when the waitress delivered a schooner of Abita Amber. Then, my oyster yen still unsated, the red beans landed. The waitress said that the oysters would be out momentarily. "Cancel them!" I said. She repeated that they were almost ready. I said that the roles of raw oysters was as an appetizer, not a side dish to red beans, and it was too late now.
Why is it that so many people working in so many restaurants don't understand the concept of serving a meal in courses? When they go out to dinner, do they want appetizer, soup, salad, and entree all at the same time? Is this an extension of the buffet habit? Of all the slippages in service in recent times, this is the one that most gets under my skin.
I had the bananas Foster cheesecake for dessert. It looked far too good to be served in a restaurant like this. I think fancy food belongs in fancy places. But it could be worse. I feel even more strongly that plain food belongs in plain places. In other words, if the entrees are over $30, the food should not look as if it had been spooned out of a steam table.
Gosh, I'm testy today.
Acme Oyster House. Covington: 1202 US 190 (Causeway Blvd). 985-246-6155.
