Inside the Bowl

Casamento’s the famous uptown oyster joint opened this week. The building looks to be free of major damage. They were closed for the summer when the storm hit, so this year’s opening is about 2 months late. We haven’t been there since it re-opened, but we probably will go soon. The last raw oysters we ate were a few days after Katrina hit. We were having lunch at Black’s in Abbeville, LA. We were evacuees with plenty of time on our hands eating a late lunch. The oysters looked so good we each had a dozen. I can still taste them, big and very flavorful with a high salt content. Yeah, we will head to Casamento’s pretty soon.

Louisiana oyster beds suffered some heavy damage this season, but they have been found to be free of bacteria, and most of the beds have been opened. Despite some early reports to the contrary, prices seem to have remained the same as last year. Our favorite spot for oysters was Brunings, out by the lake. Brunings unfortunately is no more as the whole building washed out to sea.

Casamento’s did suffer a major loss during the storm. Joseph Casamento died in Mississippi where he had evacuated before Katrina hit. There was an insightful article in the Times Picayne about this very colorful New Orleanian.