Sunday, September 4, 2011.
Pokey Storm. Standee Desk. Chimes.
Tropical Storm Lee took a track farther west and moved faster than the forecasters said it would, but that proved to be no advantage for us. The rain bands ran right over us, occasionally with some major downpours. Still, we had no flooding around the Cool Water Ranch. Other parts of the area weren't as lucky, particularly old Mandeville along the lakefront. Cayman Sinclair--he the operator of the Lakehouse restaurant in the old Bechac's right across the street from what would ordinarily be the lakeshore--says nearly a foot of water covered his ground floor. They're ready for that, though. Nobody knows the number of times that has happened to that building since it was built in the 1830s.
Before the worst downpours began, Mary Leigh came from Tulane to spend the night, just in case things got bad. It seems to me she would have been safer in her upper-floor dorm room in her brand-new building than she would be here.
Her presence largely determines how we will dine. I was game for another look at the new Chimes in Covington. Mary Ann talked with the manager when she hosted the radio show a couple of weeks ago. He said that they were surprised by the difference in tastes between the original location in Baton Rouge and this one. He said that we Northshorinians eat a lot fewer burgers and more grilled fish.
We started with a half-dozen of their grilled oysters a la Drago's. A little different, a little on the small side--as they would be this time of year. But tasty enough. Mary Ann and I split a fried seafood platter--no problems there, either. For Mary Leigh, panneed chicken on pasta Alfredo.
Three visits here have revealed consistently decent food at good prices, with no shortage of local ingredients or local flavor. Not brilliant, but not bad, and better than a lot of restaurants in the same league, like Copeland's, Don's, and even, I would say, the Acme. I'd even say it tops most independent seafood houses in our area. And I'm biting my tongue as I say that.
But the food is not what's pulling them in. It's the place. This is a handsome building with a lot of local folderol, but not on a fakey kind of way. They have a genuine old Regal Beer sign, for example. (A Regal Beer sign is in the very room where I'm writing this. Why doesn't someone bring back that name? But not the beer, which wasn't very good.)
The big windows overlook a deck full of tables, which overlook even more dramatically the shore of the Bogue Falaya River. A wooden ramp runs out into this cypress-studded wetlands. It serves no purpose other than to add atmosphere, all of which is genuine and uniquely Louisiana. The owners are restoring two historic buildings on the adjacent plot of land. One of them is the original Covington City Hall. The other is a modest, galleried two-store antebellum house in the river road plantation style. It will be used for private parties.
All of this is nice enough to support the most ambitious of kitchens. But Chimes is unambiguously a casual, hangout kind of place. Its full name is "Chimes Grill and Tap Room," encouraging beer budgets. (The presence of many dozens of beers on tap and in bottles delivers on the name's promise.)
All of this is fine. But we are not seeing expenditures like this on upscale gourmet restaurants anymore. When I look around won at major new restaurants developments, I only see other restaurants like this one. (Walk Ons, for example.) We're drifting slowly but inexorably* away from fine dining. I may be wrong, but I take this as evidence of the downward direction of our culture and middle-class wealth.
I am also willing to believe that I am just an old pooperoo who can't keep up with the trends. I mentioned this to the Marys. They looked at one another, then at me with expressions that said, "Well, yes, of course that's it."
I spent most of the day setting up my second-string computer atop a highboy in my office. The physical part of that took only a few minutes: the height is perfect for typing while standing, something I am undertaking for a variety of reasons. Updating the files and the software took all day. But what else can I do during a tropical storm? Other than hope the power doesn't go out?
The Chimes. Covington: 19130 W Front St. 985-892-5396.
*I believe this is the first time in forty years of professional writing that I have ever used this word. And in a cliche way, yet.
