Tuesday, January 3, 2017.
Befogged And Malfunctioning. (Weren’t they a vaudeville act who played the Orpheum in the 1930s?)
My plan today as my Yuletide vacation ends was to drive into town, yammer out a radio show from the studio, then have dinner with our travel agent for the Eat Club cruises. But this proved practically unworkable, perhaps because of something in the ether of the new-model year 2017. The Causeway is densely fogged in both directions, adding about 45 minute to each crossing. Just as I was about to slip into the fog anyway, my radio producer Doug Christian called to tell me that some complicated problem has shut down the 3WL studio. He said that I should stay home and broadcast from there. A welcome strategy, that–if only because it opens up about three hours in my day.
I consider going somewhere for the lunch I didn’t have. But the idea of a further nap–I had just finished an eighteen-minute snooze when Doug called with his news–was irresistible.
The radio show went on the air on time. Except for the first few minutes, it was busy throughout. On the other hand, my pleas for reports on New Year’s Eve fun brought in little of note. At this point, I feel as if the whole New Year celebration was been canceled, at least in from purview.
Mary Ann drove into town to hang out with Mary Leigh in our daughter’s apartment, and she decided to just spend the night there. I am home alone again. Two days ago, MA and I visited a couple of friends who broke up their marriage a few years ago. We still go out and visit with the two of them together. During the inevitable conversation about the progress of their split so far, they both said that they like living alone. I lived alone for a long time–sixteen years, to be exact–before MA and I got married. Of all the changes in me since then, the most pervasive is that I can’t imagine flying solo on a permanent basis.
I don’t know how MA feels about that, really, so I choose to assume the best.
To dinner all alone at Mac’s On Boston. It’s a little cottage on the main drag of old Covington, across the street from the big live oak that sticks out into Boston Street. The owner and chef worked for a time in the burgeoning breakfast industry in Mandeville. He later took over the existing restaurant in the cottage, and with the help of his parents (his dad is the bartender–a great job for a dad of a chef, I think).
The menu is abbreviated, but there’s enough here to make the eating interesting. I get there about once a year, and each time the cooking is better. Tonight it’s exceptional.
Something happened that ought to occur more often in restaurants. No sooner had I sat down, I focused on an entree on the menu. It was a surf-and-turf of filet mignon and lobster tails. Also available was a sextet of sea scallops–dry-pack scallops, the good kind. I asked whether they will make a combination of those two, swapping out the lobster for the scallops. No problem, they tell me. (I should hope it wouldn’t be a problem.) After a Caesar salad, here was a nice-sized filet seared Pittsburgh-style (I didn’t even have to ask for it that way) and mid-rare. The sauce was a light brown job, perfect for the tender beef (tender tenderloins have plagued me lately). The scallops were in a beurre blanc into which overlapped a creamy risotto. The whole plate was right as rain, and made better still with a glass of California Merlot.
I say that it’s a good thing that I homed in on this dinner because too many restaurants these days are overwhelmed by appetizers, at the detriment of the entrees. Not at Mac’s.
They have a good dessert: an egg-nog version of creme brulee. It’s still a touch warm from having been made recently. That’s a flaw, but not much of one. It took nothing away from a very fine dinner.
Mac’s dad tells me that the Mac’s family will shortly take over the operation of the restaurant in the Clario Hotel on Causeway Boulevard. A lot of restaurants have been in and out of there, but. . .well, no sense in trying to guess how good it will be this soon.
Mac’s On Boston. Covington: 324 E Boston St. 985-892-6550.
Irene’s Cuisine
French Quarter: 539 St Philip. 504-529-8811. Map.
Casual.
AE DC MC V
ANECDOTES AND ANALYSIS
Sometimes, the best way for a restaurant to gain a high profile is for it to keep a low profile. Irene’s doesn’t advertise much, doesn’t have a website, rarely shows up at festivals, has no summer, Reveillon or early-evening specials. Yet it remains so popular that visitors to New Orleans somehow find the corner of Chartres and St. Philip, and put up with a variety of inconveniences to have dinner there. The local diners love it, too.
