Chow, Baby
Saved by the Bear Claw
Chow, Baby prefers to think of it not as getting lost but having adventures. Discovering new things. Being too cheap to use directory assistance. Thus when a reliable source mentioned that a spot calling itself Traci's Café had opened a few months ago somewhere near Hulen Mall, Chow, Baby didn't pause for directions. Two hours later, Chow, Baby found Traci's in the Heritage Square strip mall, just across Hulen from the mall. And soon wished the winds of chance had swept it farther afield. Traci's is a combo sandwich depot and coffee shop, with shelves of tremendously overpriced gourmet gadgets and foodstuffs and loose tea and coffee beans. It's the kind of place whose biggest seller is Decaf Snickerdoodle. Torn between breakfast and lunch, Chow, Baby ordered both and finished neither. A sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich ($3.25!) came with a nice side of fresh fruit, but the sausage patty was the size of a half dollar, the egg was crispy on one end and cold on the other, and the biscuit was geriatric. Corned beef on rye ($5.25) was adequate, but the accompanying unsalted baked chips and sweet pickles would never pass muster in a real deli. Worse, Chow, Baby would swear on a stack of Totally Teatime Cookbooks that the person who brewed up the chai tea had never had a cuppa herself. Yes, yes, it's supposed to be sweet, and it's supposed to be milky, but it's also supposed to have some tea in it. Luckily, just a few doors up from Traci's is the brand-new, wonderful-aroma'd Honey Donuts. A couple of sausage rolls and a bear claw fortified Chow, Baby well for an afternoon of escapades.
Whither Porche's? Beg pardon, but where was Chow, Baby when Porche's announced it was closing? The irony is that for once, Chow, Baby did the phoning-ahead thing, as it was already past 9 p.m. when the tummy began rumbling for something blackened. Fearing that aimless cruising for a Cajun spot would dead-end with relentlessly cheerful staff serving cutely named food at Razzoo's or Poppadoc's -- sorry, Pappadeaux -- Chow, Baby got on the blower to Porche's. The recorded voice at the other end promised Creole and Cajun delicacies until 11pm. Heaven! Hell. Porche's Stockyards spot is now occupied by salsa bar Cartagena. Chow, Baby was enticed by the rich scent of chicken enchiladas and the sweet sound of the Havana Boys setting up, but decided to stick to the agenda. With unusual preparation, Chow, Baby even had a back-up plan: Mimi's Café, whose web site promised "New Orleans-inspired" food and décor.
The only Big Easy aide memoire for Chow, Baby, sitting outside in the "courtyard" with a view of the traffic on Bryant Irvin and Loop 820, was the humidity. What are these things on the menu? Hurrah, blackened chicken -- but it comes only in a taco? What's New Orleans about a taco? And how is a roast beef and avocado sandwich a "French Quarter"? Chow, Baby's reward for driving all over town looking for Creole food was a bowl of Jambalaya Pasta that would have Paul Prudhomme struggling to turn over in his grave, if he were dead. Looks like a road trip to south Louisiana is in order for Chow, Baby.
|
|
|