Category: Food

“Tim and Dee visit”

We did manage to stay awake and attend the Old 97s concert at Tipitina’s on Sunday night, and are quite proud of ourselves for staying out that late.  This was a very good show, and a great way to close out Kara’s birthday weekend.  Here are Kara and Nina enjoying the show:

The Old 97s are from Dallas.  They formed in 1992 and have released thirteen albums.  Starting out as a bar band, they were pioneers of the alt-country movement in the mid to late nineties.  Lead vocalist and main songwriter (and Kara’s favourite) Rhett Miller describes their music as “loud folk”.

Here’s one of their more popular songs:

We had a sports medicine spine doctor visit on Tuesday.  She ordered an epidural for pain relief and relaxation of the bulging disc and also enrolled Diana in a back and spine physical therapy group.  So, Diana was excited when she got scheduled to go to the hospital on Thursday.  Not so fast – that was for a visit with a doctor who really didn’t know why we were there.  Not well received in the slightest!  That doctor did manage to work some magic and get us in for the epidural procedure on Friday afternoon.

I picked up Tim and Dee at the airport on Thursday evening, while Diana cooked up a batch of jambalaya for dinner.  We had a nice time hanging out and catching up.

Our guests met Denny and Anne for lunch at Juan’s Flying Burrito on Friday, while we visited the hospital for the procedure.  Diana’s “angel hair pasta” veins didn’t cooperate with an IV – success on the sixth try, after over an hour of two nurses giving it their best shots.  After the IV was in, the rest of the procedure went very quickly.

Oops – I forgot to share pictures of the visit we made to the State Street skeleton house prior to lunch at Juan’s:

We were in an Uber over to Gretna fest within a couple of hours.  We set up in time to enjoy an excellent set from Galactic:

We had missed the opening Neil Francis set due to rain and the procedure.  Fortunately he joined Galactic for a few songs:

I always love watching Stanton Moore, Galactic drummer:

The Revivalists followed Galactic, after a bit of a delay, and also gave us a great set.  Here they are with a Radiohead cover:

What a pleasant and uncrowded evening at Gretna Fest.

We visited Elizabeth’s in the Bywater for brunch on Saturday morning.  Tim and I laughed as we passed the empty field where Mirliton Fest happened years ago – it’s kind of a squash like vegetable and I’ve only ever heard of it in Louisiana.

Diana and Dee had their pink breast cancer awareness shirts on, and those were matched with the drink cups:

We had a very casual and enjoyable lunch:

Elizabeth’s was followed by a French Quarter Ramble (FQR) with Denny and Anne joining in.  We started at Molly’s at the Market for frozen Irish coffees – a Timmy special request and progressed from there:

The ladies joined the Krewe for the Magazine Street Art Walk on Saturday night, running into our neighbors in some fancy menswear store:

We enjoyed lunch at the Rum House before dropping Diana back at Gretna Fest to meet up with the gang.

She had a good time and was dropped back at the house in one piece after enjoying this tiny cocktail chair:

Tim and Dee left for the airport in an Uber around 5pm, saying that they had done more in a few days than they typically do in three months – and I thought it was a pretty tame weekend.

I didn’t get much reading done this week – hopefully more to report next post.

Something new from Marc Broussard – he played at Tipitina’s recently but it would have been way too crowded for us old folks:

What about this different version of the Nick Lowe classic made famous by Elvis Costello (featured earlier in the skeleton pictures):

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!

“Bayou Boys for the Win!”

Diana had the MRI of her back on Tuesday evening.   I followed that by joining the guys for trivia night at Dat Dog.  What do you know?  We won!

I contributed on a few questions – the very first one was, “Where was curling invented?”, easy – Scotland.  The guys were leaning towards Canada – geez!  We completely failed on this halftime question, lucking into one of the four opportunities:

We needed a Swiftie on our team.  She takes over New Orleans for three nights in late October.

The final question was worth up to twenty points – you have to decide how much to gamble based on the competition – we were only a few points ahead and so went all in with twenty.  The answer was a single number, made up by adding the number of major tournaments that Jack Nicklaus won, to the number of the king to whom Marie Antoinette was married, to the number of Oscars won by the original Wizard of Oz.  We came within one of the correct answer for the overall win!  Having a few different age groups represented on our team certainly helps.  I need to make the effort to attend more often as I always have a great time.

Ian McNulty, our local food writer, got my attention with his review of a brand new local restaurant, Aguasanta:

https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/eat-drink/aquasanta-opens-in-new-orleans-with-elevated-mexican-food/article_1e1f6bd4-6fc2-11ef-ae20-23f0cd916917.html

I made a reservation for Friday and invited Denny and Anne to join us.  We started with a visit to the Old Alker distillery, right next door to the restaurant.

The restaurant is very modern and welcoming.  Service was good and the food was nicely different and creative.

