Saturday, June 11, 2011.
Steak And Eggs.
Up too early, but that allowed me to grab hold of an idea in a dream. It concerns the way big-deal chefs here and elsewhere have begun opening ever more downscale restaurants. Chef Adolfo Garcia of Rio Mar and three other restaurants opened a pizza parlor this week. Chef Aaron Burgau and his fans seem to be overly thrilled by the hamburger joint he opened yesterday on Oak Street.
Why are such fine chefs doing this? I'll tell you why. The profit margins in such places are much more generous than those of gourmet bistros. A hamburger shop requires less investment in physical plant and payroll, because nobody expects such places to be beautiful or have brilliant staff. All they have to do is get the food right.
The question keeps haunting me: Does nobody care anymore about the best restaurants and food? Must everything be a drive-in, diner, or dive?
I told Mary Ann that I was considering a bold act this morning: driving myself to Mattina Bella for breakfast. I couldn't think of any reason why I couldn't. But she is still repenting for chewing me out a few weeks ago, when I made her dieting harder by asking her to add breakfast to her meal schedule once a week. Ever since, she has insisted on breakfast, even when I don't ask.
But she did let me drive to Mattina Bella. And I did unload my walker from the back of the car all by myself, and put it back onto our deck when we got home. More achievements: I descended the six steps from the deck on my hands and feet, without having to get down on my left knee. That knee, taking the weight that ordinarily would be on my foot, has been asking for some time off lately. At the restaurant, I went in through the front door instead of the handicap-accessible back door. It required on step up. No problem.
My entire food intake yesterday was a slice of toast, a small slice of cheese pizza, another slice of toast and some ice cream. I felt okay about having an enormous breakfast at Mattina Bella today. That's one of few restaurants that still serve the old-style steak-and-eggs breakfast. I can't say I miss it. And until I ordered it about eight months ago at Mattina Bella, it hadn't so much as crossed my mind since the days of the old Buck Forty-Nine Steak And Pancake House. That's about twenty years ago.
But I was surprised by how good that seven-ounce sirloin strip was at Mattina Bella. It seemed the perfect thing for breakfast today. It wasn't steakhouse good, but certainly worth twelve dollars or more for the steak, scrambled eggs, Susan Spicer's multi-grain toast, and hollandaise on the side. I knew this was probably going to be my only meal all day, so I gobbled it down with gusto.
Mary Ann was more restrained. She ordered her usual Country Boy omelette (with bacon, ham, and sausage and cheese), but she only ate half of it. She got hungry later, and went with Mary Leigh to La Carreta again.
On the radio for three hours, then spent most of the rest of the day reading proofs of Lost Restaurants.
Mattina Bella. Covington: 421 E Gibson. 985-892-0708.
