Wednesday, February 8th, was a big day in our home. I cooked a close replica of the first meal I made for Diana, catfish with orange and rosemary sauce and green beans. That was followed with me playing and singing (if the word stretches that far) a poorly rehearsed, but well received, version of Marc Cohn’s beautiful song, “True Companion”. Then I dropped down to one knee and proposed to Diana – and she said “Yes”. I believe that I was able to completely surprise her.
On Thursday we flew down to New Orleans for a long weekend. First stop was “Avery’s” – a Denny approved hole in the wall restaurant with outstanding barbecued shrimp po’boys. Then to the local French wine shop to pick up some nice champagne to celebrate our engagement with the Ogans. The gentleman who owns the store was quite a character and full of stories. Dinner was at “Meril”, a new restaurant from Emeril Lagasse named after his daughter. The food was great and very reasonably priced. Diana had Korean short ribs and I tried the saffron tagliatelle with roasted lamb – both delicious. Dessert was a selection of cheeses from the St. James cheese shop – another of our favourite New Orleans destinations. We always laugh when we think of Anne’s Mum, Carolyn, telling Diana that Jack Bauer was paying when we went there with her because he had just received a big bonus for saving the President’s life.
After dinner Denny consulted the extensive listing of concerts happening in New Orleans that night and we decided on Marc Stone at the Columns hotel. He was playing in the front room and at one point there were just the four of us listening to him. Denny had a good chat with Marc and didn’t forget to slip in some “Wash Dat” marketing activity. I thoroughly enjoyed his show. So much fantastic music is happening all over New Orleans every night. We headed to Dos Jefes cigar bar next to listen to a Japanese trombone player with what appeared to be a band composed of local music students – a great finish to our first night in New Orleans. We’re always amazed at how much ground we cover in a day when there.
Friday began with a trip to SOFAB (Southern Food and Bev
erage Museum). Toups meatery has a restaurant inside and I loved the goat tacos that I had for lunch. There were lots of interesting exhibits on food and cocktails over the years. Next we had a coffee at “Morning Call” – a 24 hour coffee and beignet shop close to City Park and also to the restaurant where Denny had last left his credit card. Next to the coffee shop was the outdoor sculpture garden and we had a pleasant wander through it while enjoying the beautiful weather. Here’s a picture of my favorite sculpture – it seems to represent the evolution of man but I can’t remember the official name.
Friday dinner was at “Petit Lion” in the new Troubadour hotel. Another lovely meal with delicious appetizers and then steak au poivre. That was followed by a refreshing walk to the Smoothie King center to see a concert by Billy Joel.
None of us had seen him perform before and were all very impressed with the showmanship and musicians. His saxophone player is a real star and his solo on “New York State of Mind” was a real treat. I particularly liked that Joel included a number of New Orleans songs in his show. Here’s his version of “House of the Rising Sun” done with a tone that really conveys the song’s message well.
Cocktails at the Cellar Door finished the evening as we waited for the crowd to disperse.
Saturday started with a Jack and Mason soccer game accompanied by champagne and King cake (as only happens in New Orleans).
The boys always enjoy torturing “Miss Diana” when she comes to town. She’s in the middle of some kind of protest here. I see the boys play about once a year and am amazed at how much they progress – the team played really well.
Soccer was followed by a unique experience – a visit to the “batture”. The batture is the inside of the levee on the Mississippi – so right up against the water on stilts and right beside all the busy boat traffic.
Our host was Macon, a very interesting local character. His girlfriend was celebrating her 50th birthday and so Denny and Frank shucked over 300 oysters which Bruce barbecued on the upstairs deck with Denny’s yummy blue cheese sauce. Macon is a great story teller and well connected with the local musicians. He was telling us a story about a friend who was in Los Angeles because the band he plays in was nominated for a Grammy award. I asked him if the music they played was like Tommy Malone’s band – the name of which I couldn’t remember. Denny said, “it’s the Subdudes” and then Macon said, “Tommy Malone’s right upstairs”. You can’t make things like that up.
We left the batture and meandered to the French Quarter to watch the Krewe de Vieux mardi gras parade – pronounced “Crew de Voo” in New Orleans. This was the first parade of the season to roll and featured very irreverent political satire – if only Trump could have watched. The floats were smaller since they had to be non-motorized and drawn by donkeys. What a hoot the parade was – with excellent local brass bands throughout. We finished up the evening with cocktails at Broussard’s from Pete the world renowned bartender.
Another amazing trip to New Orleans wound down with brunch at Paladar 511 in the Bywater area. Denny and I tortured Diana with discussion about wedding plans and options. I love this restaurant’s decor and food – it’s by a family that owns a small but famous pizza restaurant in San Francisco.
And so it’s back to boring McKinney. We’d love to live in New Orleans but it’s probably just as well we don’t have all that decadent food, music, and cocktails at our fingertips.