WHY IT’S NOTEWORTHY
Irene’s regulars–many of whom come from well out of town–find their way to the place for the best of reasons. The food is lusty, aromatic, ample, simple, just offbeat enough to set it apart from other Italian restaurants, consistent and quite a bargain. The formula has so much appeal that a one of the main topics for conversation among the diners is “How long did you have to wait for a table?”
Oysters Irene, the don’t-miss dish at Irene’s.
WHAT’S GOOD
The menu shows a bit more influence from Northern Italy than most New Orleans Italian restaurants do. Pasta and red sauce is good here, but a footnote to the menu rather than a main theme. Roasting, sizzling garlic with herbs and olive oil, fresh seafood are the main themes. The menu is abbreviated but covers a great deal of ground, with a dish or two from every common food category. And a bit more than that in the seafood department.
BACKSTORY
Irene DiPietro’s family has run Italian restaurants around town for decades. She’s related to the owner of Fausto’s, for example. She and former partner Tommy Andrade–who departed to start up Tommy’s in the CBD in the early 2000s–opened Irene’s in the early 1990s. It was a hit from the first day, even in the face of a somewhat spartan space and an insufficiency of tables. Food conquered all.
A rumor circulating for a year or two is that Irene’s will soon relocate, but the management denies this.
DINING ROOM
It’s in an old paper warehouse with many odd spaces. The kitchen, entrance, and bar are not where you’d think to find them. The dark main dining room isn’t big enough to accommodate everybody who’d like to eat there, and some tables outside it are not very comfortable. The service is thoroughly friendly but usually a little scarcer than optimal.
BEST DISHES
»Oysters Irene (baked on the shells Italian style, bread crumbs, panetta, olive oil, garlic, herbs
Mussels marinara (steamed in a red sauce)
Escargots with mushrooms and garlic butter
»Panneed oysters with grilled shrimp and spinach
Crabmeat au gratin
»Ricotta and spinach ravioli, marinara, Parmigiana cheese
»Parma prosciutto with marinated artichokes
»Sauteed fish of the day with shrimp, roasted peppers, corn macque-choux
»Fish of the day, jumbo lump crabmeat, toasted almonds, green beans, brown butter
»Cioppino with fish of the day, shrimp, scallops, crabmeat, clams, mussels, tomato-saffron-fennel broth
Fried soft-shell crab (in season, March-October)
pappardelle pasta, fresh basil
»Cannelloni al forno with ground veal and roasted eggplant
»Roasted chicken with rosemary, lemon and garlic jus
Veal marsala
»»Duck st. Philip (roasted to crisp skin, raspberry-pancetta demi-glace, pecans, spinach, sweet potatoes.
»»Grilled lamb chops, roasted garlic, sautéed green beans, rosemary and port demi-glace oysters
FOR BEST RESULTS
Show up right when the place opens if you don’t like waiting.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
There is no good place to wait for a table here. The reservation system is sketchy and can’t be counted upon. It was nice when they were open for lunch for a while after the hurricane. I wish they had a web site, but really, not all that many changes occur.
FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.
Dining Environment
Consistency +3
Service+1
Value +2
Attitude +1
Wine & Bar +1
Hipness +2
Local Color +2
SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
Romantic
8-25
Open Monday dinner
Unusually large servings
Reservations accepted
Mirliton and Root Vegetable Gratin
I originally served this dish at one of my Christmas dinners, and it was so well received that I’ve made it often since. Lately, a lot of people have called me to ask for mirliton recipes, and here is a good one. It’s a variation on the French classic gratin Savoyard, with other root vegetables instead of the usual potatoes and mirlitons, a favorite vegetable around New Orleans. It’s called chayote elsewhere.
