Tom’s new neighborhood is beautiful and comforting and I find myself hanging with him there a lot. Sometimes I do part of the show there. His new neighbors read like a Who’s Who in the NOLA food scene: Brocato, Cazenave, (both Count Arnaud and his daughter, among others,) as well as Gooch from Galatoire’s, to name only a few.
I wondered as I went today if it might be a crowded place because it’s the holiday, maybe even more powerful than November 1st. As I was going in I noticed a bit of increased activity, but this was unusual. At burials the funeral home has a canopy that is green and the crowd is normally just family. But this was a large white tent like a wedding tent, with a lot of people spilling out.
My curiosity was in hyper-mode but I didn’t pass there because I didn’t want to intrude. But on the way out it got the best of me, and I went past this celebratory scene. On closer inspection I saw it was a large white party tent full of people, with bartenders and champagne bottles on ice, a band, and lots of people. They were dancing and laughing and it became too much. I stopped and motioned to a worker who was by the road.
He came over and I asked what it was. He told me that today is the day that Ruth Fertel acquired Chris’s Steakhouse 60 years ago. There was a second line to her private mausoleum and then this party after. I laughed and remarked, “Only in New Orleans!”
Then I told him I had just visited my husband Tom Fitzmorris. He said, “Oh, is this where he is?” I shook my head affirmatively, thinking to myself that I’m pretty sure that today, he’s here, at this party. What fun!