The stand out dish was the birria style lamb shank, perfectly cooked:

My second favourite was the suckling pig terrine – different flavour and a great sauce:

And then the crab rice arancini.  What a yummy meal – and very well done by a brand new place.

Diana noticed that the Saturday afternoon concert series at the Kingpin started up again this week, after taking a break for the height of summer.  Jon Papa Gros kicked things off with a really enjoyable set.  Kenny and Kara joined for part of it – celebrating Kara’s birthday.

The weather was perfect for an outdoor afternoon free concert.  Typical of what we love about this city.

Diana invited Kara to brunch on Sunday to celebrate her birthday weekend.

I had suggested Café Amelie in the French Quarter and Diana liked the idea.  I provided a Kuber (Keith Uber) to and from the restaurant and took advantage of the close proximity of the New Orleans Athletic Club to hang out and get some exercise between drop-off and pickup.  The restaurant had moved a couple of doors down from what I remembered – the girls thought the smaller patio was actually better and had a very tasty meal.

Kara adores the band the Old 97s and we may join her and several others to watch them tonight at Tipitina’s – just depends on how sleepy we are at show time.  I’ll report out next week.

Finn and Holly just sent some pictures from their lunch at Shiawase in Allen – this is a sushi place that Finn and I used to enjoy.  Look at the Romeo and Juliet roll:

He also shared this “melon monster” from employee appreciation day:

I took a break from “The Patron Saint of Liars” by Anne Patchett, which I don’t love yet but plan to return to soon.

I switched over to “Tell me Everything” by Elizabeth Strout, which I love.  It features all the regular characters from her previous novels, and I really enjoy the way it takes time to revisit the characters with nothing crazy happening.   I’m not quite a third of the way through and things are starting to get interesting.  I highly recommend all of her books.

Let’s start off with something from local hero, Anders Osborne:

Alex introduced me to this band and I love them:

I have a feeling many more of their tracks will make it into these posts.

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!

“She Said Yes!”

Finn and Holly got engaged on the beach in Galveston, TX on Monday.  They look so happy and had a great meal to celebrate their engagement and Holly’s birthday.

I’m so happy these two found each other.

I was tracking Hurricane Francine and hoping it wasn’t going to disrupt their plans.  They were fortunate as it changed paths to come directly over New Orleans.  Our new generator was online and ready to respond to any power outages – we were much luckier than most and didn’t have any issues.

The winds and flooding weren’t too bad at all in our area.  Thankfully a mild first hurricane experience.

We hosted an expanded Krewe for the Cowboys and Saints game on Sunday.  Everyone brought delicious snacks and had a good time.  Jeff and Merry Lee brought their “babies”, Jazz and Cali.

My lucky Cowboys jacket did not serve a good purpose, with the game quickly turning into a blowout for the Saints.  You can imagine how much fun it is to be the only Cowboys fan in a house full of Saints fans with a huge lead.

All I could do was spend some time with the only non rabid Saints fan – she wouldn’t declare as a Cowboys fan either (a problem!)

I really did enjoy having a house full of good friends – that didn’t happen in McKinney.

An engagement, a hurricane and a football party at the house – that’s quite a week!

My book this week, “My Last Innocent Year” by Daisy Alpert Florin, was a recommendation from Fred.  It is beautifully written, and has some big themes, just not what I expected from Fred – he just keeps us guessing.  Here’s the online summary:

“It’s 1998 and Isabel Rosen, the only daughter of a Lower East Side appetizing store owner, has one semester left at Wilder College, a prestigious school in New Hampshire. Desperate to shed her working-class roots and still mourning the death of her mother four years earlier, Isabel has always felt like an outsider at Wilder but now, in her final semester, she believes she has found her place―until a nonconsensual sexual encounter with one of the only other Jewish students on campus leaves her reeling.

Enter R. H. Connelly, a once-famous poet and Isabel’s writing professor, a man with secrets of his own. Connelly makes Isabel feel seen, beautiful, talented: the woman she longs to become. His belief in her ignites a belief in herself, and the two begin an affair that shakes the foundation of who Isabel thinks she is, for better and worse. As the lives of the adults around her slowly come apart, Isabel discovers that the line between youth and adulthood is less defined than she thought.

A coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, Daisy Alpert Florin’s My Last Innocent Year is a timely and wise portrait of a young woman learning to trust her voice and move toward independence while recognizing the beauty and grit of where she came from.”

Here’s something interesting and different from Ikebe Shakedown:

Here’s what Discogs says about the band:

David Gilmour has a new album out that sounds really good:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!

“Football’s back!”

We joined the New Orleans Athletic Club on Monday.  We toured a few weeks ago and finally took the plunge (pun intended.)  This club is located downtown on the edge of the French Quarter and began in 1872.  You can read all about the interesting history here:

https://neworleansathleticclub.com/about/history

The character and the lovely pool were big selling points for me.  As well as the reading library and bar.  I’m looking forward to becoming a regular.  Here are some pictures inside:

The club has a lot of classes each week and I think we’re going to really enjoy it.

