Thoughts on Habana Outpost and More Reflections

There are a lot of things I think about when I'm deciding what to cook, but usually texture isn't the primary concern. That changed recently when my wife had emergency root canal surgery and could only eat soft foods.

 

Cooking for someone who's just had serious dental surgery is less fun than it sounds. When Eve called me to tell me she was going to have surgery, I was pretty excited about the possibilities where soft food were concerned, but what I'd forgotten from my own recent experience is that really bad pain tends to take the edge off of one's appetite.

 

So I've cooked some soups, some pastas and some stews. I've cooked mashed potatoes and used the pressure cooker. I've done what I could, I think, but to paraphrase a silly expression, I can't cook the pain away.

 

In restaurant news, it appears that the Habana Outpost at the edge of the Quarter is, at least temporarily, going forward. WWL reports that the Vieux Carre commission approved the development's plans.

 

I admit: Until a few days ago I'd never heard of Habana Outpost or the controversy surrounding the plans for the corner of Esplanade and North Rampart. I have to admit as well that I find some of the videos I've seen at Habana Outpost's website amusing in ways that, I think, the folks behind them did not intend. I also have to admit that I find the guy behind the development, Sean Meenan, pretty interesting. I've never met the guy, and it's not likely I will, but I like the fact that he's come here and put down roots, and I like the fact that he's able to articulate his position, and I like the idea that he's planning on putting some use to that particular corner.

 

I've lived in this city all of my life, and I don't recall that corner being anything but derelict. I guess I don't really deserve to take a position, having never lived at that intersection, but I'm having a hard time understanding why, assuming Meenan is willing to be reasonable, a restaurant is worse than a vacant lot. Is it a fedora thing?

 

If you feel differently, I'd really love to hear your thoughts. I mean, I'd probably love to hear your thoughts; I guess it depends on your thoughts? I don't really want to hear your thoughts if your thoughts involve skinning me alive and using my skin to make a handbag. Or, you know, if you want to skin me for any other reason. Let's leave “skinning Robert” off the table for thoughts generally, okay?

 

Pretty much anything else is on the table, though.

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