While I don’t have any warm and welcoming type of restaurant story to share of late, I was taken back to one particularly over-the-top restaurant experience from the past, sparked by your description of that era. For me, that would have been the Quilted Giraffe in NY, Barry Wine’s restaurant, back in the 80’s, early 90’s. A good friend of mine had become close friends of Barry and his wife in Poughkeepsie, where the original Quilted Giraffe began. I will never forget the first time he took me there. The service. The people watching. The “show” as it were. The oh-so-trendy small bite seven course tasting menu served on very expensive china, on very expensive linen. But that was the key word:expense. This was the consummate expense-account experience. I have to say however, I can still remember those exquisitely delicate beggar’s purses of caviar that they served. So delicate the pastry literally fell apart in your mouth with almost no assistance, releasing a pop of salty fresh caviar for you to enjoy. While beggar’s purses became a “thing” I never had one that was anywhere nearly as exquisitely delicate as Barry’s were. And yes, he was usually there, working the room. Definitely a memory from another time, another place.
We dine out very infrequently now, and so many places we went to regularly fell victim to the pandemic. The places we still go to, the service might be slow due to staff shortages, but they are genuinely happy to see us, and make us feel special. I’m so happy that you like the High Hat. If we fly into NOLA around lunchtime, once we’ve picked up our rental car we drive straight there for lunch, even before we go to our hotel. Love their fried catfish.
While I don’t have any warm and welcoming type of restaurant story to share of late, I was taken back to one particularly over-the-top restaurant experience from the past, sparked by your description of that era. For me, that would have been the Quilted Giraffe in NY, Barry Wine’s restaurant, back in the 80’s, early 90’s. A good friend of mine had become close friends of Barry and his wife in Poughkeepsie, where the original Quilted Giraffe began. I will never forget the first time he took me there. The service. The people watching. The “show” as it were. The oh-so-trendy small bite seven course tasting menu served on very expensive china, on very expensive linen. But that was the key word:expense. This was the consummate expense-account experience. I have to say however, I can still remember those exquisitely delicate beggar’s purses of caviar that they served. So delicate the pastry literally fell apart in your mouth with almost no assistance, releasing a pop of salty fresh caviar for you to enjoy. While beggar’s purses became a “thing” I never had one that was anywhere nearly as exquisitely delicate as Barry’s were. And yes, he was usually there, working the room. Definitely a memory from another time, another place.
We dine out very infrequently now, and so many places we went to regularly fell victim to the pandemic. The places we still go to, the service might be slow due to staff shortages, but they are genuinely happy to see us, and make us feel special. I’m so happy that you like the High Hat. If we fly into NOLA around lunchtime, once we’ve picked up our rental car we drive straight there for lunch, even before we go to our hotel. Love their fried catfish.