Wednesday, June 15, 2011.
Return To The Studio. Babysat By Chef Andrea.
Our failure to get moving yesterday made me determined to go into town for the radio show today. This time, we found all the necessary keys and left a little early. But only a little, under great protest from Mary Ann.
It's my first appearance at the radio station in over three months--not counting one Saturday when nobody was there. It had all the desired effects. Everybody said I looked as if I had lost a lot of weight (I have), that I looked funny walking around on an old man's cane, and that they were happy to see me. Programming boss Diane Newman had the most flattering line: "We missed your spirit around here." Coming from her, that's something, because she is fighting (successfully) much more dangerous health problems than mine.
In my absence, all the chairs in my studio had been moved around, and my regular chair was gone. I almost slipped onto the
floor when the one I landed on tilted in a way it shouldn't have. Other than that, it was like I'd never left.
Mary Ann drove me into town. I still haven't made any long trips solo. She ran some errands while I was on the air, then brought me to Andrea's. But she wanted to watch the final hockey game for the Stanley Cup. (The Marys have become rapt viewers of hockey.) MA decided that she didn't like the size and placement of the televisions in the bar at Andrea's. I told her it was okay to leave me here and watch the game at her brother Tim's house--our original plan. That way she wouldn't have to put up with my disdain for sports and could enjoy the game without guilt.
This suited me just fine. I flopped into a wing-back chair at a small wooden table next to the piano. I told Chef Andrea and his girlfriend/major domo Tia that they would be essentially babysitting me for the evening, although I wouldn't need much more attention than to be fed and watered.
Andrea's Capri Blu bar is the most comfortable spot in the whole place. It has a bar menu, including a three-appetizer, glass-of-wine special for $28. But you can get anything you want in there. Chef Andrea insisted that I try a new dish: oyster ravioli. The oysters are chopped and mixed with Parmigiana cheese and a few other ingredients for the filling. A cream sauce with more oysters topped the pasta. This was better than I would have imagined. I was even more pleased that he only gave me two of the pasta pillows. (I'd eat here more often if he didn't overfeed me so much.)
He came back with a second course of big fresh asparagus and a a few other cool, crunchy things in a well-made balsamic vinaigrette. Tia sat with me most of the time, with Chef Andrea swinging by for extended periods. Some of the bar's regulars also pulled their chairs over to join what became an entertaining conversation at my little round table.
Chef said he had some nice red snapper just in that morning. I asked what he thought of the idea of making that into a fra diavolo: pan-seared fish, with a sauce of tomatoes, wine, fish stock, herbs, and enough crushed red pepper to make it distinctly zippy. He thought that was a fine idea, and a few minutes later out came the best dish I've had at Andrea's in a long time. The fish was vividly fresh (always is here), and the sauce had precisely the flavor I was hoping for.
Funny thing. I have a long-standing distaste for seafood dishes made with up-front tomato. The worst example is shrimp Creole. But I've also noted over the years that when a fish-and-tomato dish works, it doesn't work just a little bit but in a spectacular, memorable way. That was what was going on here.
As I was loving this, Mary Ann's brother Tim called and asked whether I'd like some company. I guess he didn't like hockey, either. I invited him over and touted him on the fish I'd just finished. He had heart surgery some months ago and is watching what he eats. This was perfect for that. Done with almost no fat at all, most of the cooking takes place in the bath of tomato, stock, and wine. And yet it tastes great! The Italians are better at that sort of thing than anybody.
Mary Ann came by at a little after ten, happy because her team had won, but feeling sorry for the other team. En route home, we were shunted over to the southbound causeway span to get past work on the northbound drawbridge, delaying the trip. I'm glad I wasn't driving. I began my evening with a cheat: I drank a Negroni. Then the inevitable wine samples that Andrea insists on opening for any friends that drop by.
Andrea's. Metairie: 3100 19th St. 504-834-8583.
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.
