“Happy Easter”
Diana flew to San Francisco for Easter on Monday, and I joined on Thursday afternoon. Julie celebrated her 50th birthday a few days earlier, and I was put to work on Clorinda’s “labor of love” – rolling up 50 dollar bills and bow tying them on to a necklace. What a finnicky project. It did look good when completed.
The weather was mostly very nice, and we were able to get out for some walks on Gypsy Hill. Somebody has entirely too much energy on those walks:
Clorinda and I got to enjoy the sun on the deck, and enjoy the view for a while in the afternoon.
John and Maddie’s 5 year old son, Ben, was out showcasing his amazing swing on the golf course – he might be even better at golf than he is at baseball. College scouts pay attention!
Andy and Jude (best neighbours ever) came over on Friday afternoon. It’s always so much fun to hang out with them. Alicia and her friend Yenni put together an impressive appetizer display – particularly Yenni’s fruit arrangement.
Easter Sunday dinner was quite the feast – lobsters from Adamo’s recent diving expedition, and our gorgonzola lamb chop lollipops – been way too long since we made those.
And Julie got to wear the “labor of love” necklace.
Diana and Alicia posed for some pictures – D looking like a teenager with Alicia’s funny hat.
Caroline recommended a “new” walk for us – along the levee by Sharp Park golf course. Diana had never been there in all her Pacifica years. This was a pleasant, well maintained trail by the beach and up into the hills.
I flew back to Dallas on Tuesday – the first day of masks not being required for air travel. It was interesting to observe about 70% of folks with masks in San Francisco airport and maybe 10% at best in Dallas.
I enjoyed a long walk to Duino for coffee on Thursday afternoon. Ended up being more than 6 miles – a bit more than I had bargained on.
I dropped the VW Atlas off at Discount Tire to get the wheels balanced on Thursday, and Finn picked me up there and took me to lunch at Mexican Cactus – those tacos are so good. The tire guys called me at lunch to say they couldn’t find the wheel nut locking adapter anywhere. Nothing’s easy. I ended up having to pick up a new one at the dealership – must not have replaced it when they powder coated the wheel rims. The wheels did get balanced ultimately on Friday, and I found an interesting sub-woofer mounted on top of the spare tire when replacing the tool. I had no idea it was in there.
Diana and Alicia spent Saturday down in San Jose and McD enjoyed one of her staples – steak tartare at the Left Bank at Santana Row.
My first book was “Whiteout” by Ken Follett. I don’t remember reading Follett before, other than the “On Wings of Eagles” EDS Iran hostage rescue story, and really enjoyed this tale. Set in a castle in northern Scotland that has been converted into a medical research facility, the story revolves around a plot to steal a deadly virus from the lab during a blizzard.
There is a lot of family drama involved as the owner of the laboratory gathers with this extended family to celebrate Christmas. I’ll have to try some other Follett books.
My next book was “Mother, May I” by Joshilyn Jackson. Here’s the online summary:
“Growing up poor in rural Georgia, Bree Cabbat’s single mother warned her that the world was a dark and scary place. Bree rejected her mother’s fearful outlook, and life has proved her right. Marrying into a family with wealth, power, and connections, Bree has all a woman could ever dream: a loving lawyer husband, two talented young teenage daughters, a new baby boy, a gorgeous home, and every opportunity in the world – until the day Bree awakens and sees a witch peering into her bedroom window, an old gray-haired woman all dressed in black who vanishes as quickly as she appears.”
The witch ends up being the mother of a woman who was badly wronged by Bree’s lawyer husband many years ago. As she is terminal with cancer, she decides to exact revenge by kidnapping their baby. A decent, quick read, but nothing to rave about.
I enjoy reading the “5 Albums I Can’t Live Without” article in Spin magazine – similar to Desert Island Disks. This week included a rave about this album by Larry Goldings – hadn’t ever heard his music, but really like this stuff. The organ creeping in part way through is excellent:
Spotify took me on a trip through similar music as I enjoyed some quiet reading time. This was a highlight of the mix – Mehldau is so creative with such an excellent touch on the piano:
And finally, a classic I heard on the soundtrack to an HBO series that I was watching last night:
Stay safe, patient and kind to everyone!
