two Peters are better than one

I am not the only Peter out there, you know.  Shocking, yes, but believe me.  There are others.

My favourite other Peter and I had dinner last night.  We've seen plenty of each other at conference these past days, but it was terrific to get together and just have the two of us enjoy food and gossip about everyone else.  I exaggerate a little, only a little.  Certainly, we enjoyed food!

Peter and I hopped in a car and headed to a neighbourhood away from where I normally get whilst in New Orleans.  Our destination:  Toups' Meatery. 

Isaac Toups was a contestant several years back on Top Chef.  He was kind of fun, and he did win Restaurant Wars, though I admit that I rolled my eyes at the conversation he had with his wife on one episode where they talked about him making sure he didn't come home all Californian or something, as if New Orleans is all and only good and California has nothing of merit to offer.  No matter.  I'd been curious to try his food, so Peter and I set off to enjoy a meal there.

Cocktails first.  I had the Sloe Poke,

and after Peter tried it, he had that as his second dish.  We had some fried turkey necks,

pickles,

and cornbread

to start with.  And you know, those turkey necks were pretty freakin' awesome.  And plenty of food.  We should have stopped with those three items, but no, we underestimated portions and - curious for two generously-proportioned gentlemen - overestimated our appetites.  Out came my lamb neck

(necks were a theme, I guess), and oh, yep.  A lot.  No photo of the brownie we shared (it was fine, maybe a little dry), but um, yeah, we had dessert.  I also had a cocktail of pork fat washed bourbon, and that was fine, but the Sloe Poke was better.

I woke up this morning remembering that I don't usually eat that much food, let alone that much rich red meat.  Gosh.  My kingdom for a cauliflower or a big stalk of broccoli.

But in the end, hooray for seeing Peter!  I'm looking forward to the next time.

lunch, dinner, brunch (NOLA)

More New Orleans food while I am here (and though this will post later in the week, it's Sunday night, one more night to go!).

Saturday lunch I dined with my friend John.  He's vegetarian, sometimes vegan, and hey, I like vegetables.  Genuinely!  He suggested a place not too far from the convention center, Carmo, and while it had many vegetarian and even vegan options, it also had non-vegetarian options.  A glass of wine each, and we both opted for different versions of the Rico. 

Fried plantains, with pork for me.  Yum!  Really satisfying.

Saturday night I had dinner with Maggie.  I opted for Luke for us in between receptions (we missed the second because dinner was nice and relaxed).  I'd been there in years past, and I remembered it as an oyster bar/French-ish bistro in a hotel.  They still serve oysters, but I didn't see them all on display on ice.  No matter.  Maggie is not a raw bar fan, and the man at the next table was having a super-delicious looking food, so I ordered what he had:  red beans and rice with fried chicken. 

Damn satisfying!

Sunday brunch I skipped out of the conference with some colleagues and we sought brunch.  And oh, look:  hello Luke!  A glass of sparkling rose, but the main event?  A standard-ish breakfast.  That makes it sound boring, but by gosh I wanted some decent grits and a biscuit. 

Locals will surely quibble, but mmmmmm.

More food from New Orleans to come!

oh, so you think I'm actually seeing New Orleans?

Look, here's the truth:  when I go to ALA conferences, I do not get out much, I do not see much.  And when I do, it's in passing.  I spend so much time at the convention center

and the main conference hotel and seldom get anywhere else.

I laugh.  I mean, yes, I get to travel and accrue miles and have great meals and see friends.  But truthfully?  That's all.  Or, "all".

My rough life, right?  But I'm not here in New Orleans on tours and visits to attractions.  I barely see any conference city.  I had dinner tonight about three miles from the hotel, and I think that's the farthest afield I've ever been from the main conference facilities.

I have had time in the past to walk a little, and to take some photos.  I may yet.  But for now, I've got some lovely views from the hotel (check out the sunrise!),

and a quiet morning on Canal Street,

and, um, yeah.

But if you like, I can take more photos of the convention center!

bow ties, again

I haven't taken photos of my outfits all week, but assuredly, there have been bow ties.  I'm trying to rock a look I'm calling Palm Springs dad while at conference.  Not sure I'm making it there, but I am liking the colours and patterns.

So here you go, a bow tie selfie for you!

first NOLA dinner of the trip

Alright, alright.  I admit it.  I get a little annoyed that NOLA (the city as an anthropomorphized entity and the people in various media who are from it or promote it) seems to think that it's the best of all, that its food is so much better than everywhere else in the US.  Oh, come on.  As if New York or Chicago or Los Angeles or even Seattle or DC or Philadelphia and more don't have amazing food and a rich food culture.  My eyes, they roll.

