Thursday, September 13, 2012.
Drago's Takes Us To New England.
Before most Eat Club cruises (we depart on one next Friday), we put on a dinner at Drago's. The main purpose is to answer questions about how the trip works. But it's almost as important for us to establish some social connections before we go. When people make friends, the pleasure of traveling as a group multiplies.
We settled on Drago's because everybody likes it, it's convenient, they have a private room the right size, and Tommy Cvitanovich always gives us an almost ridiculously good deal.
But what he did for us this time shows what an inspired restaurateur he is. When we planned the repast, I told him that lobster would be de rigueur, because this cruise is going to New England. Lobster is no stretch for Drago's, which sells more lobsters than any other local restaurant.
We would have been happy with a nice lobster and some char-broiled oysters. (The guests would rise in revolt if those aromatic bivalves weren't available.) But here's the menu he surprised us with:
Char-broiled oysters
Char-broiled mussels
Oyster chowder made in the style of New England clam chowder
Seared extra-large sea scallops with a cream sauce
Crab cakes
Lobster roll
Boston cream pie
Brilliant! The best mussels and scallops come from New England and Canada. We eat a lot of them in New Orleans now. We don't like clams much down here, so the oyster sub was perfect. Crab cakes (often using our crabmeat) are popular in the Northeast--at many times the price they sell for here.
But a lobster roll? This is a wildly popular summertime New England treat. Chunks of lobster in a mayonnaise-enriched salad, it's served in what looks like a hot dog bun. (It isn't.) We never see lobster rolls in New Orleans. But these came out so good that the Drago's staff was wondering whether it might be a good menu addition. They were served on the kind of paper plates preferred in Maine and thereabouts. It was delicious and fun.
Finally, we witnessed the puzzling reality about Boston cream pie: that it's not a pie at all, but a cake. A very rich one.
Tommy got in touch with one of his beer salesmen, who came up with an assortment of New England craft beers in a range of styles. It was all not only good but tremendous fun.
During our discussion period, I once again tried and failed to make the point that on a cruise ship you should always dine on the late seating. The advantages include the freedom to wander around the ports later in the day. I noted that in New England, you're an hour ahead of New Orleans time. In Canada, it's two hours. Dinner at eight Atlantic Time is six o'clock New Orleans time. But nobody seems to buy this unassailable logic.
Drago's. CBD: 2 Poydras. 504-584-3911.
