Like revenge, it's best cold

While perusing the Saints' 2007 schedule, I noticed a game that will be played on New Year's Eve Eve.

We played this team last year, and their fans, their city were, to put it mildly, somewhat rude.

The Saints are a better team this year, and I definitely think that we will be playing 19 games...in any case, I think we'll be winning our last playoff game.

However, I came not to bury the bears -- but to eat them.

Years ago, when I was but a wee lad, my father ran a car dealership on Chef Menteur highway. Occasionally, he would frequent his favorite restaurant in town, T. Pittari's. He even kept a couple of menus.

T. Pittari's most famous dish was "Lobster Kadobster". This was a live Maine lobster (Pittari's had the first live lobster tank in NOLA, and was the first restaurant to fly in live Maine lobster) stuffed with king crab, blue crab, redfish, lobster, oysters, and shrimp.

I haven't scanned in the entire menu, but T. Pittari's had an extensive selection, also offering a full array of steaks and Italian food.

They had a page dedicated to flaming things. Flaming deserts included Banans Foster, Crepes Suzette, Baked Alaska, Cherries Jubilee, and "Centennial a la Pittari". All of these were $2 each. Flaming after dinner drinks were "Orange Brulot en Corbeille", Irish Coffee, and "Pousse Cafe" which had "not less than five liqueurs used floated one atop the other without mixing. Flame and serve." This was $1.75.

There were no beers listed on the menu, but there were, of course, the gin fizz, absinthe frappe, side car, stinger, dubonnet cocktail, orange blossom, and sazerac.

Amazing prix-fixe dinners featured the centennial. This started with the centennial cocktail, and worked through a relish bowl, lump crabmeat a la centennial, vegetable soup, strip sirloin cooked at your table in brandy, baked Idaho potato, garden fresh salad, baked eggplant centennial, apple pie or beer cheese with apple, 1/10th of your favorite wine, coffee, and 75 year old imported brandy. This would run you $30 for two persons.

My dad was the adventurous sort, and he preferred to get his seafood at the West End, so at Pittari's, he'd go for the game.

Wild Game.

Pheasant, Mallard duck, wild turkey, partridge, rock cornish hen, guinea hen, and quail were always on the game bird menu.

As you can see from the large game menu, T. Pittari's also would have, seasonally, water buffalo, mountain sheep, wild boar, alligator, and whale. I've heard it's kind of hard to get whale these days, unless you're Inuit. Maybe Ojibwa.

They almost always had a variety of wild game, though.

As I mention, Dado was the adventurous sort, and he'd almost always go for the game.

When you look through the menu, you can see quite the variety. Pops said that occasionally, some of the things were just inedible. When that happened, he'd send it back and go for a huge-ass steak.

Venison was always on the menu. I'm not the biggest venison fan, although it makes wonderful jerky and sausage. When I taught in Idaho, one of my favorite students (who I think is now a dot-com millionaire -- he sold either beer.com or realbeer.com for a ton) told me that there was no way he'd be in class the next week. When I asked why, he told me it was the first day of hunting season. I told him no problem, if he brought me some jerky. That's legal, right?

Anyway, you'll also note Western Buffalo. You can get this all the time in most places in the mountain time zone where it snows. The odd item...which I'd almost be afraid to try -- is hippopotamus. Yeah, I'd try it, but I'd feel real guilty about it. Especially if it tasted good.

There is one thing that I must have. I must eat its flesh. I must tear its flesh from the bone and devour it ravenously, like the carnivore I am.

Look closer at the game menu. There is one dish all Saints fans must have. It may taste terrible, but we will gladly feast upon its carcass.

We will eat bear.

Comments

[bigshot]

I'm not so sure that it will be the Bears that we must devour in the NFC Championship game. I'm thinking it may be those pesky Panthers. Regardless, on Dec. 30, if it is Bear we must eat, then Bear it will be. I can't wait. Tell Chef Who Dat to get the fire started.

[GentillyGirl]

You throw the party and I'll make my Dirty Bear Gumbo.

Deal?

[saintseester]

I've been racking my brain for years trying to remember the name of that restaurant. My grandpa LOVED to go there when he was in town. I can remember being 17 and tickled pink that they had bear on the menu, then. 6 degrees of ashley morris.

[Aaron]

I don't care WHO happens to be in the way, even if the bears are 1-14 when we meet them - they are getting stomped. Payback's a bitch.

[Marco]

Fuck da' bears fans who are/were their finest assholes.

[bayoustjohndavid]

At least we get the Panthers home-and-home. The three bast NFC teams last were the Saints, Seattle and Chicago. I know that things never stay the same from one year to the next, but theoretically those are the two teams we'll be competing with for home field advantage in the playoffs. It sucks having to play both of them on the road. Of course, I expect Chicago to fold, but if the Saints can't stop the run it won't matter.

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