Tuesday, April 26, 2011.
The British Invasion. Day Fifty.
The Marys are gaga about the wedding of Prince William and Kate. Every time I pass the television, they're watching the seemingly continuous coverage of it. There must be survival value for the species in the mystique that a grand marriage holds for women.
The royal wedding gave Mary Ann an idea for a radio show. All six guests today were either true Brits or closely connected to something English. It was a great idea. The show was a party from the moment it went on the air.
That was largely due to Frankie Sobol. She's the ex-wife of ex-restaurateur Joe Sobol. When they were still together, in the mid-1990s, they operated a restaurant called Frankie's Café. It was originally where One is now on Hampson Street, then moved to Bucktown, in the former Chateau Phylmar. It was rolling right along with Joe's unique food for a few years, until the building was bought out from under them and torn down.
We got to know Frankie from the days when she did the commercials for the restaurant once or twice a week. Everybody loved her British accent and sense of humor. She got today's radio show off to a good start when, responding to a goofy question of mine, she called me "you daft bugger." This is exactly the sort of thing I hope happens on these round table shows, but it rarely does until late in the last hour. Frankie's conversation remained delightfully piquant--bloody this, bloody that--for the whole three hours. She sells produce in Baton Rouge now, but we'll have to get her on more often.
Also in light spirits was Shane Gorringe, the owner of Zoe's pastry shop on the North Shore. He's very British, too, and had more stories to tell than even he thought he did. The wedding cake he made to serve for 1300 people brought an interesting question from someone in the room. (I don't know who, because I was home and they were in the studio.) "Have you ever made a cake from which someone jumped out?" The someone, we all imagined, would be a nearly-naked young woman. Shane said that he did indeed make such a cake once, but that he wasn't around to see who popped out or why.
Feast is a new restaurant in the Warehouse District, a spinoff of another in the Montrose section of Houston. Its English chef-owners James and Meagan Silk wanted to dispel the notion that their restaurant was all about serving variety meats (a.k.a. organs, or the awful British term "offal").
"That's what everybody writes about us," Meagan said, "but really we have lots of very normal food!" James said that after six months the place hasn't caught on yet, but at least the conventioneers who walk by always look at the menu with amusement.
I was surprised at this. When the word got out about a year ago that Feast would open here, the buzz on the web was enormous. Since they opened six months ago, I've hardly heard a word about it. Is this what it's coming to? It was bad enough that people only got excited by newly-opened restaurants, and drifted away after the novelty was passed. Are the butterflies of restaurant gossip now already jaded on opening day?
Anyway, the Silks had much to say about English food like cock-a-leekie (a regular menu item), bubble and squeak (which made Frankie squeal with delight) and shepherd's pie, authentically made with lamb. Feast was on my list of restaurants to try soon when I hurt myself, and now I'm overdue.
Jane and Tim Lantrip doesn't sound British to me, but they're close enough. They own the English Tea Room in Covington. An authentic London taxicab, a Union Jack, and a red English phone booth stand in front. ("Does it smell like pee?" Frankie asked about the phone booth, getting another boffo laugh. It was the way she said it.)
I've been to the Tea Room a few times, but clearly not enough. I didn't know they were serving a serious breakfast--including an egg casserole with cheese, mushrooms, and a few other things. Sounds great! We'll have to go there this weekend.
Or maybe not. "We're having a big festival for the wedding," Jane said. "We're going to show the video over and over, and have some specials." Of course they will. And my wife and daughter will be there.
Jane had a lot to say about tea. Her selection of teas--both brewed for consumption on the premises and packaged to take home--is practically innumerable. She could (and did) go on at great length about all the flavors that could be had from tea, even suggesting that we cook with it. Not a bad idea, come to think of it.
These round table shows keep getting better. This one was certainly the most fun yet. I can't wait to get back into the studio so I can relate as more than just a voice.
Today makes fifty days since I broke my ankle. Those who said I would go crazy being confined at home almost entirely for that length of time have been proven wrong. My salvation has been the thing that has always got me through trouble: I just dig down deeper into my work.
English Tea Room. Covington: 734 E Rutland. 985-898-3988.
Feast New Orleans. Warehouse District: 200 Julia. 504-304-6318.
Zoë's Bakery. Covington: 118 West 32nd Ave. 985-892-5570.
It has been over three years since a day was missed in the Dining Diary. To browse through all of the entries since 2008, go here.
