Memories of New Orleans - Part 2
Upon arriving in New Orleans, I am always filled with the sense that there is so much food and so little time. I often visit my favorite places early in the trip to make sure that they still live up to my memories (if they do, I always budget time to re-visit during the trip).
One of my favorite places is the Clover Grill located at 900 Bourbon Street and serves without a doubt, the best breakfast in town (in any town, not just in NOLA). I first discovered this place in 1994 when I visited New Orleans for a business/birthday trip. I was technically in town to attend an independent music conference. The fact that it coincided with my birthday made it that much better and after the 3-day conference was over, my business partner and I stayed behind an additional 6 days. On the day of my birthday, in 100+ degree heat and 100%+ humidity (really), my friend decided we would “do up” the town in great style. We began our evening sipping mint juleps at the top of the World Trade Center overlooking the Mississippi River, and then proceeded to a unique restaurant called Lucky Cheng’s (no longer in business). Afterwards we decided to “investigate” a nightclub called Café Lafitte in Exile and there we stayed well into the morning.
As we were leaving Lafitte’s, we noticed that right across the street was a corner place that was jammed with folks eating breakfast food. The temperature was still in excess of 90 degrees and our dinner had already worn off, so it seemed like a great idea to stop in and check the place out. Walking in the door, we knew we were in for the time of our lives.
We were greeted by a very tall, very large man wearing a Clover Grill T-shirt that read “We love to fry and it shows.” He acknowledged us with a smile and a greeting that one rarely hears in California – “I hope you’re not in a hurry.” We weren’t, so we waited patiently for a seat either at the counter or at one of the 5 booths that occupy the restaurant. While we waited, we perused the menu and were delighted to read the various comments printed thereon such as: “We may not be pretty, but we think we are;” If you are not served in 5 minutes, relax: It may be another 5. This isn’t New York City;” We don’t eat in your bed, so please don’t sleep at our table;” and “Our chili speaks for itself…sooner or later.”
We ultimately were seated and had a breakfast that has kept me going back to Clover Grill time and time again: Biscuits and gravy, chicken fried steak and of course grits (swimming in butter and quite delicious). On subsequent trips to New Orleans, I find myself there most mornings enjoying Earl’s sassy antics and a great meal.
This place – the people who work and eat there, the food, the menu slogans – encapsulate one of the great things about New Orleans – the attitude. People are not in a hurry, people are friendly, and most of all people love to eat. There are certainly an abundance of wonderful eateries located throughout the city including:
Mother’s – another great place for breakfast where the specialty is “Debris,” the little bits of meat that fall to the bottom of a roasting pan, served in drippings over grits.
The Garlic Clove – an out of the way place on St Charles where locals go to dine.
Central Grocery – birthplace of the Mufaletta – an amazing sandwich made with ham, Genoa salami, provolone cheese, mortadella and an amazing olive salad as the condiment. This is the place to buy a Mufaletta to take back on the plane for the ride home – the smell alone will make your fellow passengers very envious!
Pere Antoine’s – a great lunch destination in the heart of the French Quarter and very close to the Voodoo museum (it’s a toss up as to whether you should visit the museum before or after lunch so I leave it you).
The Gumbo Shop – touristy, but worth it.
Emeril’s Delmonico – the epitome of fine service at this beautifully restored steakhouse in the Garden District. Emeril learned how to make Bananas Foster at Brennans (where the dish was invented) and it is prepared tableside. Truly better than anything we have in San Francisco and half the price.
The French Marketplace – any of the “street vendors” here serve up delicious food at a great price. Part I of this series discussed this in greater detail.
The list above does not even begin to name all of the great eateries in New Orleans, as there are probably hundreds, but they are to me, the tried-and-true places that I seems to go back to every time I visit.
In the end, there it is very telling of a people examining the food they eat and the attitude they have around dining. Life is good when one eats well. Life is good when people care less about “carb control” than they do with enjoying a good meal. It is always a pleasant experience to visit New Orleans and smile just reading a menu surrounded by folks who are doing the same thing – less concerned about diet and greatly concerned with getting the most out of life. But to go into detail about the people of New Orleans will require another installment to this saga…
Memories of New Orleans - Part 1
On August 29, 2005, having been glued to my television set for hours watching what Hurricane Katrina had wrought upon one of my favorite cities in the world, I began writing this piece. What was to be a quick column about New Orleans and memories of it has ballooned into an essay that would be unwieldy to place here and expect anyone to read it in its entirety. I have therefore decided to break this into a series and will be posting each “chapter” over the course of a week's time. In writing this, I have experienced every emotion that is typically tied to great loss. On August 29, 2005, I witnessed the loss of a place that has been a very important part of my life.
Anyone expecting to find this multi-part essay to delve into the vile politics that Hurricane Katrina has left behind should move along to another column. There will be no casting of blame for expediency purposes. There will be no rhetoric about who said what and why. There will no linkage to Mother Nature's revenge (and the glee that accompanies those who seem to revel in an attitude of “I told you so”). For many readers therefore, this may prove to be quite boring. For those who are able to pull themselves away from the sensationalism and prefer something that is of a more personal nature; for those who can separate themselves from conspiracy theory; for those who are able to simply feel loss without having to rationalize it, this may be something worth reading.
