Wednesday, September 28, 2011.
Jackson Book Club At Arnaud's.
Good news, bad news, and more good news on the publishing front. Lost Restaurants of New Orleans--the book I wrote with Peggy Scott Laborde earlier this year--has officially been released, and is moving through bookstores. I got my author's allotment a few days ago. This is never as exciting a moment as one might think. The deal is, but the time a book comes out, the author is so sick of working on it that holding a finished book in one's hands is an anticlimax.
On the other hand, I think we're going to sell a lot of these. The nostalgia market is vast. And although the book is not as rigorous as an academic historian would write, I think it captures a fascinating period of New Orleans cultural history that has not been written about much.
Books come out like magazines these days. Most of them are so hooked into current vogues or events that they have a relatively short life. I knew the day would come when Hungry Town's run as a nationally-published book would end, what with its focus on Katrina. Still, when I got the notice to that effect today, it was a downer that took me a few days to get over. Its effect one way or another on my income is minimal. And I always wondered why someone who doesn't live here would be interested in it. But, still.
Hungry Town continues to sell well around New Orleans. I'll buy about a thousand copies, to keep it on shelves and available for mail order for a few more years. People elsewhere will still be able to find new copies online. The problem for the publisher is keeping all that inventory in bookstores. The weakening of the bookstore industry is no help, either.
Hungry Town is liked by readers who find it, however. A book club of a couple dozen people who live near Jackson, Mississippi were impressed enough that they made it their book of the month. This means that everyone read it and then talked about it at one of their meetings.
One of the members suggested that they all come down to New Orleans for this meeting, and have me in attendance. And as long as they were doing that, why not have the meeting at a restaurant over dinner? Love to, I said. Where? they asked. How about Arnaud's? I replied. Great! We'll all come down on The City Of New Orleans and meet you there.
I met them there. Fifteen people standing around on the sidewalk, waiting for me to get over from the radio show. From there we made a beeline for the bar, where we rearranged the furniture into a circle to facilitate the conversation. Master mixologist Chris Hannah made us some of his original cocktails. Soufflee potatoes issued from the kitchen. Lisa "Sweetbreads" Sins--the congenial sales manager of the restaurant visited. Archie Casbarian Jr. and Katie Casbarian came over. Fifteen people sat around the bar before dinner at Arnaud's talking about a food book. There's a classic scene not often enacted anymore. Was it ever?
My advice on ordering was largely taken by the book clubbers. Shrimp Arnaud (the best remoulade in town). Oysters Arnaud (five baked oysters on the half shell with as many sauces). Smoked pompano. A couple of turtle soups. Entrees from all over the menu. I had the veal filet Chantal, which was alarmingly delicious last time. Not quite as good as that, but very, very good anyway.
The bread pudding at Arnaud's is named for me, so I must boost its sales lest they yank it off the menu. On the other hand, Arnaud's makes the best bananas Foster anywhere. Dilemma solved at last! Would they serve the bananas foster with a thick slice of bread pudding underneath, instead of the usual ice cream? Sure they would, and they did. We decided that next time we try this, we'll have both the pudding and the ice cream.
At our table were a couple celebrating a recent fiftieth anniversary, a lawyer just retired after sixty-three years, and a man turning seventy. This brought the jazz trio that plays every night in Arnaud's Jazz Bistro into the main dining room. May I be permitted to sing "Sweet Lorraine" with them? Yes I may, they said, with a touch of dubiousness. Either the wine was working on my self-perception, or I was better than usual. What a night!
I signed a dozen copies of Hungry Town. The book clubbers suggested that I come up and stay in a bed and breakfast they know, and then maybe go to dinner somewhere up there. That sounds great to me. Very nice people who like to laugh and enjoy life.
Arnaud's. French Quarter: 813 Bienville. 504-523-5433.
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.
