Today is the first anniversary of Tom’s passing, so we made a point of having lunch in one of his favorite places. We went to Commander’s Palace, a place that was near to his heart for so many years. I showed ML the round booth in the corner of the first floor dining room, where Tom met monthly with Dick Brennan and Marcel Bienvenu as willing taste-testers for new dishes their young chef Emeril Lagasse wanted to try out on them.
The place was rocking because today was also Muse’s parade day, and the entire krewe went through the dining room en route to their luncheon. There was plenty more festivity there. Tables of large parties with bright cocktails and balloons were scattered about the large dining room. Lots of costumes too.
Service was a little spotty and the food was a bit off, but no one seemed to care. Tom might have if he had been there in the flesh rather than in spirit. Two soups and the extra app landed on the table at the same time. Tom would often say to the server, “Now which of these should I let get cold?” But to have such a thing happen at Commander’s Palace is unthinkable, or it would have been in Tom’s time.
I ate the white bean and kale soup du jour first. The oyster app was already lukewarm. The soup was good but slightly salty (not a problem for me.) This is a Tuscan-style soup that I often get when I see it. I was glad I didn’t get the gumbo.
ML was promised a dark roux for this chicken andouille gumbo, but it wasn’t that dark, and there was little in the way of either chicken or andouille. Nor was there any rice. Huh? ML is a gumbo connoisseur, and this was completely dismissed by her.
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The extra oysters app was odd. It was a plate of four fried oysters around a side of collard greens. They were very tender and had a cheese component to them. This was a tasty app, unusual though it was.
Our two course lunch came with a choice of soup or salad and an entree. There were two choices for entrees: a pulled pork tostada or a plate of fried Des Allemandes catfish with potato salad. That is a gross simplification of these two dishes.
The pulled pork was Cochon de Lait with boudin and red bean puree, picked corn and okra chow chow, crumbled Cotija cheese and charred Poblano coulis. This was served on a crispy tortilla. All these flavors combined to make a flavorful and texturally interesting whole.
The catfish plate contained two smallish pieces of cornmeal-fried catfish criss-crossed over a dense and creamy potato salad with a mustard dressed coleslaw and an Herbsaint coulis. The coulis looked like pea soup, and I didn’t understand the extra complexity of this dish, but it too was a nice whole. I loved the potato salad in particular, for its flavor and density. Very nice.
We didn’t have time or interest in dessert, and the garlic bread was better than ever. (This has always been my favorite thing at the table here.) My frequent declarations about that mildly annoyed Tom, but he couldn’t argue with my reasoning. He loved it too. Who doesn't?
Tom was always a passionate fan of Commander’s Palace and other places of this ilk. It was where he found the greatest concentration of excellence in the field where he indulged his passion for dining. Please help us keep his legacy alive as we help the next generation of local culinary professionals. We ask you to click here to be redirected to The Tom Fitzmorris Scholarship page.