MEMORIES OF NEW ORLEANS - PART 1
My love affair with the city of New Orleans began 25 years ago when, as 13-year old, I made my first trip and spent a week right in the heart of the Vieux Carre (the French Quarter). I still remember the hotel - The Place d'Arms - a building that at the time was probably already 200 years old and boasted a marvelous courtyard. I still remember dining in what is still in my mind, the finest restaurant I have ever seen - La Lousianne. It was in the spring and I was there with my family and it was from that day that I knew this was a city that I would always love.
Of course, we spent much of this trip doing the things that tourists do - taking a boat out into the bayous to catch glimpses of alligators, riding the steamboat Natchez, having breakfast at Brennans (I had steak and eggs, the specialty of the house), walking into St Louis Cathedral in awe of its ceilings, visiting Marie Leveaux's House of Voodoo (convinced that the voodoo doll that I bought would surely bring misfortune upon anyone who should ever cross me in the future), and of course, there was the music. It is amazing how much I remember about that first trip to the Big Easy.
As I left New Orleans, a boy of 13, I vowed to myself that I would come back as soon as I could. It would not be until I was 20 years old that I would keep that promise.
It had been 7 years since I had been to New Orleans but I so remembered the city that I felt as if I could be a tour guide. After all, I had traversed the entire Vieux Carre at least 20 times. I knew exactly how to get to the Garden District. I knew not to cross North Rampart Street after dusk. I remembered every restaurant and every shop I had visited 7 years earlier and could not wait to go back and pay them my regards.
When I arrived, nothing had changed. My head started to spin. There were so many things I wanted to do when I stepped foot onto Decatur Street, I could not figure out what to do first. I headed for a familiar and comforting landmark, Jackson Square, and decided that after taking the obligatory photo, I would visit the Café Du Monde - probably one of the most famous and most beloved places in the entire city. It is typically one of the first places that anyone who visits New Orleans goes. After laying out two or three dollars for coffee and beignets, it was off to the French Marketplace for a bowl of red beans and rice. From there, it was short walk to St Ann Street, my route to get to Bourbon Street and see if it was as crazy as I had remembered - it was!
I could go on an on about my second trip to New Orleans, but think it better instead to move along to my last trip which was in March 2004.
Each year, my employer hosts an event called “President's Club” and takes its top-performers to an exotic destination for 5 days (all expenses paid). Since working for the company, I had been on three of these trips. The destination for the following year's President's Club is always announced at a huge kick-off event in January. Imagine my surprise when, in January 2003, it was announced that the destination for President's Club in March 2004 would be New Orleans. I'll never forget, at the conclusion of the kick-off meeting, I bumped into our Division Executive and said, “If the bank wanted to motivate me to win President's Club in 2003, they certainly picked the right destination.”
I made it and went on that trip to New Orleans with over 100 fellow employees and their guests. Knowing that 5 days in New Orleans would not be enough to satisfy me, I extended my trip an additional 5 days. This trip was probably my best trip, as I shared the experience with many friends and got to see even more of the city than I ever had. One morning we were treated to a history lesson by Buddy Gaston, renowned authority on New Orleans (and a most entertaining speaker). On another evening, we were taken to Mardi Gras World in Lafayette (just across the Mississippi River) and treated to a marvelous evening. One afternoon, I sat in Jackson Square and listened to Daryl Adams and his band perform some of my favorite Dixieland Jazz songs. After my co-workers departed, I still had five days ahead of me and I intended to make the most of every one of them.
This is just a brief overview of the city of New Orleans and my memories of it. To go into detail about everything that I love about the city would take pages and pages. I will write more and in greater detail about the reasons why I find New Orleans to be such a wonderful place. To share memories that reveal what a truly great city it is will take some time - but I will do it. I will do it because I must do it - I owe it to the Crescent City and its people.
Since my first trip to New Orleans 25 years ago, I have been back 10 times. Every trip created a new memory of the city - its sights and sounds, its food and most of all, its people. You see, every trip I made to New Orleans felt like a homecoming (funny, as I was born right here in Northern California and boast no lineage to Louisiana at all). Every time I made it back to New Orleans, I realized that I had really missed being there. At the end of every trip to New Orleans, I made myself another promise - to return as soon as possible.
Now, I do not know when that will be.
Mark D'Elicio
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A Community Call to Action
Recently, I email "blasted" what I called a "Community Call to Action" to several of my friends, family, co-workers and business associates. That call to action is reprinted here in the hope of getting even more folks involved in what is going on right here in San Francisco. You will notice this "post" has been assigned to a newly created category that I have called "Do Something!" When we all start to "do something," only then, will we have the city, the state and the country that we want and we will be able to look upon our community and know that we had a hand in the result.