We made it to The Franklin on Tuesday evening for dinner – you’ll remember that we canceled last week with the inclement weather. The duck liver mousse appetizer was just excellent – satsuma marmalade on the bottom and herbs and nuts on top , with excellent bread – each bite was a treat. I followed that with the burger and Diana enjoyed some wagyu beef. Well worth the drive across town to the Bywater area. Then there was a little langiappe, as so often happens in New Orleans – the local middle school band was practicing close to where we parked.
Thom had missed our Happy Hour at Monkey Hill last week, and so we had a reprise on Wednesday evening – the majority of the krewe made it out.
My book this week was “The Magnolia Palace” by Fiona Davis. This is another of the books that Diana picked up at Octavia books in New Orleans. Here’s the Amazon plot summary:
Stela of Nakhi, “Servant in the Place of Truth”, Offering to Osiris and Anubis. New Kingdom, late 18th Dynasty (c. 1300 BCE)
The group stopped at Café Degas for a nice French snack before returning Diana and Anne to the condo. Then Denny picked us up for dinner at N7 in the Bywater area. This wonderful French restaurant is hidden away behind a fence with just a small stencil to indicate the location (as seen in this Denny does Hitchcock picture.) We had chosen to sit in the covered patio area rather than the garden or inside – great choice – the setting was beautiful. I think this was my favourite meal in New Orleans so far. The tarte flambee with caramelized onions and lardons was a wonderful appetizer, and the steak au poivre was so perfect and flavourful. Bon Appetit magazine calls this the most romantic French restaurant in the world.
Almost forgot dessert – I’m always wary of pavlova – expecting it to be nowhere near as good as the ones that Mum and Diana make. The N7 version was yummy.
Kara suggested the Booker Sessions at the Maple Leaf Bar for our Thursday evening entertainment. A nice early show at 6pm featuring John Paxson playing piano in the back bar in the style of James Booker. I was able to sit close enough to watch his fingers fly across the keyboard – a real treat. That’s a Frenchy painting of Booker atop the piano.
We enjoyed a slice of alligator cheesecake and a drink at Jacque-imo’s before the show. I love that cheesecake! And as a special langiappe, the wristbands for the Booker show were penguins.
We collected Alicia at the airport on Friday and made our way to meet the krewe for Happy Hour at Monkey Hill. Alicia had asked for as much live music as possible – and it started with Johnny Sansone playing outside Monkey Hill.
I almost forgot – Diana got a love letter when she parked the car in the neighborhood on Friday morning. She’s making friends with the locals. It was written on the back of a fax confirmation sheet – so at least one person still uses a fax machine.
The music started with the Young Fellaz Brass Band – music that always makes me smile. That was followed by Sunpie, Preservation Brass, and Sweet Crude.
Alicia seemed to enjoy all the music as well.
Diana and Alicia walked to the Chloe for Sunday brunch, and enjoyed even more live music – this time from Andrew Duhon. I think he has a really good voice – reminds me of Anderson East.
Greg and Colleen hosted a crawfish boil on Sunday afternoon. I had never peeled a crawfish before, but do love the taste. I had a lesson and gave it a shot. It was great to see a few folks I hadn’t run into in a few years – Chris Pete and Randy Bush – along with the rest of the krewe. Greg did a great job remodeling (pretty much completely rebuilding) their new house on State street.
I read another one of Diana’s books this week – “The Paris Apartment” by Lucy Foley. This was not the light, airy tour around Paris that I was expecting, rather a very dark mystery where every member of a bad family had a different and dark secret. It passed the time, but I’m not sure I’d recommend it unless you enjoy dark mysteries.
The much awaited Dads Steak Night was on Wednesday evening. We all convened on Kenny’s porch for cocktail hour – it was very sweet to see Denny and Greg chatting away on the porch swing. To minimize the number of vehicles going to Charlie’s, several of the guys decided to pile into the bed of Denny’s truck. Not something that you would get away with anywhere else. There was no way I was getting in there with all the potholes in the roads here.
Charlie’s is a very old school, neighborhood steak house. There are no menus, the waiter tells you to start with onion rings, followed by a wedge salad, and then describes the different steaks available. Mason was quite happy with his T-bone and I enjoyed my filet – large enough to have left overs for two brunch omelets.