But yes, there is fine food here.  Plenty of it.  So no, I am NOT disparaging the food here in the slightest.  I just want it to get off its metaphoric high horse.

Friday night was a good dinner out with my friends Andrew and Ed and their wives.  No photos of them all, sorry.  But photos of food!  And worthwhile.  Ed had booked us at La Petite Grocery

(and man, does that make me think about French as a language), and he was so right.  I loved what I saw of the menu beforehand, and the reality came through.  Good cocktails.  I didn't get a shot of the blue crab (sorry east coast and Gulf coast people, but your crab is fine and Dungeness is so much better - I will not be convinced otherwise) beignets that we shared, but yum!  I had rabbit for dinner,

and oh, it's been so long since I had that.  Satisfying.  I loved the dessert as well, a rice pudding cake of sorts with orange in a few guises.

First night in New Orleans, and yep, dining very well.

I made it to New Orleans

Dinnertime on Thursday, after two flights and a not-as-long-as-I-think-it-was cab ride, I made it to my hotel in New Orleans.  I think I was last here for conference in 2018.  A good conference, but also, ugh.  I had just lost an election in the association, and I had a lot of sympathy to deal with.  Well-meaning, I know, and thank you everyone.  But it was a lot to have to process every day, I admit.

No matter.  I made it here.  A nice corner suite at the Marriott, and some great views from it.  More to come, I swear!  But for now, here is a glimpse of Louisiana.

over California

I'm in New Orleans!  I got here yesterday.  I think it was yesterday.  Oh man, I just have no concept of this week anymore.  Travel has started for me, and there is a lot more to come.

But before I got to New Orleans, it was a flight from Burbank to San Francisco.  Yes, you read that right.  I just didn't want to have to go to LAX this time.  And besides, it's more miles and segments toward status.

But the side benefit is getting to see the state from the air.

Leaving aside when I was dozing, that is.

And let's not talk about how oh so very bumpy that flight was.  Wow.

Ten years in California.  TEN!  There is so much of the state I do not know, so much I do not recognize.  So when I fly over it, I like to pick out the things I do recognize or can guess at.  Which wasn't much this time.  I mean, the Golden Gate Bridge above, and the UC Berkeley campus.

Otherwise?  Nope.  But cool to see snow on some mountains.

And I love seeing the valleys between the various ranges,

or the coast in parts.

I'll post from New Orleans soon enough!

dinner at The Arbour

We have favourites.  Oh yes, we do.  There is our trinity:  Maestro, Mama M, and Amara.  But we're happy to wander over to Union, Perle, or Agnes.  And that's just the Pasadena places.

Dinner tonight was at another: 

The Arbour.  I am embarrassed to say it's been a while, and I can't remember offhand the last time we wandered over there, likely with Natasha.  Van had never gone there, though, and with his sister Cathy in town, we thought it was prime time.

It's a great location - not close to us exactly - not too far to walk, but we don't always want to walk that far.  I like the bar and the cozy interior.  We find the food reliable and the cocktails good.  I was happy that we could finally get Van there.

It was, in fact, tasty food.  I enjoyed my cocktail - The Impressionist, a martini flavoured with a chamomile tea and lavender - a goodly bit, though I had wine with dinner.  The salads were fine.  My sea bass?  Lovely!  Nicely seasoned, well cooked.  I did steal some crispy rice cake from Conrad, though, and I preferred it to the polenta cake on my plate.  Deserts were fine - I went with a dark chocolate mousse as a concession to sharing with Conrad.  The savoury courses were the highlights, though.

Service lagged.  I won't lie.  It felt like ages just to get water then to get drinks ordered (it was ages - about a half hour).  The place was busy, and I was happy to see that.  And it's not like we weren't enjoying each other's company.  We all noticed the lag, but I think we would all be happy to be back again before too long nonetheless.

Happy birthday, Dad!

You would have been 83 today, Dad.  Happy birthday.  Gone for almost 14 years now - far too young a man to have died when you did.

No moroseness on my part.  Just a celebration for Dad, simple as that.

this little girl

I warned you all that this might turn into an Olive appreciation blog.  Ever since I met this sweet girl a few years ago, I've been wrapped around her paw, so to speak.  I utterly adore her.  She doesn't care to have her picture taken, though - what is it about dogs that makes them avoid being photographed.

I caught this shot of her last night.  Forlorn, I am sure, because neither Van, his sister, nor I were paying her much attention while we were getting dinner ready.  Have no fear - we made sure to cuddle her all during our viewing of The Bachelor.

Yes, I watch The Bachelor.😏

Sunnylands

Two weekends in a row now we've made our way to Sunnylands estate with out-of-town guests.  Last weekend we took Courtney and Robert, this weekend we took Cathy and Bob.

