Sunday, January 11, 2009.
The Star Is Back! Or Is It? La Carreta.
It's cold, all of a sudden. It was not just cooler this morning than last night, but downright cold. But this is the middle of January, isn't it?
Mary Leigh and I set out in search of lunch around noon. We made the grocery stop first. This is a Winn-Dixie week. They carry enough items we like that Rouse's doesn't that we need to make a stop there every couple or three weeks. Winn-Dixie's milk is distinctly better than others, for example. It was cold enough outside that we didn't have to worry about any spoilage issues while we lunched.
We routed ourselves down LA 59 to Florida Street, where the long-running road reconstruction is finally finished. As we always do, we looked wistfully at the Star Café, one of my daughter's favorite lost eateries, allegedly closed for the duration of the road work. We didn't expect it back. But! A sign spelled out the word "OPEN" one letter at a time, then flashed again to make sure you didn't miss it!
"I hope they still have the fresh-cut potato chips with blue cheese!" Mary Leigh said. We were greeted by a group of servers, waiting for the first customers to arrive, and here we were! The place looked the same! We sat down. The menus arrived. They looked different. A server brought a book of photographs of all the food. Why would they need to show what a hamburger looks like, I wondered.
Then it came clear. Same name, same place, but a very different restaurant. The Star Café now describes itself as Caribbean. By which they mean Cuban, judging by the menu. This is good! I like Cuban food. But this is bad! I would not be able to persuade ML to stay. At least not happily. I apologized to the servers, paid for the iced teas they'd already brought, tipped them the same amount, and left.
We wound up eating hispanic food of a different kind at La Carreta in Mandeville. ML not only likes the food there (especially the salsa), but also a BMW that's always parked in front. It's an enormous car--much bigger than I'd feel comfortable driving. But she thinks it's the utmost. What's with these kids of mine? No way would I consider spending BMW money on myself. But now one of my progeny has a BMW, and the other wants one. Mary Ann always thought I should create the illusion of affluence, but I didn't think my own family would be fooled by the illusion. Am I the only one who knows we barely pay our bills every month? I already know I'm the only one who cares.
It may not be possible to avoid eating too much food at La Carreta. Or, perhaps, at any Mexican restaurant. You can't help but stuff yourself with tortilla chips and salsa here, and that's before you order anything. The queso with chorizo has been on my radar on the last few trips, and I shot it down today. It's an appetizer, but easily enough to make an entree: hot sausage (the Creole kind, not the smoky, dense Spanish version) mixed with the queso dip, served with flour tortillas. Very good. After that, I really didn't need the green chili enchiladas with grilled chicken, tasty though it was. Mary Leigh had a quesadilla platter and liked that, too. That satisfied both of us for the rest of the day.
At home, I dug deeper into a project I started yesterday. A by-product of our having a new water well pump installed (so water could reach the second floor and its $10,000 bathroom), the pump guys destroyed the roof of the pumphouse. Wait. That's not fair. Termites destroyed it. The well guys tried to open it, and it crumbled. Now the pump is exposed to the elements. I will build a new roof for the doghouse-size structure, but not today. I did tear off the remaining ruins, and covered it with a tarp. We have very cold weather coming this week, and the waterworks need to be kept from freezing.
La Carreta. Mandeville: 1200 W. Causeway Approach. 985-727-7212. Contemporary Mexican. Caribbean.