So without further ado, here is my "Community Call to Action:"
Friends,
I am pleased to inform you that I have taken a big step towards community trusteeship by committing to the position of Campaign Chair for the Shih-Yu Lang Central YMCA located in the heart of San Francisco's Tenderloin.
Over the past two years I have worked with the Central YMCA as a fund raiser and was honored to be asked to take on this responsibility for the upcoming fall campaign. The funds raised through this effort directly benefit low income children and seniors living in the Tenderloin. The "Y" provides these city residents an oasis in an otherwise all too forgotten neighborhood. There are countless stories of children who, by using the services offered at the YMCA have finished school, secured good jobs and began their journey into adulthood with something very important - hope. Seniors, who might otherwise be confined to their SRO, find comfort at the YMCA and are able to take advantage of the many programs that keep them active and most importantly, interactive.
I believe that what the Central YMCA does for the citizens of our city fits in perfectly with the mission of effecting change in our own backyard - in our own city. This is an organization whose dedicated staff and volunteers roll up their sleeves and "do." Anyone who visits the Central YMCA will see this in action.
I'd like to invite you to join me in supporting this organization. We are looking for individuals committed to making San Francisco a better place, by making the lives of San Franciscans better. I would be happy to take anyone interested in learning more about the Central YMCA and what they do on a tour of the facility - to meet the staff, the volunteers, and most of all the children and seniors who, if not for the YMCA, would have nowhere to go.
If you'd like to get involved, please let me know. If you'd like to make a contribution to support the excellent work that the Central YMCA does, let me know as well. Anything you do will be appreciated - everything the YMCA does helps make our community stronger.
Thank you,
Mark D'Elicio
Our State Assembly at Work...Again!
HEAT and FEET
I don't know what it is about the California State Assembly that attracts so many Looney Tunes rejects. I have two more Democrats to add to the Hot Air Baboon list. Two more reasons why we should place the Legislature on a "don't call us, we'll call you" schedule.
First up is Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) whose AB 805 is slithering its slimy way through the Legislature. It appears Ms. Chu is having a stroke over wanting to prevent people from experiencing a "heat illness". Her bill does not define what a "heat illness" is, but I guess you should know it when you see it. Of course, if she defined it, it would make it much more difficult for "heat illness" sufferers to litigate.
Specifically her bill calls for employers (of course) to "establish, implement, and maintain written procedures to" among other things, "Identify and evaluate workplace hazards associated with heat illness...including, but not limited to, procedures for monitoring the temperature at the work site and identifying and {now get this} evaluating the occurrence of a heat wave." At what temperature does a "heat wave" occur? She doesn't say. And is an employer supposed to foresee when one is to occur?
To some people it might be 105 degrees F, to others 85 degrees F. To me, it's 72 degrees F. So whose heat tolerance level will prevail when determining if someone is experiencing "heat illness" from a "heat wave"? Heat tolerance is subjective.
It gets worse. The bill "Requires training provided by the employer to address.... The different types of heat illness, recognition of common symptoms and signs of heat illness, and the effect of the illness on the body's system if signs and symptoms are disregarded." Is there a doctor in the house? There better be, unless all employers will now be required to have a medical degree. Is merely perspiring a sign or a symptom?
There is no way this bill can be enforced logically (but then Ms. Chu is a liberal so we know no logic is involved here) as written and you can bet she will not elucidate. Lawyers'll love it. This is another instance of government making employers responsible for their employees' actions or inactions. Maybe we should send Ms. Chu to Barrow, Alaska for a winter to cool her off.
And now a first. The first man to join the ladies in this illustrious group of ninny nannies is, TADA, Leland Yee, (D-San Francisco). This was not unexpected. While Ms. Chu wants to control heat, Mr. Yee wants to disinfect feet.
To me a pedicure is the height of meaningless self-indulgence. A waste of discretionary income. Who but the person on which this operation is performed actually knows one toes have been "cured"? Have you ever seen a man whistle at a woman walking down the street and say "neat feet"? No, neither have I.
But it appears that a few (it only takes one or two complaints to warrant an Assembly bill) women did incur an infection in their big toe. All of a sudden it is a major crisis requiring massive supervision and regulation and, of course, the need to hire more than a dozen new inspectors on the State payroll.
While I am all for cleanliness and safety procedures in any workplace, this particular bill seeks to make a salon adhere to surgery room standards. Mr. Yee probably decided draconian steps had to be taken because Paula Abdul, according to a news article, "reportedly" suffered an infected thumb after a visit to an "upscale LA salon". An infected, complaining celebrity is like a squeaky wheel. It gets immediate attention.
I hope Ms. Abdul didn't suck her thumb before noticing the problem; she might have come down with Athlete's Mouth. But, unfortunately, Mr. Yee put his foot in his mouth. Let's pray he doesn't come down with "toe-maine" poisoning.
J. Robert Wiskotzil is a Bay Area resident and local columnist. His blog can be reached by clicking here.
Independence Day
The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained, and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For protecting them by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren.
We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us.
We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here.
We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence.
They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare.
That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown,
and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved;
and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce,
and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
The signers of the Declaration represented the new States as follows:
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton