The luckiest boy in NOLA...

That's how I felt last night. For those of you who don't know about my so-called wife, Elisha, here is the thumbnail of our relationship: We met at UNO before Hurricane Katrina and just sort of clicked. We got closer after we both got back to town  & have been damn near inseparable since then, to the point that we have actually been mistaken for a married couple. Seriously. One night a few years ago, we were sitting at a bar, playing one of those touch-screen trivia games & out of nowhere, this woman who had been sitting behind us came over and asked: "Excuse me, how long have y'all been married?" Without missing a beat I just turned around and said "Six years, grrl, it'll be seven in June." For those of you who don't know me that well, honestly, I can't imagine what this lady was thinking of. Elisha's and my relationship (IMO) seems like that of two Large Retarded Women, I certainly have never seen a straight married couple who acts like us.

But I digress.
Anyway, she is going to be out of town next weekend so she is going to miss my graduation. So, she offered to take me out for a night of glamour dining & OMG did she spoil me rotten!!! She came up with the idea of going on a Progressive Dinner with French & Spanish cuisine as the theme. How thoughtful is that??!! I told her to surprise me about which restaurants we were going to & boy was I in for a surprise....

(For those who don't know, no it's not a political thing, a Progressive Dinner is when you go from one place to the next for different courses of the meal)

Our first stop was Café Granada (1506 S. Carollton). Although their sidewalk tables were all full, we didn't mind eating inside (a first for both of us). I had a glass of Red Sangria (a little watery for my taste, but not bad) and I had the Andalusian gazpacho & she had el sopa del día (Soup of the Day), which was a cucumber gazpacho. Mine was just exactly what I think traditional gazpacho should be: finely pureed tomatoes, pepper & hint of garlic, served nice and cold for a warm summer evening. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. Hers was just as nice (if a lil avant garde for me), a somewhat creamy, cool puree of cucumber; very smooth with a refreshing finish. Then for a change of pace we tried las croquetas de queso (Golden Fried Goat Cheese Balls over a Mango-Ginger Sauce)--delicate but indulgent!! After a slight mistake on our waitress's part about our change, we decided it was time to Progress...

Our second stop was The Flaming Torch (737 Octavia St, off Magazine St.). This little spot has a lot to offer as far as ambiance goes but I can't really recommend it. We were early for our 8:45 reservation and the hostess and the bartender both acted really flustered about it. They had us sit at the bar and after I ordered a glass of wine, they proceeded to ignore us. Please understand this is not a big dining room and so Miss Hostess Lady with the overprocessed, unkempt blond hair kept walking past us without making eye contact. Before long, it was 15 minutes past our original reservation time, so we had to basically stop Miss Hostess and ask her if we were going to be seated any time soon. She gave us some line about how this 2-top table had gotten their check several minutes ago but weren't getting up from their table. We explained to her about our Progressive Dinner plan & she said "Oh, well we have a table, but it's too big for two." We were like, "We'll take it, we won't be here for more than 1 course anyway." So then she seats us at a table that had been open the WHOLE time we had been there. That really steamed both of us. We have both been in the business long enough to know better, and I would have hoped Miss Hostess Lady had as well. When we were finally at a table, it took Miss Lady several moments to clear off the additional table settings and then several more minutes for her to bring us menus. Subsequently a rather harried-looking older waiter stopped by our tables to tell us about the specials and warn us that there were several large tables upstairs, so there might be some delay with our food. Please keep in mind that at this point we have already been at this restaurant for at least 40 minutes. This is when I interjected, "Listen, let me just cut to the chase. We are doing a progressive dinner, so we are only going to have two orders of the escargots and an order of the goose liver pâté." After he'd left the table, Elisha thanked me for handling the scenario, and some bread and butter was dropped off by Miss Hostess. Naturally, as LRWs, we wiped this out in a flash, and then spent the next 20 minutes or so observing the dining room. A couple in the corner looked angry and had no food on their table. Another couple closer to us had empty plates and glasses sitting in front of them as server after server (not to mention Miss Hostess) blithely walked by, empty-handed. Eventually the escargots & pâté arrived all at once, not in courses (the pâté should have come first as it is a cold app that requires minimal prep, whereas the escargots have to be heated for a substantial amount of time). The pâté was tasty, although the serving size cannot be called generous, and the consistency was a bit creamier than I have had before. It was accompanied by a few slivers of--prosciutto? Candied something? I'm not sure as the dish was not explained. There were 3 thin crispy pieces of bread on the plate as well, so we had to order another breadbasket. The escargots were not served as usual (ivre, in a garlic-butter cream sauce, in a martini glass) but rather in a quasi-classic escargot dish. Unlike the true classic escargot dish (which actually goes in the oven) this dish is a rather fragile piece of porcelain that wouldn't withstand heat and certainly doesn't retain any, as my escargots were quickly cooling. The sauce was a sort of pistou (French pesto) that would probably been tastier if it had been warmer. Once the bread arrived, (warm on top & cold on the bottom) we sopped up the rest of the sauces and asked for the check. I can honestly say the best thing about this leg of the journey was the company (and meeting a lovely family that Elisha knows). Progression never felt so good as we got in the car for the final stop on our LRW mystery dinner!!

My so-called wife saved the best for last, and we went to a restaurant neither of us had tried before: Dominique's (4729 Magazine, just down the block from  Sade's Amour Hair Salon). This cozy place, in a renovated shotgun double style house, was definitely la pièce de résistance, hands down. We had run out of Flaming Torch so quickly that we were a couple minutes early for our 10 o'clock reservation, so we had a seat at the bar, where I ordered a Caipirinha from their sumptuous cocktail menu. We chatted a bit with the bartender, and by the time she served My First Caipirinha (& there's not many things I can say that about these days), our table was ready. The pictures on their website (dominiquesneworleans.com) really don't do justice to their geometrical, comfy decor. Although the dining room can get a bit loud, the colors are soothing and the staff is friendly and smartly attired. Eschewing dark, heavy colors prevalent in so many restaurants of this price range, the friendly servers are dressed in white shirts with khaki trousers, accented by pastel rainbow ties that complement the decor. We were taken care of by Erin, an open-faced brunette with amazing menu knowledge and outstanding salesmanship, not to mention a frankly charming personality. We were delighted here by the Duck Leg Confit with Poached Pears & the Charred Morgan Beef Tartare with Avocado Crème Fraiche. Then we had a cheese plate, consisting of House-Made Herbed Goat Cheese, Tomme de Bordeaux & something else that Erin would proably remember. Then we finished off with an amazing pair of desserts: Floating Island (the menu description doesn't do this justice either); it was a creamy meringue served over crème anglaise with a caramel drizzle and garnished with fruit & Chocolat Bavarois for me, which was like a thick pudding in a square-shaped mold that was coherent with the decor, accented by a plank of crispy chocolate and a dollop of ice cream. Dessert here is served accompanied by home-spun cotton candy like you never had at the fair. The flavor du jour was Green Apple & all I can say is WOW!!!

This night & so many others just tell me how blessed I really am. Thank you again, Elisha for taking such good care of me!!