True has begun serving Sunday Brunch as of March 9. If you are not yet familiar with the restaurant, it is located in the Legacy Village Center, off Dauphin Street just west of the interstate, next to the Wine Loft and Zoe’s. Chef/Owner Wesley True has brought a new style, reminiscent of New York’s finest restaurants into town. Fantastic presentation, wonderful food and service. 11-3, $8-$20 per dishes, no apps. Come in and eat for $15. Bistro style – exotic fruit fresh toast with pineapple and mango with mojito syrup, new york strip with eggs, bacon and eggs, smoked redfish with swiss chard potato and topped with hollandaise and eggs; pasta with morels and peas. Blue cheese soufflé with spinach salad and house made bacon.

Que casa?

What kind of Mexican place do you think is going to emerge from the freshly painted old La Louisiane building, formerly the Joker buffet? I could not find out much before press time, but a few drive-bys indicate someone is working hard on making at least some cosmetic improvements. Let’s hope they are doing the same thing to the inside.

Tube time

By the time you read this, the Food Network will have come and gone to Manci’s Antique Club over in Daphne to film there for a feature story in one of their programs. Manci’s is an institution here in South Alabama, and you can find my review of them at www.lagniappemobile.com in the archives section. If you have not been it is definitely worth a visit.

Begosh and begorrah

I don’t think they will be having lamb fries, but they will be having an Irish Cook-Off at the Luck of the Irish Event to be held in Bienville Square this Saturday beginning with a 5K run at 8 a.m. and the cook-off begins at 10:30. Awards will be given for the best corned beef and cabbage, and don’t miss the Mississippi Magic Irish Dancers. A parade through downtown will take place at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the gate. Children under 10 free when accompanied by an adult. You can pick up your tickets at McSharry’s Irish Pub in Fairhope, Fishfeathers on 3 Notch Road, OK Bicycle Shop, Trolley’s in Midtown or at the Exchange Club Family Center.

Conceding the point

Concessions at the Mobile Civic Center may not be under my review, but these people really ought to get their act together. At the Wilco concert about 1,600 people were trying to purchase drinks and food from five people. If you do the math, that is 320 people for each person to serve. Many waited in line up to 20 minutes to get a drink. That is unacceptable.

Held in the theater, they easily could have set up beer stands and/or bars in the large connector area to the west of the theater lobby. And to make matters worse, they were pouring canned beers into cups. Like people were going to throw cans at the band? City leaders may wonder why the place makes no profit, but they could have sold twice the amount at least had they made a more friendly arrangement. Yet another reason they still cannot land good shows, and I understand that several promotion firms have had direct discussions with the management about this, only to be blown off.

I cannot seem to get rid of any of my old food magazines, especially Gourmet, even though they are all online now at epicurious.com. I came across this one last year after St. Patrick’s Day and plan to make these sandwiches this year.

Corned Beef on Rye with Caramelized Onions *and Sauerkraut *

Gourmet, March 1994

Makes 4 sandwiches.

3 cups thinly sliced onion

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3/4 cup drained sauerkraut

1/2 Granny Smith apple, grated coarse

3 tablespoons water

unsalted butter, softened, for buttering bread

8 large 1/2-inch-thick slices rye bread

1 large garlic clove, halved

1 large dill pickle, sliced paper-thin

3/4 pound thinly sliced chilled cooked corned beef (about half a cooked 3 1/2-pound corned beef; recipe follows)

1 cup coarsely grated Swiss cheese

Corned beef – a 3-to 4-pound corned beef brisket

To prepare onions and sandwich:

In a large heavy skillet cook onion in oil over moderate heat, stirring, until golden. Stir in sauerkraut and apple and cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Stir in water and salt and pepper to taste and transfer to a bowl. Mixture keeps, covered and chilled, 1 week.

Preheat broiler.

Butter one side of bread slices. On a baking sheet set 4 inches from heat broil both side of bread until toasted lightly. Rub buttered side of each toast with garlic. Arrange 4 toasts, garlic side up, on a baking sheet and divide pickle and corned beef among them. Top beef with onion mixture and cheese and broil under broiler about 4 inches from heat until cheese is melted. Top sandwiches with remaining toasts, garlic side down, and halve.

Serve sandwiches with mustard.

To prepare the corned beef:

In a kettle combine beef with cold water to cover by 2 inches and bring water just to a boil, skimming froth. Simmer beef, covered, 3 hours, or until tender. Remove kettle from heat and let beef stand in cooking liquid 20 minutes. Transfer beef to work surface and trim fat. Use beef as part of a boiled dinner and/or for making corned beef on rye and/or corned beef hash. Corned beef keeps, covered and chilled, 4 days.

Kinnon Phillips is Lagniappe cuisine editor. Contact him at kphillips@lagniappemobile.com.

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