Acme has done a good job of capturing the Bourbon Street/New Orleans vibe. The neon, the mirrors, all the wood, the black and white checks, the background Dixieland tunes. They’ve also done a good job putting together a very representative menu. They do emphasize the oysters, but they haven’t abandoned staples like the ham and cheese or hot sausage poboy either. I went with the New Orleans Medley Plate. Jambalaya, seafood or chicken and sausage gumbo, red beans and rice with grilled sausage.
If they tossed in some boudin and crawfish étouffée, they could just call it the Louisiana Rice Platter. It is very good packaging though, and it brought me back to a burning question of mine. Why does no one offer a combo of jambalaya, crawfish pie, and filet gumbo? Really, how hard would that be to put together? I’ve got a feeling that once it gets cooler, I’ll be hitting up Acme for halfshell and grilled oysters. I do appreciate that feeling, however fleeting, that I could walk outside and see Felix’s across the street on Iberville and stroll down the way to the Jimani listening to a street band do a pretty good rendition of Blueberry Hill while a hustler ran up to bet me a dollar he could tell me where I got those shoes at. And that also reminds me of one Halloween on Bourbon when the ex and I planned to go with another couple as Dorothy (her), the Tin Man (me), the Scarecrow and the Lion. We put a lot into it and all looked real good. Especially Dorothy with her perfect blue and white checked dress, frilly white socks and real ruby red slippers plus a basket with a stuffed Toto. But Dorothy fell ill at the last minute with flu like symptoms and urged me to go ahead and have a good time. Knowing that either decision I made (stay or go) would be the wrong one, I went out with my friends and we hit Bourbon without Dorothy and everyone wanted to know where Dorothy was. We had a great time yelling back at the crowd We got sick of her shit! We offed her! to much laughter and applause. I knew I’d be in for it when I got home so I only stayed out a couple of hours and held back on getting too messed up hoping those would serve as mitigating circumstances. Of course not. But it is still a (mostly) pleasant memory and I definitely recommend stopping by Acme for a cold one and a chance to dredge up one or two old tales of your own. And, though they don’t offer a crawfish pie to go with your jambalaya and filet gumbo, they do have meat pies.
And oh yeah, as I discovered the next day, they’ve got a pretty good ham and cheese poboy as well.
