Tuesday, September 27, 2011.
Nola Brew, Chef Gunter, Juicy Lucy, Jazzmen Rice. Dinner With Cyrus.
The first satsumas of the year showed up at the fruit stand, gladdening the heart of Mary Leigh, who is capable of eating an entire bag of the luscious local citrus at a sitting. So am I, come to think of it.
But here's the really good news. Walking around the Cool Water Ranch, I thought I saw something funny about the little satsuma tree I planted the spring before Katrina. Not much more than a stem, it nevertheless bore seven fruits. The next year, only two. Then it appeared to have a close brush with death. Nothing but leaves since then, and not many of those. What with my not getting around well for most of the year, I haven't been checking on it. But behold! One nice-sized satsuma! That brings out total crop from our two trees to. . . one. Mary Leigh and I will share it when it starts turning orange.
It's a good thing I don't have to rely on any of the food plants I try to grow around here.
The first in what Mary Ann says is a series of Round Table shows on the subject of Oktoberfest was today. It began with Chef Gunter Preuss, who as far as I know has worked as a chef longer than anyone currently active in New Orleans. He came to town in 1967 to open the Sazerac, and has been cooking here ever since. His Versailles gets an article in our new Lost Restaurants Of New Orleans book. He owns Broussard's now, coming up on thirty years.
Broussard's has served the best German food in town for about fifteen years now, but only once a year: in December, for its Reveillon dinner. Last year, Gunter and his son Marc (who manages the restaurant now) decided to try an Oktoberfest in Broussard's big courtyard, with live music, German food, and lots of beer. It was a big hit, so here it is again: all day this Saturday, Oktober ein.
Also with us today was Mike Juan, who for some thirty years has managed dining rooms and wine cellars at Broussard's, Christian's, Le Parvenu, and the Rib Room. Now he has his own place: Juicy Lucy's. The name comes from St. Paul, Minnesota, where a few years ago somebody had the idea of stuffing all those garnishes--usually slipped betwixt burger and bun-- into the meat patty itself. Well. This not only makes for juiciness, but for a very thick hamburger. He brought some, but they were too big for me to take a bite from while trying to orchestrate a radio show. (Also, I'm sure they weren't as good as they were when they came off the grill. And I don't want that downturned burger in my mind.)
Kirk Coco with Nola Brewing Company showed up, too. His small craft brewery on Tchoupitoulas Street has grown rapidly, as he continues to roll out interesting new beers for the burgeoning craft beer market. I like his Hopmeister, which is exactly what it claims to be. His brewer, Melanie Knepp (the "k" is silent, I could not seem to learn during the show) brought with her a new brew called Smoky Mary, named for the train that used to ply what was not yet Elysian Fields Avenue from the river to the lake. That was long enough ago to make the line the third common carrier railroad in American history. (Trains make me happy. And hoppy, too.)
Melanie is enthusiastic about her craft. I mentioned that this is common among beer aficionados, from the home-brew crowd to professionals like her. I know that whenever I talk with a brewer, I will find out more than twice as much as I wanted to know.
The Jazzmen Rice outfit was in the room, too. Nina Camacho was there to tell about the new Louisiana rice, which is rolling out new varieties as fast as LSU can develop and plant new strains. What impresses me most about the rice is that they worked out a deal with the foundation that controls the works and image of Louis Armstrong. There Satchmo is, center of the label, trumpet and white handkerchief in hand.
During the rice segment I got a call from Hassan Seraji, the owner of Cyrus. That's a new Persian restaurant next to Dorignac's in Metairie. He had some thoughts about how to prepare rice, something of which he serves a great deal. It came down to washing it what strikes me as more than a little too much.
I'm glad he called. It's time for me to try his restaurant, which has been open nearly a year. We have no other Persian restaurants here. Although the cuisine of Iran is similar in many ways to those of other countries in the Middle East, it's a little different too.
I thought I'd sneak in. In fact, two members of the staff recognized me before I even made my way to the table. One of those was Hassan, who was very eager to talk with me about his restaurant. He sat down and ordered the chef to knock out an assortment of his food.
A loaf of a unique flatbread called taftoom appeared. It's roughly a hybrid of Indian naan and Lebanese pita, a yeast bread with a flavor all its own. I used this to eat an eggplant-and-tomato dip.
Now the chef's masterwork: some eight kabobs, including chicken, lamb, Cornish hen, and beef, some of them in multiple ways. All tender, nicely seasoned, and beautiful. I could hardly put a dent in it.
I tried a new way of insisting that I pay for my meals. The Federal Trade Commission has lately leaned on broadcasters to either not accept free stuff from the people they report on, or reveal what it was they received. Don't do that, you may be in trouble. I never did, but always had a hard time explaining why to friendly restaurateurs. Now I've get the Federal government potentially on my case. That the restaurateurs understand.
Cyrus--named for the great hero of the first Persian Empire--is a good-looking restaurant in the traditional style. It may be too good-looking, in fact. Nobody wants formality anymore.
Cyrus. Metairie: 612 Veterans Blvd. 504-309-2477.
It's over three years since a day was missed in the Dining Diary. To browse through all of the entries since 2008, go here.
