Saturday, August 6, 2011.
Undrivable. Korean Tacos.
We began the day by heading into Covington to retrieve my car, then to have breakfast at Mattina Bella. But the car wasn't ready. One of the parts the mechanic needed to finish the job was unavailable anywhere in the area, and perhaps in the country. Back-ordered at the factory, he told me. Three possible parts were flying in from here and there, but wouldn't arrive until Monday.
That cancelled breakfast, too. Mary Ann and I returned home. I was in a funk. Not only am I carless, but last night Standard & Poor's announced it was downgrading U.S. bonds, a move that certainly means a big stock market drop on Monday. It already took a bad tumble this week. We are not heavily invested in stocks, but that kind of bad news for some reason sends an irrational chill through me, and deranges my mind slightly.
My strategy is to completely ignore the news until it all shakes down. As it certainly will. A case could be made that ignoring the news is a good idea. The news industry has an interest in making everything they report seem more important than it actually is. This is even more true than usual, given the poisonous political climate of the moment. I've never seen worse. On the other hand, the effect may be explained by saying that ignorance is bliss.
I had three hours of radio to do, which always lightens my mood. I made a run to Rouse's to pick up what I'll need for a cooking demo I'm scheduled to do tomorrow at the Restaurant Expo. Harlan Pearce, the chairman of the organization putting on that part of the event, asked me to do this. I guess they were running out of real chefs.
The Marys and I were up for a light supper, as much to escape the house as anything. I knew what I wanted: another one of those Zea tuna stacks. Zea always rings the girls' bells, so we don't have to spend a half-hour discussing where to go.
At the restaurant, though, I noticed something new on the summer menu. The waitress was excited about it. "I hope they keep it on the regular menu," she said. These Korean BBQ Tacos come out as an interesting assortment of items on a big platter. A little instruction booklet tells you to unroll one of the four grilled flour tortillas, cover it with a leaf of romaine lettuce, top that with some of the red-with-seasoning, falling-apart pork shoulder meat, add some kimchee slaw, roll it up, and eat it.
I followed those instructions, as did Mary Ann. We concurred after one bite that this was a seriously good little item. My only complaint was that the slaw, while spicier than most, had nowhere near the pepper level I expect to taste from something called kimchee. (That's the national nibble of Korea.) I liked everything else about it, including the price: eight bucks for something the size of an entree.
I spent the rest of the evening doing bookkeeping, the most boring activity in my life. Even my only anecdote about it is stultifying. Here it is anyway. My father--who was a bookkeeper all his adult life--noted with pride that "bookkeeper" is the only word in the English language with three consecutive pairs of twin letters.
Zea. Harahan: 1655 Hickory Ave. 504-738-0799.
It has been over three years since a day was missed in the Dining Diary. To browse through all of the entries since 2008, go here.
