Sunday, November 13, 2011.
Saints @ Zea.
Mary Ann could not resist attending the sausage-intensive tailgate party on Royal Street today. Organized by the Hotel Monteleone, it was a parade of Big Green Eggs, with chefs from a number of local restaurants cooking up their own hand-made sausages. The purpose was to raise funds for families whose parents were or are in the military in the Middle East.
I would have been there had I not so much work to get done before we leave for New York a week from today, and had I not lost most of yesterday to book signings and such.
They had a big screen at the event, but Mary Ann said she felt uncomfortable because she didn’t know anyone there. She called to say she’d meet me for lunch and for the remainder of the Saints game at Zea.
We started with the current version of crab cakes. You get four of them for $11. Each is the size of a golf ball. We agreed that they were on the Stuffed Crab Divide, which separates the mostly-bread-crumbs products from true crab cakes made mostly out of crabmeat. I don’t mind this as long as the price is right and the things taste good, both of which were the case here. Good sauce and presentation, too.
Mary Ann, having had her fill of sausage, went on to have just a small Caesar salad. I had not eaten a hamburger in November, so I asked the waitress to bring me one. “Great!” she said. “Tom Fitzmorris says that it’s the best hamburger in New Orleans!” Actually, I don’t say that exactly, but that it’s a strong contender for the title. I assumed at first she was funning with me, but it became clear that she didn’t know who I was. My words have been handed back to me before, but Mary Ann had never seen this and found it amusing. I was just going to let it slide, but she ratted me out. This embarrassed the lady a bit. I guess she thought I thought that she ought to know me. In fact, I’d prefer not to be known.
The hamburger was as good is I remember. The bun is too big and the meat patty a shade too wide, but all the qualitative aspects are as they should be. I should not have eaten the whole thing, but I did.
The Saints and the Atlanta Falcons had a tight contest going, and it went into overtime. I left Mary Ann to watch the rest of the game, and I went back to work.
Zea. Covington: 110 Lake Dr. 985-327-0520.
