I was welcomed like family, despite the fact that the only
reason I was there was because it was Monday, and
Galatoire's (where I used to have a favorite waiter, back in
the last millennium) was closed. I got the first table in
the dining room, and they tried to seat me with my back to
the entrance, so with mild peevishness I demurred, getting
the seat 90deg to the right, much more satisfactory. Why, I
wonder, do men hate to be seated with their backs to the
entrance? Fear of being shot down, or what.

The place was about 1/4 full at 6:30; by 7:30 there wasn't
a seat to be had.

My waitstaff gradually diminished in stature as it became
clear that I was an easy customer. First, a captain; then a
guy who had been there probably since before Katrina; then a
cutish young lady, probably there just since the hurricane;
finally, some kid who didn't, by his looks, know his bottom
from his elbow. All turned out to be fine.

A Sazerac cocktail was impossibly sweet; on inquiry it was
discovered that instead of absinthe, herbsaint is now used.
Actually, it tasted as though they'd put in the cheapest
available anisette. I chugged it and asked for a slice of
lemon to ream out my palate. The only Sazerac I'd ever had
before was made with absinthe from Pernod, vintage 1922.
This one was a huge disappointment. I'd ordered it because
Arnaud's is reputed to be the originator of the drink.

Oysters Arnaud - this is one each of five varieties - the
name is said to come from a request by Bette Midler for one
of each from the menu; the chef demurred, whereupon the
waiter invented the name and the sampler on the spot and
prevailed on the cook to dish it up. The story is belied by
the fact that all these kinds are made up in bulk probably
the day of, if not before. The five were arranged

Bienville - mushrooms and shrimp in white wine cream: quite
delicate and pleasing, and the only preparation that didn't
overwhelm the very mild Gulf oysters;

Kathryn - minced artichokes (canned), garlic, Parmesan: not
bad at all, but I didn't think it did much for the oysters;

Suzette - bacon, red pepper, green pepper, scallions: quite
savory but really overpowered;

Ohan - eggplant and andouille: also rather nice, I think
second best to the Bienville, but I really do like eggplant;

Rockefeller - the usual spinach and anise production, though
I thought blander than Antoine's or Galatoire's or even the
ones in fancy restaurants out east.

The order of eating, in my opinion, should be Bienville,
Rockefeller, Kathryn, Ohan, Suzette, delicate to robust
in order.

I told the waiter that I was in a sampler mood, so he
said, of course, you want the veal Wohl (he was right) -
it turns out to be three minis of regular menu items:

A crab cake was full of filler and not very attractive at
all; I could console myself because I didn't have a full
order, just this little tasteless taster;

veal Chantal - brown sauce with cream and mushrooms, was
the dish of the day, the veal about 3 oz from the end of
the filet, done medium, in a lovely sauce;

crawfish O'Connor - tomatoes and brandy, served on a
puff pastry thingy; this was quite palatable, the crawfish
somewhat overcooked (read: precooked a long time ago) but
native or at least not the nasty Chinese things they try to
pawn off on you these days. The puff pastry, soaked in
tomato cream, was of course dead soggy.

Desserts looked boring, so I had an order of shrimp Arnaud
(in a very mustardy, sour remoulade) instead to finish off
the bottle of wine with. Which was

Macon Villages (Drouhin) 06 - this was pretty much the
bargain of the list at $26. A standard Chardonnay with not
much character, but it sure beat sucking down cheap stuff
out of a jug at $9 to 12 a glass. I varied my drinking habit
to see what would happen: if my glass was empty, I expected
it to be filled within a minute. The first time I did this,
the waiter took 58 seconds to refill my glass. The next
couple times, I'd been handed off to the blonde waitress,
and she filled my glass in 6 and 10 seconds respectively,
even though she wasn't overtly hovering or monitoring. Most
impressive. The last couple times, it was the green kid, and
he took round about 20-30 seconds.