I ankled into Liuzza’s-by-the-Track this morning. I was the first customer of the day. The place smelled clean as a baker’s oven. Soon enough, it will smell of Creole seasoning.
Would you like a Jujyfruit?
Regulars made their way in. The day was slowly warming up its muscles before getter ready to strain. I got to hear some gossip. Everybody knows everybody this time of day. It is nice. Aside from the staff, I am the youngest person in the room.
Everyone is friends. There is no manager to speak of. Everyone has worked together, waitresses, customers, cooks, long enough that there are no surprises, only helping hands.
The fabric of life in New Orleans is densely woven and richly textured in every neighborhood. Mid-City more than Lakeview. Lakeview has texture in a different way. A healthy body has many parts, each one humming along.
After everyone had caught up on current events since yesterday, it started to get busy.
A fat man sat next to me, invading my space. I do not mind him invading my space, per se, that would be his nature in tight quarters. It is churlish to begrudge people their physical existence.
There were a whole lot of empty stools at the bar, so, I do not know why the fat man chose my space to invade. He also asked me to hand him a menu. I passed him everything that was in front of me and put it in front of him. I was right in the middle of a very interesting article in the Wall Street Journal.
The cartoonist is tending bar today. The fat man asked the cartoonist for a Breathtaking Beef po’ boy, to-go, with the horseradish on the side. Then, the fat man said, “Can you pack the bread and the beef separately so that the bread doesn’t get soaked with the juice?”
Wait. The Kitchen Witch is waving to me out the window. I should go talk to her before I continue…