Saturday, January 28, 2012.
English Tea Room. DiMartino's.
It took me until nine to recover from last night. What was I thinking, having two cappuccinos at ten in the evening?
I went through the motions of getting ready for the Saturday errands, waiting for Mary Ann to invite herself to breakfast with me. (I'm not permitted to invite her.) She finally did, with the aim of going to Toad Hollow Café, a cute place with an exacting and offbeat breakfast menu. We were already seated and the waitress was coming over to get our orders when MA decided she had a better idea.
After apologies, we moved four blocks over to the English Tea Room. It's a delightfully, very British place with a million teas. Owner Jan Lantrip blends them all personally. She told us that she has lately persuaded many restaurants to serve her teas. The latest addition to the list is Coquette. Which, Jan said, is about to open a pastry shop in the French Quarter. Another one?
Mary Ann loves this place. First, because it's a delightful environment, like the tea salon of an expensive small hotel in London. Second, because she gets to cajole Jan into writing a tea blog for the Menu Daily, and turn the collected works into a book about tea. I don't know why my wife wants to write her own books, even though they're pretty good. She's a much better manager of others.
She ate a few scones and drank a black tea. My cuppa was "Buckingham Palace Garden Party," an aromatic blend made in honor of the recent royal marriage. Wonderful.
The solid part of my breakfast was eggs Benedict. I didn't remember it until it arrived. Then it came back to me: this is something they either need to improve a lot or get rid of. The eggs were overcooked and the hollandaise lumpy. Much better are the Buckingham Bake (a little casserole of eggs with potatoes, cheese and onions), the Scotch eggs, and the quiches. One can also make a wonderful breakfast here of pastries and fresh fruit.
It has been a long time since we were last here. That time, I had to be hoisted up in the Tea Room's handicap elevator.
I had a midday radio show to get off my chest. Then I spent hours writing a renewal notice for my subscribers. I have learned that any amount of time I give this task is returned in the results. This one proved to be exceptionally good. I wish I knew why.
The most attractive possibility for the evening meal was the wine dinner tonight at Ristorante Carmelo. He has them every month, and I go to every third or fourth one. Tonight's looked pretty good, but I didn't feel up to such a long, big meal. I follow those cues from my appetite.
Instead, Mary Ann suggested DiMartino's, which sounded uncomplicated and good. I knew that in addition to the signature muffuletta and poor boys and pastas with red sauce at least one good fish dish would be on the menu. In this case, it was redfish, seared in a pan, sent out with a lemon butter. It's so much better than most of the rest of the food here (which is not bad) that it seems to have come from a different restaurant--maybe even one as good as Gallagher's, across the street.
The mystery was cleared up without my having to investigate further. Peter DiMartino--who started the local chain with a single muffuletta shop in 1975--was hosting today. We got to talking. "I think really fresh fish is really important," he said. "We buy only a few pounds every day."
That led him into a family history. His father owned a grocery store of the old, pre-supermarket style. It was on Magazine Street at Octavia, across from what used to be one of the many public markets that once dotted the city. "We lived next to the building that the Flaming Torch is in now," Peter said. "My father stayed in business longer than he should have. But everybody started shopping at the big supermarkets, and he couldn't fight that."
The redfish was as fine as it had been on previous visits. I asked to have a side of angel hair instead of the included baked potato, with a sauce like the one on the fish. No problem.
Meanwhile, MA enjoyed an appetizer of artichoke hearts topped with that Italian bread crumb-and-garlic concoction we put on oysters Mosca and the like. That was a big enough plate that I stole a couple of the artichokes, cut them up, and tossed them with my pasta. I believe I have invented a great new dish for these people. I don't want any money for the idea. Just call it "angel hair pasta with artichokes Tommaso."
The business of ordering at the counter a la fast food still seems totally wrong for this great-looking restaurant.
English Tea Room. Covington: 734 E Rutland. 985-898-3988.
DiMartino's. Covington: 700 S Tyler St. 985-276-6460.