The US Open tournament provided some very good entertainment this week – some of the highest quality tennis that I’ve seen in a while.  I was pleased to see Steve Gleason in attendance:

We watched the kickoff to the football season at Dos Jefes cigar and jazz bar.  It was so nice to listen to the Mark Coleman band, with the very talented John Fohl sitting in, while watching the Kansas City Chiefs eke out a win over Baltimore.

I treated McD to Happy Hour at the Bower on Friday afternoon.  They really have great snacks on the special menu.  Here Diana is demonstrating how to eat spaghetti for Steve – he cut his up with a knife and fork on our San Diego trip:

We went for our visit to the NOAC on Saturday morning.  I enjoyed a swim (before being ousted by the water aerobics ladies – got to pay attention to the schedule).  I treated Diana to brunch at Elizabeth’s in the Bywater area after our visit.  This is an excellent brunch restaurant – we loved our “pig candy” (praline bacon) and Florentine benedict with fried oysters.

After brunch, we met the boys at Cooter Brown’s for a little bit of college football watching.

Both the Cowboys and Saints had convincing wins to kickoff their campaigns – making for a pleasant Sunday all around.

I’m skipping the book and music sections for this post as I try to get caught up again.

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!

“Backup power online”

Our new generator was installed on Tuesday and it was an all day activity.  We are awaiting the final new “higher bore” gas meter to be installed before we’ll be all tested and live.

The power was off to the house for a few hours in the afternoon as the install was completed.  We took advantage to head out for Happy Hour.  First up, 4141 St Charles, a new cocktail bar in what was/is New Orleans Seafood and Hamburger Company.  The drinks and oysters were good but the atmosphere needs some work – too bright and basic.

I had intended to visit the Library before heading home – that’s the cocktail bar version and not the one that is temporarily closed due to an “abundance of caution” (personally hated phrase) about a mold issue – but it didn’t open until 5pm.  The Bouligny Tavern came to the rescue.  This was Diana’s first visit and she enjoyed it quite a bit – another place that’s walkable from home when the weather is reasonable.  The bartender was spinning vintage jazz vinyl and we had a good chat about that.  The mushroom and brie dish we ordered was excellent – a wonderful red win reduction sauce and perfectly executed.  The Bouligny shares a kitchen with Lillete, a well known fine dining restaurant.

Around the same time, Anne was celebrating her real birthday with her Mom and girlfriends in Florida.  You can tell Carolyn is really enjoying hosting.

We both noticed a gas smell after the generator installation.  A technician came out and I showed him the spots on the patio where it was most prevalent – “You mean right here next to the gas lamps that are turned on and not lit?”  Ah geez – what a couple of clowns.   In our defense, we believe turning off the lamps before install and relighting when complete, should be part of the generator basic install process.

I dropped Diana off at the airport for her visit to Pacifica on Wednesday.  We both have sore backs and so I was worried about her trip.  She seemed to soldier through it okay.

I didn’t do much until a special event at the Prytania theater on Sunday afternoon.  This is a neighbourhood movie theater with just one screen and a ton of old school character.  Bruce Spizer is a local Beatles historian who has published several books about their albums and movies.  This talk was about “A Hard Day’s Night.”  Spizer delivered a multimedia talk for about an hour and then we watched the movie.  What a fund way to pass a few hours on a hot afternoon.

You can read more about the Spizer album series of books here:

https://www.goodreads.com/series/359154-album-series

Meanwhile, Kenny and Kara were enjoying the Adirondacks and Lake Placid at her brother’s place.

And the Redwood City Campagna kids were back to school.  Both at St. Francis with their dad for one overlap year:

My book this week was “The Uptown Local – Joy, Death and Joan Didion” – by Cory Leadbetter.

This book started out well and quickly became a bit tedious.  Fortunately, it was a short read.  The paragraphs jumped around way too much for me, without any obvious linkage in time or theme.  Here’s an online summary:

“As an aspiring novelist in his early twenties, Cory Leadbeater was presented with an opportunity to work for a well-known writer whose identity was kept confidential. Since the tumultuous days of childhood, Cory had sought refuge from the rougher parts of life in the pages of books. Suddenly, he found himself the personal assistant to a titan of literature: Joan Didion.

In the nine years that followed, Cory shared Joan’s rarefied world, transformed not only by her blazing intellect but by her generous friendship and mentorship. Together they recited poetry in the mornings, dined with Supreme Court justices, attended art openings, smoked a single cigarette before bed.

But secretly, Cory was spiraling. He reeled from the death of a close friend. He spent his weekends at a federal prison, visiting his father as he served time for fraud. He struggled day after day to write the novel that would validate him as a real writer. And meanwhile, the forces of addiction and depression loomed large.

