So, we left Coop's. We went to DBA on Frenchman to see Red Car, and we sat in the fish tank window. We were just sitting there, when CMG's brother walks by, LCRM - Little Cuban Renaissance Man. You know, it's not easy thinking up nicknames. Most the people who I give nicknames out to don't read this, but at least half of those that do read it get upset with their nicknames. You know, some people forget that this is just my piece of creative nonfiction. Creative being the operative word, nonfiction being a loose association.
Anyhoo, getting back to what? Nicknames? No. Anyway, CMG's who family is pretty great. We went over to their house once for like Father's Day, and I was jealous of how close they seemed. My family is not that close anymore. We haven't all been together since like spring of 05 maybe?
Anyhoo, getting back to DBA. So we were there drinking. Red Car ended his shift. CMG and LCRM were trying to close the deal with two chicks at the bar. So I went with The Food Pimp and Red Car to Mimi's upstairs.
Mimi's is one of those great neighborhood bars that people leave their neighborhood to get to. The downstairs bar is like a typical neighborhood bar. The upstairs is like a "shabby chic" bar that now is more shabby than chic. But it's still cool. The FP set up the kitchen and developed the first menu. It's tapas. Anyhoo, Red Car was hungry, so he ordered some food. That was great, because we were not hungry, but we could nibble. In Nola, there's always room for a nibble.
So, the cheese plate. Don't ask me what cheeses. I don't remember. They were good. No cheap boursin, Albertson's cubes of cheddar or jalapeno jack here. Not that I won't eat that cheese. I would probably eat Velveeta. I had my Velveeta grilled cheese phase in junior high. I ate them like every day after school. Sometimes I sliced Velveeta off the "log" and ate it cold. Such a weird texture and taste. Even weirder than American. I'd like to try it now and see if I like it - although, I know I still appreciate the rotel dip with velveeta and canned chili...
Anyway, these were imported fancy cheese - Mahon, valdeon, cabrales, manchego, I don't know. Good cheeses. Nice bread. Some other stuff on the plate that I can't identify. Anyway, you have to have a nice cheese plate in New Orleans. Really. You do. It's a food city. And the bread has to be good. There are a lot of good sources for bread there.
Mushroom manchego toast. Ha. This is funny. This was the FP's creation. It's a take on a dish that other Nola chefs do - now the FP is going to be all sore at me for writing this - but, it's my piece of creative nonfiction, right?
Mushroom manchego toast, when executed properly is delicious. It's fresh mushrooms sauteed with cream and sherry and manchego toasted on bread. Here, the FP might nit pick again and say, well, actually, it's not quite how I would describe the dish...
Anyway, my point to all this is that it didn't taste like the FP's dish. It was a soggy piece of bread with this runny sauce of cream and canned mushrooms. Yeah. Canned mushrooms. Like the can was opened and they were scooped out of the can by hand and thrown into some cream. Not good. I'm not a food snob. If you have been reading this I should not have to say that. But I'm not. I was just talking about Velveeta. Anyway, I will eat canned mushrooms sometimes. But this sucked. Whoever was cooking that night, I'm sorry. Maybe it's not your fault. Maybe you're not allowed to buy fresh mushrooms, maybe you ran out of mushrooms, maybe it's beyond your control. I know about that. But I didn't like it. That's all.
I get bashed with my work all the time on the internet, in reviews too, so I know how it feels to get negative press. But you gotta sort through that shit and figure out what's useful to you and what is just not useful in any way. That's it. I'm trying to be helpful. Don't use canned mushrooms unless there's some kind of nuclear war type situation or natural disaster or something.
Anyway, that's 2 things from Mimi's Upstairs. It's a great place. Go there, but proceed with caution!
http://mimisinthemarigny.com/
Anyhoo, getting back to what? Nicknames? No. Anyway, CMG's who family is pretty great. We went over to their house once for like Father's Day, and I was jealous of how close they seemed. My family is not that close anymore. We haven't all been together since like spring of 05 maybe?
Anyhoo, getting back to DBA. So we were there drinking. Red Car ended his shift. CMG and LCRM were trying to close the deal with two chicks at the bar. So I went with The Food Pimp and Red Car to Mimi's upstairs.
Mimi's is one of those great neighborhood bars that people leave their neighborhood to get to. The downstairs bar is like a typical neighborhood bar. The upstairs is like a "shabby chic" bar that now is more shabby than chic. But it's still cool. The FP set up the kitchen and developed the first menu. It's tapas. Anyhoo, Red Car was hungry, so he ordered some food. That was great, because we were not hungry, but we could nibble. In Nola, there's always room for a nibble.
So, the cheese plate. Don't ask me what cheeses. I don't remember. They were good. No cheap boursin, Albertson's cubes of cheddar or jalapeno jack here. Not that I won't eat that cheese. I would probably eat Velveeta. I had my Velveeta grilled cheese phase in junior high. I ate them like every day after school. Sometimes I sliced Velveeta off the "log" and ate it cold. Such a weird texture and taste. Even weirder than American. I'd like to try it now and see if I like it - although, I know I still appreciate the rotel dip with velveeta and canned chili...
Anyway, these were imported fancy cheese - Mahon, valdeon, cabrales, manchego, I don't know. Good cheeses. Nice bread. Some other stuff on the plate that I can't identify. Anyway, you have to have a nice cheese plate in New Orleans. Really. You do. It's a food city. And the bread has to be good. There are a lot of good sources for bread there.
Mushroom manchego toast. Ha. This is funny. This was the FP's creation. It's a take on a dish that other Nola chefs do - now the FP is going to be all sore at me for writing this - but, it's my piece of creative nonfiction, right?
Mushroom manchego toast, when executed properly is delicious. It's fresh mushrooms sauteed with cream and sherry and manchego toasted on bread. Here, the FP might nit pick again and say, well, actually, it's not quite how I would describe the dish...
Anyway, my point to all this is that it didn't taste like the FP's dish. It was a soggy piece of bread with this runny sauce of cream and canned mushrooms. Yeah. Canned mushrooms. Like the can was opened and they were scooped out of the can by hand and thrown into some cream. Not good. I'm not a food snob. If you have been reading this I should not have to say that. But I'm not. I was just talking about Velveeta. Anyway, I will eat canned mushrooms sometimes. But this sucked. Whoever was cooking that night, I'm sorry. Maybe it's not your fault. Maybe you're not allowed to buy fresh mushrooms, maybe you ran out of mushrooms, maybe it's beyond your control. I know about that. But I didn't like it. That's all.
I get bashed with my work all the time on the internet, in reviews too, so I know how it feels to get negative press. But you gotta sort through that shit and figure out what's useful to you and what is just not useful in any way. That's it. I'm trying to be helpful. Don't use canned mushrooms unless there's some kind of nuclear war type situation or natural disaster or something.
Anyway, that's 2 things from Mimi's Upstairs. It's a great place. Go there, but proceed with caution!
http://mimisinthemarigny.com/
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