2 slices lemon
2 whole cloves
1 tsp. black peppercorns
1 rutabagas, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch-thick slices
2 lbs. carrots, peeled and cut on the bias into 1/4-inch-thick coins
2 lbs. parsnips, prepared the same way as the carrots (substitute: turnips)
4 mirlitons, halved, seed removed, sliced 1/4 inch thick
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1 1/2 cups finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 pint whipping cream
2 egg yolks, beaten
Pinch nutmeg
1 tsp, white pepper
1 cup bread crumbs
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a rolling boil with the lemon, cloves, and peppercorns. Add the rutabagas (it helps to do this in a large sieve or a chinoise), boil for about two minutes, remove and drain. Repeat with the carrots, parsnips, and mirlitons. (The mirlitons will only require about one minute.)
2. Crush the garlic cloves, and use them to wipe the inside of a two-inch-deep, 12-by-9-inch glass baking dish. Discard what’s left of the garlic.
3. Layer the vegetables in the baking dish, in the order listed. Sprinkle a mixture of the cheeses between the layers. Season with white pepper and (sparingly) nutmeg. The cheeses will provide all the salt this needs.
4. Combine the whipping cream and the egg yolks thoroughly. Pour the mixture over the vegetables. Cover with aluminum foil, and bake in the preheated 400-degree oven for one hour.
5. Remove the foil, sprinkle bread crumbs in a thin layer over the top, and return to the oven. Continue baking until the crust browns.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to rest and cool for at least ten minutes before serving. This is better warm than hot.
Makes about 12 side portions.
Deviled Eggs @ Mondo
When Susan Spicer opened her new Mondo, she said it would be a neighborhood cafe. She didn’t say she’d serve the same food as in every other neighborhood cafe. Which brings us to the appetizer of three halves of deviled eggs. Why three? Two isn’t enough, four is too much. The mixture of egg yolk and seasonings in the middle is sharp and good, and the remoulade-like aioli completes a pleasantly different meal beginner. Great with a cocktail. (Specifically, a Rob Roy.)
Mondo. Lakeview: 900 Harrison Ave. 504-224-2633.
This is among the 500 best dishes in New Orleans area restaurants. Click here for a list of the other 499.
January 5, 2016
Days Until. . .
Carnival Begins5.
Mardi Gras 56.
Eleventh Day of Christmas
Eleven pipers will be piping. Some old lady is trying to cross Veterans Highway with eleven Schwegmann bags. Allan Sherman got an automatic vegetable slicer that works when you see it on television but not when you get it home. Andy Williams’s friend brought gifts for one and all. And in my own attempt at this song, I’ll barbecue for you eleven jumbo shrimp. Tomorrow is Twelfth Night, the end of the Christmas season, and the beginning of the Carnival season.
Annals Of Food Research
Nobody (including him) knew what day he was born, so we note that this is the day in 1943 when George Washington Carver died. The son of a slave, Carver made revolutionary discoveries in agriculture, most of them motivated by a desire to help poor farmers in the South. He is best known for turning peanuts into a major cash crop. He also encouraged the wider consumption of sweet potatoes. He was brilliant enough that Henry Ford, among others, wanted to hire him. But he stayed at Tuskegee Institute and dedicated his life to helping the lot of poor farmers.
Gourmet Gazetteer
Honeypot Glen is miles southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, the state capital. It’s a real glen, formed by Honeypot Brook, which hooks around the neighborhood of the same name, plus Cheshire Village. All of these are suburbs with a rural feel. The restaurant nearby is Paul’s, right next to Cheshire Park.
Edible Dictionary
yam, n.–Around Louisiana, the word “yam” means nothing other than the sweet potato we grow widely here. But that’s not strictly a correct usage. The sweet potato–a New Word vegetable–is not related even distantly to a true yam. That’s a root vegetable, genus Dioscorea, that originally grew mostly from Africa through Asia. Its roots are much thicker, yellower, and more bitter than the sweet potato. It also contain bitter elements that need to be cooked out. The roots burrow deep into the soil, and they’re hard to harvest, especially in Africa (which gave the yam its name). People usually ate them only when there was nothing else. The Africans brought them to the Caribbean, where they remain popular. If you ever encounter true yams, they’ll probably be involved in a dish with Caribbean roots (no pun intended).
