Saturday, January 22, 2011. La Noria, The Wishing Well. Nathan's In Slidell. Lunch at Taqueria La Noria, a little Mexican place on LA 59 just outside Mandeville. The building looks like a remnant of a more rustic time. It has hosted a string of restaurants during the past decade, some of them peculiar. (One of them was a combination Indian restaurant and poor boy shop.) The current owners have done a much better job with the place than their predecessors, not only in the landscaping department but also in the kitchen.
This was our third meal here, and we decided we like it. It's not as ethnic as some of the other taco-trucks-into-taquerias around town. But it's certainly more an expression of what these people actually eat in their homes. In a past meal I had good sopes--an open-face taco you don't see much in these parts. In the future (when the shy palate of Mary Ann is not with me) I will have the menudo.
Today we started with the choriqueso. I remember when only a few restaurants had this, and I was one of the few customers who ordered it. Now it's everywhere. La Noria's version was the opposite of all the others I've had. Instead of a cup of melted cheese dip with ground chorizo stirred in, this was chorizo with just enough cheese to make bits hold together. Spicy and good.
I found another dish today that was new to me: entomatadas. Only as I type it here did I see what the name means. Just as an enchilada is a stuffed tortilla covered with chili, an entomatada is a stuffed tortilla topped with tomatoes. You get four of these on a plate, stuffed with either shredded beef, pork, chicken, or cheese. I asked whether I could have one of each. The smiling waiter gave my favorite answer.
The entomatadas didn't look promising. The tortillas were small flour disks filled with the meats or cheese, and nothing else. The tomato sauce looked almost like spaghetti sauce. But in fact it was fantastically good. It was too much to finish comfortably, so I finished it uncomfortably.
Mary Ann was also happy with a couple of large tamales stuffed with pork. She asked for double rice but no beans; instead, she got double beans and no rice, but the waiter fixed it immediately. He explained to me (it took a few tries) what "La Noria" means. "Wishing well," I finally understood him to say. "The owners are about to build a real wishing well outside." I will use it to wish these very nice people well.
My radio show was not only at an odd time, but longer than usual. I went on shortly after three and stayed on until seven. Getting the show going was a chore. (You'll never convince me that a significant number of people listen to basketball games on the radio.) But after a half-hour we were rolling.
I don't get many chances to broadcast on WWL's amazing skywave. No other stations within two thousand miles are on 870 AM after dark, and the signal bounces through the ionosphere to distant points. Certainly it can be heard throughout the South like a local station. I got calls from Washington, D.C., Little Rock, Atlanta, and Memphis. Worth the extra time to a radio geek like me.
When I signed off, Mary Ann and I headed to Slidell for a dinner at Nathan's. Chef Ross Eirich--formerly the executive chef at Galatoire's--is a sponsor of my radio show. But I haven't been here in months. MA was reluctant, but decided after we settled into a banquette that she very much liked Nathan's and its style.
I thought the Reveillon was long gone for this season, but Nathan's version of it was still in force. Three courses, $35--not bad. We started with three baked oysters with a sauce of bread crumbs, butter, and herbs--very light, very good. And a small vol-au-vent (patty shell to MA) filled with crawfish etouffee, in a rich orange sauce with the flavor of crawfish. I think this dish ushered in the current crawfish season for us.
The chef saw our reservation, and saved a fillet of pompano for me. "We sold none of them yesterday, but that's all anyone wanted tonight," he said. The fillets were cut the way they do at Galatoire's, with some of the head still attached. Grilled fish, brown butter, sugar snap peas, some thinly-sliced roasted potatoes: right up my alley. Mary Ann was equally pleased with short ribs of beef with brown gravy and mashed potatoes. Her enthusiasm for this dish more than makes up for my disdain. (I think short ribs are way overused in upscale restaurants, and at best resemble the beef in a poor boy).
An oversize, well-made creme brulee for dessert, and we were off. The total check, including tip and a couple of glasses of wine, was $107. This was the best deal I've made all week.
On the way home, we entered a discussion about the usefulness of a college education in today's world. Mary Ann says it's a liberal plot to brainwash the young. I say it's necessary for one to broaden one's culture. The discussion quickly veered off into pure politics. We both know this is a mistake, and we do it anyway. So endeth several weeks of unusually fine harmony at our house. It will be days before we can like each other again.
Taqueria La Noria. Mandeville: 1931 LA 59. 985-727-7917.
Nathan's. Slidell: 36440 Old Bayou Liberty Rd . 985-643-0443.