The big highlight this week was a trip to the Kessler in Oak Cliff for a concert by Eric Lindell on Thursday (my sister Elspeth’s birthday). Brent accompanied us while poor Patty missed due to work travel.
Campbell clearly enjoyed his “all about me” day. His friends left to right are Cody, Patrick, and Cameron (turtle). He’s known them all since elementary school and they’re a great bunch of friends. Will and Christine, Melanie, Laquita, Campbell’s girlfriend Molly, and Diana (meeting Melanie and Laquita for the first time) all participated. It was quite steamy as the evening wore on but the kids didn’t mind or even notice I don’t think.
On Friday we loaded up these boxes for the Salvation Army into Mike Mead’s behemoth of a Tahoe and drove them to Willow Bend mall for drop off. Hopefully the car seats, toy piano, headphones and other goodies will help make Christmas merry for some needy families.
y favorite Blue Apron meals yet – smoked trout tartines. Flaked smoked trout mixed with stewed scallions, creme fraiche, mayonnaise, dill and celery on a toasted baguette. A yummy lunch.
tish Santa – we’ve named him “Peaty” since his bagpipes are bottles of Scotch whisky and my favorite single malts are the peaty flavored ones from Islay.
preparations got into full swing. A fifteen pound turkey was prepped and set to bake in the oven. Diana made some very tasty stuffing with a combination of regular and spicy Italian sausage, corn, and celery. It was a huge hit and I’m still enjoying the leftovers. Sweet potatoes were baked, potatoes mashed, and green beans cooked up. A thoroughly delicious and successful first Thanksgiving meal cooked at home for Diana and me.
Greg) for cocktails at what is reported to be the “World’s Best Cocktail Bar”. The “Dead Rabbit” has won all the major best cocktail bar awards for the last few years and it did not disappoint. I had a “Fifth Gear” which was based on Irish whiskey and very strong. That was accompanied by my favorite pub food – a shepherd’s pie made with lamb.
was a full day of meetings. The organizers tried to spice things up with some “lightning talks” – 5 mins or less on any topic an attendee had in mind. We submitted topics in advance and the audience voted. My talk, “Humble and Kind”, was selected first. The idea came to me after enduring the prior week of hateful speech from all sides and particularly the reports from our schools. The talk seemed to be well received and the song “Humble and Kind” by Tim McGraw was played at the end of the day 
on both Tuesday and Wednesday.
ng provided a real musical highlight. We saw Marc Broussard perform at the Granada theater. Dinner before at the Sundown restaurant next door to the theater was very good. Marc has a great voice and a solid band including 3 horns. We enjoyed a couple of soaring saxophone solos. My highlight of the show was a cover of “Sneaking Sally Through the Alley”, originally recorded by Robert Palmer with The Meters from New Orleans as his band. The George Porter bass line is one of my favorites.
I don’t think there’s anywhere better to see a concert than at the Kessler theater in Oakcliff, just south of downtown Dallas. The sound is pristine no matter what band is playing, the staff are friendly and helpful, the bar is great and the reserved table seating in front of the stage is excellent.
e’s. This was a recommendation from the Wahba’s and a great new place for us in the Bishop Arts district. It describes itself as “An American Bistro with a southern low-country influence”. The interior is quite elegant but casual. We started with a beet salad which was interesting in that it included strawberries – turned out to be a good combination.
Then we split some perfectly cooked New Zealand lamb chops while Patty and Brent had one of their favorite shrimp and grits in Dallas.
The next morning, after a multi-course breakfast buffet, it was off to Montmartre for one of our favorite meals. We almost worked off our breakfast climbing the never ending stairs from the Abesses metro station to Montmartre but weren’t quite ready for lunch. Stopped at a great open air cafe for a Bloody Mary and the crossword. Then on to Cafe Bruant for their amazing duck and foie gras salad and a huge pot of moules frites.
esting to see the Village Vanguard in a documentary called “Becoming Mike Nichols” that I watched between catch up naps on Saturday – apparently he and Elaine May performed there in their early days as an improv duo. The documentary was about Nichols work up to and including “The Graduate” which was his first movie at age 36. It was also Dustin Hoffman’s first movie – Nichols had seen him perform at an off-Broadway production.
Tuesday and Wednesday were long work days at 180 Maiden Lane in the Wall St area. 80 folks locked up in an auditorium with rotating speakers, panels, and group discussions.
day I made my first Blue Apron meal in a while. Catfish with ponzu and red pepper sauce, ginger toasted peanuts, garlic infused rice, and sesame seed zucchini.
ed the book “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson this week. This is a mind blowing account of the racial injustices of the judicial system in the South (particularly Alabama) told through stories of many cases that the author, a Harvard lawyer who has never really earned much of a living, has worked on over the last 20 years. The progress that Stevenson has driven almost single handedly over the years with many Supreme Court hearings is phenomenal.
