Sunday’s Dai Due (sans father) at the Hotel St. Cecilia was dreamy. Jesse drew inspiration from The Picayune Creole Cookbook, which we had revisited for about a week prior, and which, upon arriving at the scene, were deflated to find that another guest had a copy more flamboyantly covered and more heavily worn than Buster’s.
Thankfully, we were not seated by those people, and stuffed blue crab arrived, plated with Kitchen Pride mushrooms topped with chorizo. Incidentally, Jesse has begun selling all manner of sausages and charcuterie. Do yourself a favor and subscribe to Dai Due’s e-list if you’ve not already, to learn more about the new products, made with locally raised meats, as well as get first notice when new events are scheduled. 
Sweetbreads en croute – well, semi-en-croute, we agreed, appeared next. The mushroom-heavy sauce enrobing the sweetbreads was spot-on, and I had a pang of regret that I refused to try this dish when I worked at Shallots in NYC a few years ago.
For me, the difference is in knowing where the meat comes from. From ages 15-21 I was a vegetarian, then re-introduced fish and some poultry. Now I’m mostly veg, making exceptions for eggs and occasional meats which pique my curiosity.
Red snapper courtbouillon followed, accompanied by perfect Texas rice and a sauce whose composition was so elusive that it wasn’t until the final bite I exclaimed, “star anise!” If I am wrong and it was fennel, correct away.
The hands-down best dish was the guinea hen. Its skin was heavenly; both white and dark meat melted away from the bone (and into mah bellah). 
The only false note in the entire meal was the sorrel, which would likely have succeeded in working as a custard, were it not for the addition of too much lemon.
Dessert was a plum beignet-style ladyfinger of a pastry, created in edible, 2-3 inch oval shapes. I lost count after two. Is there anything better than licking powdered sugar off one’s fingers? Co-op Coffee was excellent. Post dinner pralines were followed by more wine on the lawn. The only thing we agreed would make Dai Due better is to attend with friends – so if anyone wants to save up for say, September, let’s get a group together and stop talking about it already.
