Tuesday, February 1, 2011.
Storm. Kid Creole. Juniper Chef, Mustard Man, Cork King, WOW Guy. Kazoku.
A drastic and violent change in the weather knocked out the electricity at the Cool Water Ranch. A fallen tree somewhere nearby was the culprit. With major rain moving in, that wouldn't be fixed soon, and with no electricity my work is paralyzed. There would be no Menu Daily newsletter today--a fact that generated several dozen "what's the problem?" letters from subscribers. Those make me twitch with simultaneous guilt and reassurance that I'm not doing all this for nothing.
I hit the road for the south shore before noon. The Caueway crossing featured several miles of pelting rain and fog-like zero visibility. But I wasn't slowed too much, and had a rare opportunity to have lunch somewhere.
Thought I'd try Kid Creole. It's an unpromising venue: inside a convenience store in a gas station. Having worked in such places for nine years of my youth, I have no reluctance about them. This place has a full kitchen, operated by a guy who posts on the NOMenu web messageboard. Other posters have noted that the poor boy sandwiches here are good. Time to find out.
I must have looked funny to the decidedly blue-collar clientele at that moment. Jacket and tie, an umbrella and The New Yorker under one arm, my camera bag under the other. I looked over the menu board at the order counter and called for a small roast beef poor boy and a Mrs. Wheat's meat pie. In the five or ten minutes it took them to make this up, I stood around, wishing there were a bathroom. The cashier said that they had one, but that it had been inadvertently locked with the key inside, and that there was no budget to get a locksmith out. Whoever made that budget needs to be told that his budget for future sales will be attenuated by more than the price of a locksmith visit, because of the disappearance for the foreseeable future of any customers who might have needed to pee.
There are two picnic-style tables at Kid Creole, but the seats on both sides of each were taken. I picked up my food and took advantage of a lull in the rain to get to my car. The meat pie was still hot when I arrived at the radio station ten minutes later. I warmed up the beef from the poor boy a little in the microwave oven. (But not the bread. What microwaving does to French bread, to say nothing of the lettuce and tomatoes, is not appetizing.)
The pie was pretty good. The poor boy was filled with beef that had clearly been cooked on the premises, wet down with a little more gravy than I like. On a scale of ten I'd give it an eight. It was twice the size I can finish, for well under ten dollars. I wonder who eats the big one.
The bad weather didn't affect the third weekly installment of our Round Table radio shows. Mary Ann gathered another foursome of guests with nicely varied connections to the food biz. We began enforcing a new rule that eliminated an awkward situation in the first two shows. From now on, the guests will go on the air in the order they arrive at the station, instead of by any index of their relative importance.
Peter Kusiw--the chef-owner of Juniper in Mandeville--was a half-hour early, probably for the same reason I was. He has much to say, but says them in a few words, and softly at that. He said that his business has been terrific lately, and that he has a dinner with Pahlmeyer wines the day after Valentine's. I think I want to be there for that one.
Second to arrive was the colorful Patrick Von Hoorebeck. His public profile was built during his many years managing the dining room and wine cellar at the Bistro at the Maison de Ville. He's also the perennial king of the Krewe of Cork, whose parade is a big part of the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience's Royal Street Stroll every year.
I also know that he is a native of Brussels, and that he is a booster of all things Belgian. Mary Ann and I honeymooned in Belgium in 1989, and so it's close to our hearts, too.
Patrick reminded me of a lot of other gigs I'd forgotten about. De Novo, for example. That was a short-lived, second-generation gourmet bistro that spun off Flagons in the late 1980s. He was also at the Versailles long enough that I remember his touting Pineau de Charentes there. That's a curious French aperitif made with half-fermented wine and eau-de-vie.
Patrick had a different aperitif to share with us today, one I've heard of but never tried. Punt e Mes is a red vermouth made in a very old style in the Piemonte region of Italy. Patrick said that it's the oldest of all aperitifs. Darker and stronger in flavor than standard red vermouth, it reminded me a little of those liqueurs that many people say tastes like cough syrup. I found it more reminiscent of Campari's bitter edge, something I like in a cocktail mixer. Punt e Mes means "point and a half," the explanations of which are varied.
He served the stuff in official Krewe of Cork plastic cups, each with a single ball of ice the size of a tennis ball. Nice.
Next to Patrick at our table was Mark Page, whose main living comes from managing 7 on Fulton's breakfast and lunch service. On the side, he makes Scratchmo's Creole Mustard. It comes in the same shape of jar used by Zatarain's for its market-leading Creole mustard. Like that product, Scratchmo's is a coarse brown mustard with a kick. But it's a shade on the sweet side. I got a jar of it about a year ago, and used most of it to make cold mayonnaise-based sauces. Mark doesn't sell Scratchmo's in too many places (most are in the French Quarter, like the Central Grocery), but I think it's good enough for a wider market.
The last person to arrive has the biggest operation of all. Paul Bonner is the founder and CEO of WOW Wingery. I knew that from the briefing MA gave me yesterday while we lunched in his new Covington "store." (I think she's trying to sell him something. She says he's on because WOW's food is perfect for a Super Bowl party.) What I didn't know was that he was the fellow who bought PJ's Coffee shops a few years ago and expanded it. He actually began his career in the business with a PJ's franchise. He's obviously a very sharp entrepreneur (or a highly leveraged one) to have been able to expand both operations so rapidly and well.
We learned that WOW's wings are coated with what amounts to a dry rub in liquid form. I know that sounds ridiculous, but that really captures the idea. I congratulated Paul for rolling out a new coffee and chicory blend, which by pure coincidence I tried for the first time at Mattina Bella a few days ago and liked. It's about time PJ's served a chicory, I told him. He says that decision hasn't been made, but he's thinking about it.
All four guests stayed for the full three hours. A dynamic I'd not previously noticed took hold. After about an hour, the five people (counting me) were acquainted enough that the conversation was like that of people at the same dinner table together. Even the callers seemed to pick up that tone. This is precisely what I'm after.
Kid Creole. Metairie: 1919 Airline Dr. 504-836-3760.