The Moms had to have their night out as well. They tried to go for oyster Happy Hour at Pascal’s Manale but they had a sign on the door saying that they had temporarily suspended the oysters due to supply chain issues. Plan B was Superior Seafood, which had plenty of oysters and a very nice brasserie type set up. They followed that with some snacks at the lovely Chloe restaurant. Seems like they had a very nice evening.
On Thursday, we walked down to Tracey’s in the Irish Channel area to see what Saint Patrick’s day looks like in New Orleans. As expected it was quite the party, with a block party between Tracey’s and Parasols bars.
Saturday began with the usual walk/run in Audubon park. Then we enjoyed another porch concert. This one on Laurel street next to Patois restaurant – one of the first places we ate in New Orleans. The folks on Laurel have put together a whole organization that regularly hosts musicians on their porches – a way to keep things going for struggling musicians during the pandemic. It was quite a professional operation and we had a lovely afternoon. Sporty’s Brass Band (Sporty is on the trombone) kicked things off and were very good.
“Pogeutry” provided our music on Wednesday at Tipitinas. This is a band made up of the Lost Bayou Ramblers with Spider Stacy and Cait O’Riordan of the original Pogues from the 1980s. I loved this show – so much energy and a good lead in to St. Patrick’s celebrations. Here’s “Dirty Old Town.” Kenny and Kara were able to join us and both enjoyed the show very much.
Saturday brought…another parade! This time the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s parade. Not nearly as crowded as the Mardi Gras parades, but just as much fun. I wasn’t expecting cabbages, leeks, and carrots to be typical throws from the floats – you really needed to pay attention. We all had fun collecting “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” stuff for Anne’s dad, Grandpa Jack.
Sunday was a mostly lazy day and then we joined Denny and Anne for dinner at Jamila’s. This is a Tunisian restaurant with excellent lamb tagine. I had been talking to my mum about the place, and she encouraged me to get the tagine and report back about it. It was thoroughly delicious – so tender and so much flavour. The place is run by a husband and wife – he manages the front and she runs the kitchen. So welcoming and funny – we will be back for sure.
My first book this week was “The Violin Conspiracy” by Brendan Slocumb. The plot revolves around a Stradivarius violin that is stolen from a black violinist. It turns out it was given to his great great grandfather by his slave owner. The story of the violin theft is interesting, but less so than the story of Ray and his journey through racism to become runner up at the Tchaikovsky competition. I found the first 70 or 80 pages a bit superficial, but really got sucked in when the story flipped back in time to Ray initially being obsessed with playing.
Having run out of books on hand – time for a visit to Octavia books down the street – I read one of Diana’s stack. “One Italian Summer” was a very quick and easy read. Pretty girly but set in Positano with pleasant descriptions of the food and the area.
Kenny and Kara joined us and we waited for a long time – but no Indians or bands. Calling it a bust, we went back to the condo to get ready for our bike ride down to the French Quarter and the Marigny to checkout all the crazy outfits.
Debra manages Jacques-Imo’s restaurant (first meal Diana and I had together in New Orleans was there) and had secured reservations for us on Wednesday night – a last meal for Campbell and Molly. Denny, Anne and Jack joined us for an excellent meal. Debra had arranged a lovely bottle of French champagne for Diana, and loaded the table up with complementary appetizers. She is so sweet and kind. This place was quite the opposite of Commander’s Palace – very casual and loud. The southern food was amazing and the portions so generous that we were eating left overs for two days. Molly was talking about her fried chicken on the flight home.
Honey was happy to have her parents back home on Thursday, and quickly destroyed her treat from the parades. How could you be angry with that face?
In the evening, we picked up Denny and Anne and drove to Faubourg Brewing in East New Orleans. It used to be called Dixie Brewing, but has changed like so many other businesses as the Dixie statues and monuments have been removed. Sun Pie and Gal Holiday were both performing outside on the expansive lawn. Gal sat down at the table with us and rapidly consumed a bunch of crawfish before her set – she had some great peeling and eating skills.
In the afternoon we attended another porch concert. This was hosted by one of Anne’s tennis ladies who was celebrating her birthday. These started as a way for musicians to make money during early COVID and I hope they continue. Just a great way to pass a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon.
There was an interesting moment when one of the guitar players amplifier broke down. No worries – the man of the house quickly nipped inside and emerged with a replacement. “The beauty of playing at a musician’s house”, said the singer. I did chuckle at the guys in their “Laissez Boy” recliners, fresh from the parades.