Sunnylands is the former estate of the Annenberg family (of TV Guide and Seventeen fame).  Now owned and operated by a family trust by the Annenberg children and grandchildren, the estate sits on over 200 acres in Rancho Mirage.  It's extraordinary.  Conrad, Van, and I did the house tour over a year ago, and I am keen to go back (and take others with me).  

Our first trip this month was a garden and grounds tour.  It lasted about an hour.  There were surprises.  I thought there might be more lush floral gardens, but no, not all that much.  There is a nine-hole golf course. 

A number of small lakes.  A Chinese pavilion where the golfing Annenbergs took their lunches.  A totem pole,

which was terribly incongruous with the surroundings but commissioned, erected, and restored with the cooperation of the BC First Nations from which the artist came.  It was mixed sunny and cloudy weather, and the views of the mountains were awesome.

We made our second trip this past Saturday without having booked tickets.  Rather than do a tour, we thought we would have a simple lunch at the visitors' centre, then walk the grounds surrounding that building.  It's no less lovely for only seeing that much - lush grass, views toward the mountain, some fine gardens of native cacti and trees. 

We also took another peek at the small, free exhibit on the dining ware from the estate.  Some stunning pieces, but certain small ones - enameled, gilded sterling silver coffee spoons - caught my eye. 

Even cooler?  The place cards.  Wow, some of the names of guests at the estate over the years. 

A whole social sphere that I cannot even fathom, only watch on television.

So yes, we'll need to go back.  If you come our way to the desert, holler, and maybe we can get a hold of some tickets!

is it time yet?

I dunno, what do y'all think?

Yes, even for us, it is past time to take the tree down.  A shame.  I love love love Christmas.  But it is well into January.  We arrived home from the desert yesterday, and whoa.  Yeah.  That tree?  It's lovely but now feels mostly that it's in the way.  Down it must come.

Darn it.

On the other hand, I am off to conference midweek for a handful of days, so I'll leave this up to Conrad, and he can get Van to pitch in.  ;-)

Sunday night sushi

Ah, we love sushi.  And we love Mama M.  Natasha wanted to go for dinner tonight, a chance to catch up given that we haven't seen her since we celebrated her birthday dinner at Maestro a week and a half a go or more.  Plus, we have our trip to Chile and Argentina to talk about.  Wow, not even two weeks until we head to South America for the first time.  Yep, we're excited.

So then, sushi.  I need to post some of the shrimp heads from when we order the amaebi.  For now, a few rolls:  the Ocean Wrap, the Albacore Lover, and the avocado rolls.  Oh man, the avocado.  Until we moved to California, where we can get nicely ripe avocados often, we didn't get the appeal of the roll.  Now?  SO creamy and unctuous

.  Yum!

two meals in the desert

We're just back from another weekend in the desert.  Yes, another one.  The desert hashtags will be growing in number as I go on.

Anyway, we're back from the desert.  Where I got to come down with a cold.  As did Van.  And Van's brother-in-law, Bob.  Three out of five (well, six, if we count Olive).  It made for a rather subdued weekend, I admit.  Ah well.  There will be more weekends.

The drawback to having a cold is that food doesn't taste as good, nor do I care quite so much about it.  Friday, though, none of us were doing too badly.  I had a busy morning of meetings, and before I had to return to report writing in the afternoon, we all popped down to Palm Desert to go to what has become my favourite fast food chain.

All you who think that you HAVE to go to In 'n' Out when you come to California, go for it.  Leave me at home.  The burgers are fine there (but really, a secret menu?  Sheesh!), but I think the fries are unworthy of the line ups.  In any case, I think I just read that that chain is relocating HQ to Nashville, so go see them in Tennessee instead.  No, when you come to California, enjoy visiting The Habit.

The Habit started in Santa Barbara.  Go read its history elsewhere.  Me, I'm here to recommend two things:  the seared tuna sandwich and the tempura green beans. 

Oh man, the green beans!  But also, the sandwich.  Whenever Conrad and/or Van suggest The Habit, I'm on board.  At lunch, we introduced Cathy (Van's sister) and Bob to the restaurant, and it was met with thumbs up all around.

As for dinner that night, we swung by Bristol Farm, and picked up the fixings for cooking at home.  I usually cook, as you might imagine, but Cathy and Bob were interested by the mention of lobster tails.  I played Van's support in the kitchen, helping him with what he needed for the lobster and the baked potatoes, and I cooked some asparagus. 

Not a refined meal in terms of plating, but a tasty, buttery one.

Capped by dessert:  fregolata. 

An old standby, lemon and almond shortbread.  I served slivers alongside a cheese, and we enjoy it all thoroughly.

And then the cold worsened on Saturday, and I slept much of the day before a nice but unremarkable dinner out in Palm Springs.