Saturday, March 24, 2012.
Audubon Golf Club.
Mary Ann's two out-of-town sisters flew in from opposite coasts yesterday. They converged upon the home of her other sister. There they had a sleepover, recalling the years when three of them shared a bedroom.
That left me home alone for a couple of nights in a very quiet house. Old habits are good for filling gaps like that. So, off to breakfast at the Marriott Courtyard Café in Covington. I all but stopped going there because of their policy of not serving bacon on weekends. They have come to their senses. However, I was already reconciled to an unstripped breakfast, and asked Chef Gloria to make one of her nice, fluffy, moist omelettes with ham and cheese. They use deli-sliced ham for that instead of diced ham--a great idea, giving much better flavor.
Radio show from noon to three, with much to discuss. The weather was almost perfect for five food festivals going on around town this weekend. I say "almost," because while the sun was shining and the temperatures were cool, the tremendous rain of the past three days (we had seven inches at the Cool Water Ranch) left the City Park Disk Golf Club (an upscale Frisbee field) wet and muddy. That mucked up the Hogs For The Cause a little, but didn't depress the crowds. That's according to Mary Ann, who cannot resist the call of pork cooked on an outdoor pit. Sixty-something teams of cooks competed in the event. Some were pros, some amateurs--but there's not much skill difference between the two, so passionate are these people. The top prize went to Company Burger, one of the hot new places on Freret Street.
Mary Ann came home at the end of the show. Shortly afterward, she learned that the wedding we are to attend tonight begins not at seven, but six. "But I have to dye my hair and make a dress and. . . !!!" I chuckled and tuned out, knowing that there was absolutely nothing useful I could say or do.
Bob and Rebecca are both attorneys, both celebrating nuptials for the first time, relatively late in life. Judging by the glow they gave off when we ran into them in restaurants, fate seemed to have been saving them for one another. Bob is our family lawyer. Two of Mary Ann's sisters worked in his office for many years. Bob's brother Sid is also a friend, met when his son Remy and Jude were in the same circle of schools, sports, and other stuff. (More proof that only five hundred people actually live in New Orleans.)
The reception was at the Audubon Club House. Renovated into a combination restaurant and catering hall, it's a beautiful venue for this sort of party. That was particularly true after dark, when the surrounding golf links were in darkness. That gave the illusion of being far out in the country, not the center of Uptown New Orleans.
The food was even good. After sampling salads, pates, pastas, and an Asian stir-fry, I fell into the thrall of oysters Rockefeller and Bienville, served hot on the shells and constantly being replenished. I made a meal of about a dozen of those. Not a classic recipe for either, but certainly delicious.
The band was highly listenable, too--six musicians playing and singing standards from some five decades. The father of the bride got into the act, playing trumpet and clarinet a couple of times while the cakes were being cut.
Audubon Club House. Uptown: 6500 Magazine. 504-212-5280.
It's over three years since a day was missed in the Dining Diary. To browse through all of the entries since 2008, go here.
