Tuesday, September 18, 2012.
Chef Duke, Jung, And The Roman Candy Man.
Now that's funny. The second half of the roast beef poor boy Mary Ann bought me yesterday from Monster Po-Boys was much better than the first half. I doctored it with pepper and more pickles, and blasted the bread in a hot oven for five minutes. It was everything a poor boy would desire.
I ate that for lunch right before leaving for the South Shore. I don't often have lunch, but I didn't think I would be able to squeeze dinner in tonight. This is the night when I move all the recorded live-sounding commercials into the radio station's system for use while I'm away on vacation. Although I did the hard part of that at home, it's still a couple of hours' work to get everything in order.
The round-table radio show today had an interesting mix. It was dominated by Chef Duke Locicero, owner of Café Giovanni. He's a constant talker (he'd be the first to say that this is an expression of his Italian genes), and he has opinions on everything. This is a good thing, because I know we will have no gaps in the conversation. He's also eager to guest-host the show a few days while I'm away.
Question One from me and a few callers concerned the West End restaurant the Duke was to open with some well-heeled partners. It was to have happened this nearly-past summer, but it didn't. It's still in the works, but Duke won't be part of it. "They sent me a text message saying that they wanted to move in a different direction," he said, and that was that. "I'm glad it happened before I got married to the place," he added. He's surely disappointed, but a little relieved, too. This will be a very large, high-volume (it is hoped) eatery, and those are not easy to operate out of one's back pocket.
Jung Tan--who rarely uses more than her first name--is also a good talker, although clearly not in the Italian league. She has operated Chinese restaurants around town since the 1970s. The first restaurant she fronted was the China East, near the now-extinct Plaza in Lake Forest. The commercials she recorded--which always began with a charming, two-syllable enunciation of the twist word "Hi!"--were among the first to sponsor my radio show when it went on the air in the Maison Blanche Building in 1988.
Her current restaurant is the Golden Drago, a long-running establishment with consistently good food. It was in Metairie (across from the Clearview Mall) for most of its history. A few years ago she moved it the middle of the hottest stretch of Magazine Street, next door to Joey K's.
At the new place, Jung picked up on a trend that is gaining momentum slowly but (I think) inexorably here in New Orleans. In addition to her colorful standard Chinese-American menu, she has a very plain four-page addendum she calls the "authentic Chinese" menu. It includes some very exotic items. Pig intestine, for example. She went through the process of cooking the organ meat on the air. She would later have a lot to say about whole steamed fish.
The quiet guy in the room (although he is at least half Italian) was probably the best known to most Orleanians, even though they may not recognize his name. Ron Kotteman is the grandson of Sam Cortese, who built and drove the mule-drawn Roman Chewing Candy cart back in 1915. The same buggy is still in operation--a fact that hardly needs to be said, so familiar and yet so out of place is the vehicle. Is there anybody who doesn't pull over to at least take a picture of the Roman Candy wagon when he sees it making its rounds? Everything is being called iconic these days, but Ron's unique rolling business really is.
Ron is between mules right now. "Usually, we count on having the same mule for around eleven years before we retire them," he said. "I know when to start looking for a new mule, and getting them used to pulling the wagon. But the last one developed arthritis after three years, and we retired her. That left me without a mule." He says there will be another one, though.
Ron is another bit of evidence supporting my theory that there are only five hundred people living in the New Orleans area. He and I were in the same graduating class at Archbishop Rummel High School.
Duke kept us all sipping a good pink Prosecco, as the three hours slipped away quickly. After finishing my production work at about eight-thirty, I thought about getting something to eat, but just went home. I knew I would get too much food tomorrow.
Cafe Giovanni. French Quarter: 117 Decatur. 504-529-2154.
Jung's Golden Dragon. Garden District: 3009 Magazine St. 504-891-8280.
