Guess who ate at the Abita Springs cafe today?

Man, you guys missed it. The Abita Springs Opry was a rousing success and the next morning a lot of the musicians came in and ate breakfast with us. A permutation of Tuba Skinny...the Loose Marbles...performed later in the day at a festival in the park. It was a great performance and, yes, hilarity ensued (and prevailed).

Here are the loose Marbles playing a song for all of you Tigers out there. I told them I'd post this for you all.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT-Q9zoh7LQ[/media]

 

I believe so, but I was so busy Sunday, I never got to leave the kitchen. Man, she can sing. That Tiger rag video is like a TeamKatt tailgate gone wild !!!!


(Gotta remember to bring lots of Hula Hoops)

 

A very nice retired couple came in...the Lopinto's. We were talking about biscuits and I told them how we made them in the cafe. They told me that they cook for the First Baptist Church in Mandeville on Wednesday nights for the Bible study and that they used to have a restaurant in McComb Ms. but they sold it and retired to Mandeville.

Turns out their restaurant is pretty famous around southern Louisiana and Mississippi. It's called the Round Table. The tables are large round lazy Susans.They put the dishes on the table and you turn the middle part of the table around and serve yourself. You may be seated with people you don't know, but soon do.

I plan on making the trip one day soon. Have any of you people been there? The tables sound like a great gimmick and you get to eat like a family used to in the real South.

 

We grew up going there and made a trip last year for my grandparents anniversary. It is a different dining experience as you sit with people you do not know and serve yourself from family portions. Overall it is worth the trip and I think you will be pleased!

 

I always like to post about my more interesting guests who come by the cafe.

Friday night we had a nice young couple from Scotland come by for dinner. They were traveling across the United States and stayed a night in Covington because they couldn't find accommodations in New Orleans due to the Jazz fest. It was a slow night at the cafe because of the Jazz Fest as well so I was able to spend some time with this delightful young couple. I asked where they were from in Scotland and they said "St Andrews....where golf has been played continuously since the 1400's". It turns out that the man was a professional golfer for a while there but couldn't quite cut the mustard because he only averaged about four under par so he retired and now sells golf vacations there. His wife also was a very good golfer and now sells advertising, but worked as a waitress and bartender at the club there. I don't play golf so we really didn't get into things like how the course played and such. We mostly talked about New Orleans and it's culture as defined by parameters such as food and music and architecture. CParso and his wife almost made it that night to the cafe and I'm sure would have met these two and hit it off real well.

Then, on Sunday, I had created an omelette special that contained a cochon du lait sauce smothered with with diced andouille sausage, celery, onions, bell peppers, garlic and tomatoes. One of my early bird customers ordered it and took a picture of the omelette with a very good professional camera. I recognized the camera type because my younger brother is a professional photographer who is head of the Washington D.C. bureau of the AP. It turns out that this was a photojournalist from CNN who was in town covering the oil spill in the Gulf. Apparently the response headquarters is in Robert, La for some reason. I suggested that maybe the environmental protesters wouldn't be able to find Robert. Anyway, he found us after an internet search of various food blogs and decided to seek us out while he was waiting for president Obama to arrive and cover his visit later in the day. This guy enjoyed his omelette and said he would post a good review on several sites including the CNN site. I, of course asked him to invite Obama to the cafe. He said that Obama actually does like to eat in out of the way little places like mine and would pass the word. We both laughed and said "sure. yea right" at the same time. I hope Obama doesn't come tomorrow because we're closed on Mondays.:hihi:

 

Mr. Lopinto sold to his best friend, Buddy Davis. Buddy is very likeable and nice. Also friendly. He used to manage Jitney Jungle in McComb. If you go, go at serving time, or you will have a wait. Tour buses (I mean sometimes two or three at a time make regular stops there.) Even during the week, they are usually busy.
I would estimate that you will sit at a table with approximately twelve people. Usually you will have such choices as fried chicken, butterbeans, peas, turnip greens, chicken and dumplings, fried okra, dressing, yams, mashed potatoes and gravy, rice and gravy, fried eggplant (his celebrity item) and other meats and vegetables.

I'll try to remember to send you a menu..Albita Springs Cafe in Covington..right?

 

i just drooled on my keyboard.

there is a place in oxford that has that kind of menu. i think the name is ajax diner. we eat there whenever we go to oxford for baseball games. in fact we end up eating most of our meals there. good stuff!

 

The cafe is in Abita, but I live in between Covington and Abita Springs...so my home designation here is Covington.