Wednesday, July 3, 2013.
Too Much Dinner At N'Tini's.
The AT&T technician came by at exactly the time the phone rep told me last Saturday: noon today. I accompanied him into my office and pointed out the flashing red light on the modem. Which, I have been telling everyone who might have speeded things along, is a sure sign that the modem was fried by Saturday's lightning storm.
He agreed, tested the connections for good measure, went out to his truck to bring me the new unit, swapped the old one out, and was done in five minutes. Too fill in the time, he expressed fascination that in my little room I not only have two computers, each with an article in progress on its screen, but also a mini radio studio.
So why couldn't AT&T have overnighted the modem to me as they said they would? And why couldn't they allow customers to pick up a new modem at their retail stores? It's not that it's a rare occurrence, or in any way difficult to plug in. This is the fourth modem to be replaced in two years.
With the phone lines working again, I could stay home for the radio show. Nobody was going to be at the office in the late afternoon before the Fourth of July, anyway.
I suggested supper at N'Tini's to the Marys and got an affirmative. The place was only modestly busy (the Fourth takes a toll on restaurant volume). And we discovered that Helen, who has served us on almost all of our visits to N'Tini's during the past few years, has left to go into real estate. The lady who took equally good care of us expressed joking discontent. "She was the only server who was here longer than me," she said. I guess longevity isn't for everybody.
Chef Pete Kusiw was here, though. His former restaurant Juniper is soon to reopen with Chef Torey from Broussard's, who left that restaurant when Chef Gunter sold it a few months ago.
Judging by the food we were served tonight at N'Tini's, Chef Pete's style of making sure that there are a dozen or so items on each entree plate is fully engaged. We appetized ourselves first with spinach-artichoke dip (not for me! not for me!), then with a row of fried, stuffed wonton wrappers (or beggar's purses, as they're sometimes called) filled with a thick, saucy stuff with seafood and tasso. (I think; it was hard to differentiate the ingredients.) Then we had the round of salads which Mary Leigh's presence would require.
ML and I both ordered filets. Mine involved bearnaise, crabmeat in lumps too large to be local (crabmeat has been a real problem this year so far), and what looked like ten more things. (See photo.) ML had something similar, with a sort of twice-baked potato served skinless.
The alarming dish of the evening was what looked like a full large rack of barbecue pork ribs, for which Mary Ann has a passion. Even so, she had to take at least two-thirds of it home. But that's a big plus for her.
Mary Leigh's dinner was a table d'hote affair, throwing off a spare bread pudding. It was, for once, a size I could finish with a clear conscience. It was too good not to finish, so I thank them for the portion restraint.
I wonder if a restaurant could offer a "restraint special" for those of us who know we should eat less but who are served too much food. The answer: of course they could. But there's so much pressure from both sides of the table for restaurants to serve gigantic portions that it will never happen. Customers like big portions better than small ones. And restaurant owners can charge more for an eye-popping plate than for the right amount.
N'Tini's. Mandeville: 2891 US 190. 985-626-5566.
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