Saturday, December 26, 2009. Biscuits. Parties. Bonefish Grill. I was the first one up this morning, but not by much. I cleaned up enough of the kitchen--the detritus of our Christmas feast yesterday was still everywhere--to make room for manufacturing a batch of biscuits. We haven't had these old favorites in months. Weekend-morning biscuits is one of the many rituals that faded when the kids grew into young adults, and aren't greeted with the delight they used to inspire. Well, to heck with that. I've loved them all my life and never get tired of them.
Jude and Mary Leigh both had parties to attend and people to see on the South Shore. What parties and people? I asked. "I don't know yet," they each said. Ah, yes. I remember this. I was gone all the time and nobody knew where I was. And I didn't want them to know that I didn't know myself, that I was just hoping something would turn up. I wasn't doing anything wrong--just had my own agenda, and didn't want to be part of my parents' life anymore. Not all the time, anyway.
Mary Ann was open to the idea of dinner if I could think of a good place. I suggested Bonefish Grill. Her eyes lit up. I know my lady. She likes those damn chains as much as I dislike them. But one more visit will give me enough material for a review.
The one and only Bonefish Grill in the New Orleans area is in Covington. It has locations around most of the country, and is an arm of the Outback Steak House. The first time I went--on an invitation Mary Ann insisted we accept, days after the place opened--I found it better than most "dinnerhouses" (that's chain jargon for places like this), but riddled with the usual chain problems. The scant use of local seafood in a seafood house in New Orleans is a very big negative, for example.
We started with a pair of crab cakes and crab bisque. Both were made with crabmeat lumps of unfamiliar aspect. They were half the size of local blue crab lumps. Nobody I asked could confirm their origin, but my guess is that they're not local. Good enough, though, especially the soup. I followed that with a fan of seared rare tuna, sliced about a half-inch thick, served chilled over a little salad with at least two different sauces. This was beyond reproach, fresh and tangy.
The signature Bonefish dish is "bang-bang shrimp." They seem to be fried, then slathered with a spicy aioli. Everybody goes crazy over it, including MA, who orders it automatically. They were very, very spicy tonight, just below my threshold for red pepper and a touch above hers. It's really an appetizer for the table, but Bonefish doesn't seem to make much of a distinction between appetizers and entrees--often just adding side dishes to the former to make the latter.
My own entree was a curious special: mahi-mahi lobster thermidor. It was more mahi than lobster, with a shelled claw being the primary presence of the crustacean. The sauce was a creamy, rich, slightly peppery, thick job that can get away with the thermidor name largely because there's so much disagreement about what constitutes thermidor. (It's a nearly extinct dish.) I thought this was quite good. The mahi was better than usual. The corn, green beans, and other garnishes completed a well-conceived dish.
Jude came with us to Bonefish, but didn't stay. While he lingered with us, he was on the phone beating the bushes for possibilities, one of which came to fruition and sent him out the door. As we entered the entree course, Mary Leigh showed up, reporting that the party pickings were slim, and that she didn't want to drive home too late. She got an order in for a cheeseburger, which rated about a seven, she said.
I finished my dinner with creme brulee, which was excellent, light, and not too sweet. Funny. Sweetness in savory dishes is one of my complaints about Bonefish's food.
After dinner, we all went home and gave more hours to memorizing the scripts of all eleven seasons of Frasier. Jude, having turned up nothing after all, joined us at around ten. I will remember these years as "The Age Of Frasier." It's all right with Mary Ann. She and Jude are allegedly leaving for Los Angeles tomorrow, so this is the end of the family Christmas for this year.
Bonefish Grill. Covington: 200 River Highlands Boulevard 985-809-0662. Seafood.
