Midnight Smack BY FU

Normally I don’t write a second blog post so soon after hitting “publish,” but after the last one, I got feedback. Specifically from one highly opinionated reader: JZ.

He tried to leave a comment on WordPress—and apparently did once in the past—but now can’t do it again. He’s convinced that if he comments, others will too, and my readership will quadruple. By my math, that’s 8 readers becoming 24. Huge growth.

Listen, WordPress is more complicated than I expected, and I’m not quite ready to open the floodgates to all 24 of you. I write for my own entertainment—and so my kids might someday read these and say, “Wow, she was weird and really cool”. They don’t read them now, but I fully plan on haunting them if they don’t when I’m gone.

Anyway—back to JZ. He had thoughts about my New Orleans post.

The Great Muffuletta Debate

JZ:
“This is what I was going to add to your last blog. FYI.”

Me:
Oh, excellent. Enlighten me.

JZ:
Ahhh … all the fond memories. At least what I can remember while I was in a food coma. I remember you protesting my suggestion to have a muffuletta and I did insist that we had to because we are in New Orleans and just cannot miss out. I talked you into trying just one bite, and then, because we had been binge eating all day, we could throw it away. Just one bite.

Me:
Accurate so far.

JZ:
But, unlike the story as you tell it, I recall you had at least your fair share of that sandwich. At least.

Me:
I wrote four bites. I didn’t specify bite size.

The Mystery of the First Expensive Dinner

JZ:
I also recall that first dinner and I was so mad as to how bad it was and that it was probably wildly expensive that I made you pay the bill and not tell me how much we wasted on that. I still do not know how much it was to this day.

Me:
Honestly? Neither do I. Probably around $100, which was a lot 18 years ago. But I also think we paid that in 1979 at a fancy French place called Chouette in Wayzata. 

JZ:
That was also when I learned an important lesson: many New Orleans restaurants exist due to the ignorance of the tourists. Choose wisely. Just because the restaurant is in one of the most amazing culinary destinations in the country does not mean it’s any good. Lesson learned.

Me:
Tis true.

JZ:
I’m so glad you found that recipe for the crabmeat cheesecake and I do remember it both at the Palace Cafe and when you brought it to Broadstreet. I am now looking forward to it for dinner in our home sometime soon. Can’t wait!

Me:
Awww. Also no. Too many steps. I’m retired from that dish. We have the memories—which brings me to this:

For the (older) Minnesota Foodies

I stumbled across this gem—an article by Rick Nelson that unlocked a whole food memory vault. If you ever ate your way through the Twin Cities in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s, this one’s for you. And yes, Chi-Chi’s and TGI Friday’s absolutely count.

So I signed up online to the Star Tribune to copy this for you. Shhhh  you 24, don’t say a word. Here are some actual highlights from 1979–1981 newspaper reviews:

Aug. 14, 1981: “A feast likely to expand the senses… I would rather eat one exquisite, if necessarily expensive, dinner out per year than a dozen mediocre ones. Enter Chouette… hors d’oeuvres fetching $13.50 and entrées as much as $21.50. Add soup, salad and dessert, figure in an apertif, wine, coffee and tip and you may have to cash in a T-bill to pay the tab.”
(For reference, $21.50 is about $71 in 2017 money. Chouette did not come to play.)

Aug. 31, 1979: “Bill and Sandra Goblirsch are not just typical Chouette customers… ‘We don’t come here for special occasions, but it is a special occasion when we come here.’”

Aug. 31, 1979: “Just meeting John Day makes you wonder uneasily whether your shoes are polished enough or whether maybe you should rush home and iron your shirt again… Although he is a bit intimidating at first glance, there are laughing eyes above his serious mouth.”

And the owner? Jolley White. She loved her restaurant so much she basically only ate there—or at New French Café on 4th Street. Which we also went to! Full circle. And final word: Mine. JK. Jump in anytime, JZ. xxoo