HAPPY MOUTH — September 2007

This evening, members of the HAPPY MOUTH SUPPER CLUB met to dine at Wendy’s selection, HUGO RESTAURANT in Oakley (it occupys the old Pho Paris site since they moved to Covington).

Wendy & I discovered HUGO when we sampled their shrimp & grits at Chefapalooza, one of the 7 DAYS FOR SIDS fundraising events. At that moment, Wendy decided that she wanted to select HUGO for her Happy Mouth month.

A group of 11 of us (Robin, Jay, Ted, Tracy, Holly, Ron, Wendy V, John, Dave, Angel, and Andrew) settled into the Magnolia Room, a private dining room, for a charming dinner of Charleston-style fare. I started with delicious Sweetbreads, which were perfectly prepared — slightly crunchy on the outside, but soft and yielding on the inside. Wendy had Fritters with chili jam and seemed to enjoy them very much. Elsewhere on the table, we sampled Wild Mushrooms with Pork Belly, and of course, Fried Green Tomatoes which were very flavorful and didn’t turn to mush through the fryer.

Main dishes included Salmon, Rabbit with Corn Pudding (I had this and was very happy with it, even though there were several shards of bone from an imprecise butchery job), and Shrimp & Grits. Several diners ordered the Shrimp & Grits. VERY tasty, those!

Desserts included a Walnut Apple Tart (the “Hugonaut”, if you can believe that), flourless Chocolate Torte, and a few others as well. I thought the Hugonaut was too many walnuts, not enough apples, though the Maple Ice Cream on top was nice.

A few things… Their breads are very nice. I intended to ask if they were made in house because they were so tasty. Secondly, the prices were a little out of line with the portion sizes. $26 for a Foie Gras appetizer was too expensive — even for me, a confirmed Foie Gras lover! Granted, the restaurant in is hoity-toity Oakley, but even considering that, I felt that the prices were a bit dear. Finally, we appreciated the Chef Sean took the time to come out and visit with our table. The ladies all thought he was dreamy.

Another successful Happy Mouth!

CONGRATULATIONS to Angel and Dave & Robin, who, after months and months (and months!) of faithful attendance became full-fledged voting members of Happy Mouth and were finally awarded their own months.