Food Inventions
Today is the birthday, in 1914, of Aaron Lapin, the inventor of whipped cream in an aerosol can. He called it Reddi-Wip, and it really was (and still is) whipped cream, not plastic stuck together with vegetable gum the commonly comes from a can. Reddi-Wip was made with light cream, although they have a fattier and creamier version.
Annals Of Popular Cuisine And Food Writing
The trademark Home of the Whopper was issued to Burger King on this date in 1965. That very year, Burger King became the first restaurant I ever dined in on my own, with my own money. It was the one on Airline Highway near Turnbull, the first location of the franchise in New Orleans. I had a Whopper, fries, and a Coke. I got there on my bicycle after a ride of about three miles. I was fourteen.
Food Calendar
Because of the item about Reddi-Wip above, today is National Whipped Cream Day. As long as it’s real whipped cream, we love it. It’s easy enough to make, even by hand. You may use either regular or heavy whipping cream. Gadgets have even been developed to use light cream, half-and-half, or even skim milk to make whipped “cream,” but you’d be better off using less of the real thing instead of more of that less satisfying stuff.
It’s fortunate that the whipped cream observance should be today, because we are now well into the Louisiana strawberry season. We bought some real beauties from a roadside stand yesterday, and my daughter has already eaten three pints of them. Sweet and wonderful, with or without whipped cream.
The Old Kitchen Sage Sez:
When making your own whipped cream: a) Keep the cream cold; 2) Whip in a back-and-forth, not circular, motion, and iii) Don’t overbeat, or the whipped cream will break into butter and whey.
Etymology Of Dish Names
Today is the birthday, as far as we know, of the word hamburger. It first appeared in the expression “hamburger steak” on this day in 1889, in the Union-Bulletin newspaper in Walla Walla, Washington. It was in an ad for a restaurant that served a popular dish among the many German immigrants: the Hamburg steak, made of ground beef.
Restaurants And The Economy
The Consumer Age in America was born on this date in 1914, when Henry Ford announced a new plan for the employees of the Ford Motor Company. He reduced the work week to five days of eight hours a day, with no reduction in pay. He also set the minimum wage at five dollars a day. “We believe in making 20,000 men prosperous and contented rather than follow the plan of making a few slave drivers in our establishment multi-millionaires,” Ford said.
Ford was widely criticized in business management circles for this decision, but it transformed the country. Ford employees, with more money and time on their hands, spent it on leisure pursuits. One of the first things they did was buy cars. Now the American economy is largely fired by consumer spending, as a result of the trend Ford set in motion. We certainly wouldn’t have our enormous restaurant industry were it not for the prosperity of the average American.
Food Namesakes
Tracy Ham, a Canadian professional football quarterback, passed into life today in 1964. . . Michael DeWine, a Congressman from Ohio, was born today in 1947. . . And the aforementioned Reddi-Wip inventor Aaron Lapin was born today in 1914. “Lapin” is the French word for rabbit.
Words To Eat By
“When I was young, I said to God, ‘God, tell me the mystery of the universe.’ But God answered, ‘that knowledge is for me alone.’ So I said, ‘God, tell me the mystery of the peanut.’ Then God said, ‘Well, George, that’s more nearly your size.'”–George Washington Carver.
“Nothing important has ever come out of San Francisco, Rice-a-Roni aside.”–Comedian and writer Michael O’Donoghue, born today in 1950.
Words To Drink By
“When your companions get drunk and fight,
Take up your hat and wish them good night.”–Unknown, Irish.
A Plate Of Food On A Slab Of Wood.
Always as ridiculous as it is new.
Click here for the cartoon.