I finally finished “The Great Wide Open” by Douglas Kennedy. Almost 600 pages long and pretty dense, but a really good read.
Oysters were in heavy demand on Tuesday, and so we went down to Royal Oyster House in the French Quarter. Everyone got their fill of oysters – mine chargrilled, and then we rambled around the Quarter for the afternoon. I love this picture of Diana dancing to the gentleman on the balcony who was playing music, miming the lyrics and blowing bubbles.
I had made an appointment for a haircut and beard trim at the Barber shop down the street for Thursday lunchtime. This place was a hoot from start to finish. The constant banter between the two barbers, the glass of bourbon I was “forced” to consume, and the carnaptious dog asleep in the corner all made for quite a unique experience. McD was out for a walk and stuck her head in to check on me – she was quite entertained by the show.
We walked down to Baru tapas restaurant for Tuesday dinner. I had been there years ago on a boys’ trip and really enjoyed the food. I’m glad we went when we did as Baru has been closed for renovations for the last few weeks. The food was as good as I remembered – arepas and croquettes – right up K alley.
We woke up to this view from our balcony on Thursday – how did that happen? It took several hours to clean up and Diana saw the policeman who had obviously just written an upset lady a ticket, pause and give her a big hug. Nice to see.
The parades started in earnest on Saturday, with Choctaw, Freret and Sparta all rolling down Napoleon – 2 blocks from the condo. The crew assembled and we had lunch at the local Cuban restaurant before getting in position for the parades. Denny and Alex picked up some Mardi Gras shirts next door – very bright and sparkly. Here’s some of the parade action:
Denny and Kenny invited me to join them at Martin’s Wine Cellar for Friday lunch. I walked over from the condo and enjoyed a yummy salad – as D says, “It’s good to mix in something green sometimes.” We passed some time listening to music on Kenny’s porch and then made our way back to the condo to welcome our guests. We dragged them down the street to Juan’s Flying Burrito and they really enjoyed the hearty Mexican food and margaritas after the long drive. Some pool across the street at St. Joe’s Pub and it was time for bed.
We ordered takeout from Saj, the Mediterranean restaurant downstairs. While not at the superb level of Shaya, this is a very good option. After dinner, we made the short drive to Dos Jefes cigar bar to listen to the excellent John Fohl play guitar. He’s been playing here every Monday night for over 20 years, and was a member of the Dr. John band at their most popular. I really enjoyed the show and Dos Jefes is a great, low hassle location.
Thursday was a heavy work day, with a break for a late lunch at Shaya, the amazing James Beard winning Israeli restaurant across the street. The octopus hummus was ridiculously good – turns out they cook it sous vide for 5 hours to make it so tender. We also split a lamb burger that was fantastic. The brick oven bread is also amazing – fresh, light and so tasty.
Denny and I collected the girls at Pascal’s and drove to Snug Harbor jazz club for a show by Sansone, Krown, and Fohl. This is a venue like the Kessler – small cocktail tables and a “listening room” experience. I had been looking to see where we could see Joe Krown, my favourite New Orleans piano wizard, and noticed that he was out of town for the majority of our residency. So we needed to jump on this show to see him. I talked about John Fohl earlier – and was able to tell him how much we had enjoyed his Dos Jefes show on Monday night. These three together in such a wonderfully sounding room were excellent from start to finish. Just an excellent show and experience. They recorded an album around 20 years ago that still sounds great and I’ll include that in the music section below.
Saturday was spent exploring the Magazine St neighborhood – we walked a couple of miles in each direction from the condo, checking out stores and restaurants along the way – so many great places.
I really enjoyed exploring Octavia Books – a very well curated local bookstore – something that really doesn’t exist in many places.
After a few hours of exploration, we feel really pleased with the location we chose for the residency condo. And happy that we got some good walking done.
nerdy topics – a lot of Star Wars and the like. Kara was walking in the Wonder Woman group. The parade was a couple of hours late in starting, we believe because the lead off float couldn’t make the turn on the new route (changed at the last minute because of lack of police manpower.) We used the time to enjoy delicious empanadas and pupusas at R bar (one of Denny’s favourites.) The parade was very entertaining when it did start – and a good taster for all those to come over the next few weeks. Here are some of the sights (Kenny was a red shirt – responsible for keeping the crowds back so that the groups can walk past):
