appetites

I missed a chance to check out some of the new offerings on the menu at The Rib Room recently, when I had to turn down an opportunity to dine with the restaurant’s publicist and a few other food writers. That was disappointing, since I like what chef Anthony Spizale is doing now that he’s seemingly been give a bit more freedom to expand the offerings on the menu. You’ll always be able to get the titular cut of meat in several different sizes, and on a “sizzle plate” if you want, but it’s nice to have other options.
One day this past week, when the weather was so unseasonably nice, I took some work with me to the restaurant, and had a pretty nice, and pretty quick, lunch.

Blue Cheese Salad
I ordered a special, which I’ll get to later, and it came with a salad. There wasn’t anything particularly groundbreaking about it, but then again, sometimes one just wants a salad. It looked (and looks, in that picture, I suppose) like it had too much dressing, but for some reason it didn’t feel like too much once I started eating.

Flat Iron Steak
The special was a flat iron “Kobe” steak, served with a reduction sauce accented with thyme, and roasted baby vegetables. The flat iron steak is not as uncommon as it once was, but it’s still not something you see every day. It’s got a sharper, almost liver-like flavor that I like. The steak and salad were $14, which is quite a steal, particularly considering that’s around 14 oz. of meat on the plate.
If you haven’t been to the Rib Room for lunch in a while, you might be surprised by what’s on offer.
In addition to the Rib Room, I had a chance to eat again at Domenica last week, and also at Cuvee. I took pictures at both meals, and while you can always find them on my Flickr page, I’ll put them up here as well in the next few days. I hope.
Meanwhile, if you have a burning desire to follow me on Twitter, you can do so here.

At the suggestion of a couple of friends, I have decided to compile a list of New Orleans area restaurants and chefs who are using Twitter. Twitter is an excellent way to get information out, and there are a bunch of restaurant industry folks using it, but at this point I don’t think anyone’s taken the time to compile a list. Update: a friend pointed out that someone actually has compiled a list of restaurants on Twitter at Tom Fitzmorris’ message board: here. It’s missing a few that I found last night, but has at least one that I didn’t catch, and I’ll add that, along with any others people send me. Thanks to JS for the head’s up.
This is not going to be comprehensive, as I’m sure I’m missing a bunch of people/places, but I’ll try to update it when I can. If I have time in the future, I’ll organize this list alphabetically, but for the time being, the list will start with the folks I’ve most recently “followed” on Twitter. And so,
Cold Stone Creamery
Cafe Adelaide
Sucre’s gelato van
NTINIS
Ralph’s on the Park
Red Fish Grill
Bacco
Boucherie
Anthony Spizale is the chef at the (also tweeting) Rib Room at the Royal Orleans.
Shula’s Steak House has a Twitter account, but it doesn’t appear to be active.
Nonna Randazzo’s Bakery
Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse
Chef Jared Tees of Luke.
Jason McCuller is the chef at Cure.
Rambla
Bourbon House
Palace Cafe
Scott Boswell is the chef at Stella!
Nealy Frentz is the co-owner and chef at Lola, in Covington.
Emeril’s Eats has a twitter account, as does Chef Emeril Lagasse.
La Cote Brasserie
Le Foret
La Petite Grocery and its Chef Justin Devillier are also on Twitter.
Cochon Butcher
Sucre
Popeye’s
Again, I’m sure I’m missing a bunch of restaurants/chefs, but that’s a list of the folks I’m currently aware of and following. If you fit the bill, have a twitter feed, and are not on the list, please email me and I’ll add you… eventually. I’m not making any promises, as my time is incredibly valuable. I am a very important and busy man. Sometimes I am so busy that I do not have time for myself. That’s how important I am. Seriously.
You can, of course, also find me on Twitter and send me a direct message there. Which, given the subject of your message, might just be the best way to approach things. I don’t care if you actually “follow” me, though it would be helpful if you want to get information to an incredibly important and busy man. By which I mean me.
Thanks to everyone who sent me a direct message via Twitter this evening. Please continue to do so, though don’t expect a response tonight, as I am weary. Weary and important, if I haven’t mentioned that already.

Edited 7/11