Wednesday, May 19. Maserati. Liver a l'Orange Returns. Jude called around nine this morning. That's seven his time. What's he doing up so early? "I'm just coming home," he said. "We had an all-night shoot. I'm glad it wasn't way out in the desert or anything."
What else is going on? "I got a guy to rent us his Maserati for the shoot," he said. Making arrangements like that is Jude's primary function in filmmaking. He is apparently good at his. The studio just gave him a tremendous raise, screen credit as a co-producer, and a percentage of the gross for the movie.
But even better than that: "The guy told me that I was the only one allowed to drive the Maserati," he said. "He said that's because he saw my BMW, and knew I'd have respect for his car." So Jude is tooling around Los Angeles in a Maserati. I thought of bragging that my PT Cruiser had a nice new tire, but didn't.
At dinner, I neglected to employ that trick I mentioned here just yesterday for deciding where to have dinner. I was rolling down St. Charles Avenue trying to think of a place to dine. I came up with The Upperline.
As was the case at DiBlasi last night, the last time I dined at the Upperline was for an Eat Club dinner. A very good one. Why don't I eat here more often? I love the style of cooking. And no restaurateur I know is more interesting to chat with than JoAnn Clevenger. The reason is that the place is usually packed. But I got lucky tonight. A little table in the corner was open.
JoAnn came over and picked up the menu. "I'd like to present our menu the way I do to all the people who haven't been here before," she said. "Good evening. I'd like to call attention to the two sides of our menu. On this side, everything is planned into a three-course meal for $37. If you look at the entrees, you'll find that they are listed in the order of their popularity. If you order any of the first few on the list, you will have the dishes that other customers have liked most."
I never heard of a restaurant's doing that before. It's brilliant! She always thinks of such great, original ideas! Last time I was here, JoAnn told me that I should include in all my reviews the number of seats in the restaurants, because that tells something very important about the restaurant. It's a great idea. All I need is the data.
"Thank you," JoAnn continued said to my compliments. "And if you will kindly look over the other side of the menu, you will find all of the same items available a la carte."
"What does 'a la carte' mean?" I said, playing the dumb tourist.
"It means that each item is priced separately," she answered, apparently having encountered a few dumb customers over her twenty-seven years here.
I reverted to my native self and said how glad I was to get a table tonight.
"It's finally winding down," she said. "It's been very busy for months. It's very good. Last year, we made our first profit since Katrina."
JoAnn does not merely sit and talk with customers, and she was called away from our tete-a-tete. That left room for the actual server to move into position to tell me the specials. She had some surprising news. Better than she knew.
"The entree special tonight is veal liver with an orange glaze," she said.
"What?" I asked, my eyebrows arching. "Is this liver a l'orange, the way Chef Tom Cowman used to make it here?"
I may have scared her with my enthusiasm. "I think so!" she said.
"I ate here when Chef Tom created that dish!" I said. "I absolutely want that. I haven't had it since Brian Landry was in high school!"
I also asked for the oysters remoulade and a cup of turtle soup. I couldn't remember having had the first one here. The oysters were fried, and each one was set on a pad of remoulade sauce--two different kinds, red and white, alternating. In the center was a pile of celery root, shredded like cole slaw. JoAnn was back at the table and we discussed this. "In France, celery root is what they put remoulade sauce on, not shrimp," I said.
She stayed long enough to see me through the turtle soup. It was also good, in an old-fashioned style. I asked where the turtle meat came from. She wasn't sure, but Chef Ken Smith knew that it came from Ohio. No surprise there. All the Louisiana species of turtle formerly used in soup are off limits now. All of it comes from the Midwest.
Then the liver came. It was almost as I remembered it, but with more sauce. Not a problem. The flavor combination is one of those flashes of taste insight that Tom Cowman was famous for having. (He was the first to think of putting shrimp remoulade on top of fried green tomatoes, which everybody does now.) A really great dish.
"We've been running it as a special on Wednesday nights, but I'm not sure if we're going to keep doing it," JoAnn confessed. "It doesn't sell very well." Well, that figures. I wonder if I can turn it into a phenomenon.
I had pecan pie for dessert (I couldn't remember the last time I had it anywhere), accompanied by a glass of Madeira. JoAnn did a Thomas Jefferson menu some years ago, and got hooked on the wine. You can have it as a dessert here on the table d'hote menu. I'll be this is the only restaurant on earth in which that is the case.
We talked a little while longer. I told her--not for the first time--that she needs to write an autobiography. She let on that she is seventy-three. (She doesn't look it.) The things she did before the restaurant would make a book unto itself. She's one of the living legends, if you ask me.
Upperline. Uptown: 1413 Upperline. 504-891-9822. Classic Creole.
