Ralph's on the Park, Carol King Concert, Napoleon House, Old Absinthe BarHad the Summer Promotion Dinner Menu -- (3) Starters, Soups & Salads + a Glass of Featured Wine ~ $25
(All Night, Every Night: June - September according to the website at http://www.ralphsonthepark.com/menu_display.php?id=11).
The following descriptions are from the website...
Louisiana “Blue Crab” Cake
A pan sautéed crabcake served with roasted beets and a classic Ravigote sauce.
Lots of cake, little strings of crab, nice sauce.
Grilled tuna -- excellent piece of fish cooked perfectly (topped with the same sauce as above).
I forgot what they called this but it was described as a salad. In my book it's a caponata. Those sliced olives were very good.
Steak Tartare
Hand chopped Harris Ranch Angus tenderloin with minced onion, capers, Dijon mustard, parsley, Hawaiian sea salt and black pepper. Served with warm toast and pommes frites
I wasn't crazy about the presentation but the meat was wonderful and would have been better if I hadn't gone crazy with the sea salt. The potatoes were great.
Oysters Ralph
Plump Gulf P & J oysters with apple smoked bacon and jalapeno cream sauce on a bed of wilted spinach
A very good dish. I recommend it. The "jalapeno cream sauce" seemed to me to be the same sauce that appeared twice already but it went well with the oysters. Not mentioned in the menu description but I think there's some cheese in there, too.
Foie gras torchon (For Summer Special, Please add 5.00)
Marinated, poached and cured Hudson Valley Foie Gras served on toasted brioche with Cioppolini onions and figs.
This was absolutely awful. I can't describe how bad it was except to say that it tasted to me like it was on the verge of rotten. The figs were great and I'm glad it was the last thing I had because it left a nice sweet dessert-like flavor.
Then we were off to the concert...
Up on the roof. This was a run down parking garage with no elevator that we could find. We hauled ourselves up five flights of very steep stairs, not a problem for us but a lady just ahead of us was pitching a fit and moving at a snail's pace. This parking lot on Rampart is a law suit waiting to happen.
Some libations before the show.
Heckle and Jeckle (aka Becky and Maria).
The lady on stage. It was a wonderful concert. The old girl looks great and is still going strong at age 62.
After the show we passed by Bourbon House and thought we might stop at the bar for a drink or two. This was around 10:30 and they were locking the revolving door. When we pointed out the posted hours of operation, the woman just shrugged and so did we and continued down to Napoleon House.
My favorite bar in the city. When I asked the bartender for permission to post his photo on our food related forum, he said, "Sure!" then asked me what I thought of Tom Fitzmorris. He agreed wholeheartedly and with a vengeance. I'm always amused by this reaction.
Had a nice chat with the young couple who ran this stand. They said that business has been so slow that they'll soon be moving back to New York.
Last stop -- the Old Absinthe House (our second favorite bar).
Back to the roof in the parking garage from hell.
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