In hypnotic prose that pulses with life and longing, The Uptown Local explores the fault lines of class, family, loss, and creativity. It is a love letter to a cultural icon—and a moving testament to the relationships that sustain us in the eternal pursuit of a life worth living.”

Here’s another completely mellow Larry Carlton driven Crusader’s song:

And something from my recent favourite saxophonist:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all!

“Anne’s Pre-Birthday Week”

Diana and Anne had a pool day planned at Merry Lee’s place on Monday.  They invited me to join them for lunch at Tacos del Cartel beforehand.  This was a wonderful meal in a very pretty restaurant.  We started with a delicious ceviche and then I had the birria tacos on the clothesline, while Anne had soft shell crab tacos and Diana some yummy mushroom tacos.  All three were fantastic.

The jaguar seemed to have a role to play in the restaurant – Diana’s drink and a topiary in the outside area:

It’s nice when a “pretty” restaurant (what the kids call “Instagram worthy”) also delivers good food.

After lunch, I was on my own to get home.  I thought I’d try the streetcar but couldn’t figure out where the stop was.  I did chuckle as the stop was somewhere near Herbsaint restaurant – apparently quite the power lunch spot as there were dueling Ferraris outside.

McD was talked into a quick jazz outing to Dos Jefes on Thursday night.  The Mark Coleman band was playing – Mark is our friend Chris Henry’s (tennis coach) piano teacher.  John Fohl sat in on guitar.

I was quite entertained when Fohl walked in about 15 minutes into the set, plugged in his guitar, and immediately started jamming.  So much for the 30 minute setups that most musicians indulge in.

I absolutely love that we can leave the house at 8pm, listen to an hour and 15 minutes of world class music, and be in bed by 10pm.  Exactly why we moved here.

A guy came to the door on Friday to tell me that Entergy (local energy company) was going to be trimming trees away from the electric lines and did I know who the parked cars belonged to.  I had no idea.  Turns out a raft of trucks from all over were involved in this operation, with no clear leader.  We saw trucks from Texas and other locations – quite disorganized.  Would have been good to have some advance warning before we went out shopping and then couldn’t get back into the street.  I watched the tree chipper burn up and then we waited on the replacement to roll in.  All was cleared up before Denny picked us up for Anne’s birthday dinner.  We had a card and gift for Anne to open before everything got busy:

And what a wonderful birthday dinner Denny had organized.  Acamaya (Spanish for crawfish) was excellent.  Ana Castro has previously had excellent Mexican restaurants in New Orleans – Lingua Madre was her high end tasting menu at what is now Wild South.

The food was amazing.  The arroz negro with squid ink in the rice and topped with squid and mussels was a complete stand out.  One of the best things I’ve tasted in a long time.

Diana doesn’t like sweet potatoes, but whatever they did to this one made her really enjoy it.

All of the dishes we had were amazing.  Great call Denny!

Here’s the local food critics write up:

https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/eat-drink/acamaya-serves-upscale-mexican-seafood-in-nola-bywater/article_8b75dac4-5384-11ef-b85a-eb2649c0c4d2.html

We followed dinner with a visit to Markey’s and then BJ’s lounge.  Here we are at Markey’s (next to the Country Club restaurant).

The Happy Talk Band was playing at BJ’s lounge.  I enjoyed watching Alex McMurray ramble in (he played Kenny’s retirement party with the Tin Men).

Sixtieth birthdays are a big deal, and Diana had arranged a ladies brunch for Anne on Sunday (in addition to the various other celebrations.)  La Petite Grocery was the destination and they made sure the decorations and cake were staged before everyone arrived.  Reports are of a very successful event.

Meanwhile, Campbell was enjoying the wide open spaces of Wyoming:

Doesn’t that look amazingly relaxing?

My book this week was “The Women” by Kristin Hannah.  This was a quick and easy read.  The reaction to Vietnam heroes returning from war took me by surprise.  Can Americans be so callous?  Here’s the online synopsis:

“When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different choice for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on the story of all women who put themselves in harm’s way to help others. Women whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has all too often been forgotten. A novel of searing insight and lyric beauty, The Women is a profoundly emotional, richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose extraordinary idealism and courage under fire define a generation.”

Something interesting from the always controversial Gil Scott Heron:

Maybe the best piano music ever:

I was listening to some “Classic Rock” from the London Symphony Orchestra that reminded me of  Nigel Boddice and his trumpet work on the Rolling Stones classics.  I looked him up and was sad to see his passing in 2022.  It reminded me of train rides with him from Edinburgh to Glasgow and our reviews of music scores and mountain climbing magazines.  Such a giant of trumpet and conducting.  A good friend who had a big impact on my musical career.

Coexist peacefully, with patience and compassion for all!