Wednesday, September 1, 2010. Eat Club At Impastato's, First In A Year. About a year ago a management change occurred in the radio sales department. A group of new, young, aggressive account execs moved in. They boosted sales all right, but since most of them were new to my show, they didn't know about the long-running currents of my show. One of those was that Joe Impastato wants to do a remote broadcast at his place four times a year. We always have a dinner after a remote show, and there was no reason not to: every time we do, we fill the dining room.
But none of the new people knew to arrange that with Joe, and so we went over a year without a dinner at Impastato's. Our return there tonight shook the expected rainfall from the trees. Almost eighty people showed up for the dinner.
During the show, Joe showed off all his new Saints stuff. He's an avid supporter of the team for decades. When players show up for dinner, he takes very good care of them. Tom Benson himself is a regular Impastato's diner. So, Joe bought himself a genuine Super Bowl ring. He has to send it back, though: they spelled his name wrong.
Joe had someone frame up a collection of all eight 2009 Saints home game tickets, both playoff tickets and a Super Bowl ticket, along with photos of the Superdome gridiron and Drew Brees throwing a pass. In the corner of the frame is a little chunk of a Super Bowl game ball. He's selling these for $200 each. He has sold hundreds of them. The man is an inspired entrepreneur.
He runs a good restaurant, too. Nothing surprising about our menu. Shrimp scampi, sauteed crab claws, and crabmeat cannelloni for the starters. Then fettuccine Alfredo with crabmeat and shrimp. A romaine salad with his (and his brother Sal's) house dressing.
The popular entree was a pair of soft-shell crabs with crabmeat and shrimp. I think half the people in the room got that. Good choice, this time of year. I saw the crabs come in when I arrived for the show. A big box of soft shell crabs, each facing outward, shell to shell, bubbling and moving. A sight to behold. I wound up with one crab, a piece of veal with artichokes and mushrooms, and a piece of lemonfish. The kitchen just made that up for me, because I move around in the room and they lose track of me.
I couldn't join many tables, though. Most of the seats I would have sat down in already were populated. I wound up at two tables of first timers. One of them held a couple of women who wanted to talk religion. I can't resist entering any controversy, and there we were. I don't think I made them too furious.
I usually retire to the bar after these dinners to listen to Roy Picou sing a few numbers, and to do one or two myself. But this dinner ran long, and by the time I got out there, Roy was finished for the night. But I did have a nice time with Vic and Barbara Giancola, Eat Club regulars who will be on our train trip at the end of the month. Fun people to gab with.
My car made it back and forth across the Causeway today with no signs of problems from yesterday's flat-tire disaster on the bridge. Still, tomorrow I think I'll drive that Audi that's sitting home alone since Mary Leigh left for Tulane.
Impastato's. Metairie: 3400 16th Street. 504-455-1545. Italian.
