Arkansas Reflections

Richard Mason
Richard Mason

I usually don’t write about non-Arkansas items, but I’ve decided to mention a restaurant in Monroe, Louisiana. After all South Arkansas is only a little over an hour from Monroe, and when we were there recently, three nearby tables of diners were from Arkansas. In the Michelin Green Book, there is a category called “Worth a Journey.” That’s my recommendation for the Restaurant Cotton.

Last Saturday a trip to Monroe seemed a way to break the incessant rain boredom, and a hour and fifteen minutes later we were in Monroe at the Restaurant Cotton viewing the Saturday brunch menu. The restaurant gets its name “Cotton” because it’s in an old cotton warehouse, right behind the levee of the Ouachita River. I know just the idea of a restaurant in an old cotton wearhouse might make you wonder, but get ready for a shock. The interior is absolutely a knockout. A beaded wooden ceiling that is at least +17’ high, a gorgeous bar, original pine plank floors, and a 15’ by 6’ foot painting of Andrew Jackson really sets this restaurant apart.

The restaurant theme is ‘Creative Southern Cuisine,’ and it lives up to its name. We were there for brunch, so at this visit, our meal didn’t sample what was called “For Supper”, but just from the menu, and what we had for brunch, I can tell you Cotton is first class. We have, in the past, been there for dinner, so we have tried several of the “supper” items. However, believe me, any restaurant with redfish, venison, crawfish (two ways with fettucine) and duck fat fries, is going to be excellent. Duck fat fries? Yep, and this is why. Vertis and I were traveling by car in France when we stopped at a rustic, inn-restaurant for dinner. Along with our entrées, we ended up with French fries, and they were the hit of the meal. I sent a question to the chef about how he prepared the fries, which brought out the chef, who told us he fried his potatoes in duck fat. You think you have had good French fires, but you haven’t until you have duck fat fries.

Our brunch was duck wraps, wedge salad, and a Louisiana Strawberry salad which was a lot more than strawberries and lettuce. I’m looking forward to returning for dinner and ordering Venison Schnitzel, which is pan fried venison, sweet potato mash, onion spoon bread, and bacon bourbon jus.

• • •

Domestic news: This morning, before I wrote this column, I concluded a 24 hour strike over a domestic dispute. That’s right, and after some negotiations, I have decided that to prolong this strike would endanger a relationship. Curious? Okay, let me tell you what caused this strike.

Over the years, I have realized that keeping up with the chores around the house should be a joint operation, and I have tried to help out, by doing several things. I make the coffee every morning and bring my dear wife a cup as we read the paper online. After we’re through with coffee, I clean the pot, and since it grinds the beans, I have to dismantle it. Later, and after most meals, I put the dishes in the dishwasher and clean up the kitchen, and that turned out to be the source of my 24 hour strike.

Yes, I do have my own way of putting dishes in the dishwasher, and after watching a Cascade commercial, where they put a dish in the dishwasher so dirty that a hog would turn up its nose, and it came out sparkling clean, I decided to follow suite and forget the prewashing and scrubbing. You know, why have a dishwasher if you are going to prewash the dishes? Well, doing it “My Way” makes loading the dishwasher a 30 second operation. Actually, last Thanksgiving, I set what may be a local record by putting 8 plates in the dishwasher at one time. I did remove the knives, forks, and spoons, which I placed in the dishwasher with a one second jam and drop. I found out if you can close the door of the dishwasher, it is not too full, and I consider everything on a kitchen counter, “dishwasher safe.”

Well, my strike all started when we had breakfast eggs, several messy skillets, milk glasses, and assorted jelly spoons, which I jammed in the dishwasher, until I had to rearrange them twice to close the door. Well, I guess, over the years of loading the dishwasher, there have been several thousand dishes washed without a complaint. However, this past Monday, a plate was held up for inspection, and it didn’t pass.

“Look at this! There is dried egg on this plate!”

“Well, flick it off. It has been sanitized.”

“No, I’m going to have to clean and rewash all the dishes in the dishwasher.”

Well, that brought on a lecture of how to prewash the dishes before they go in the dishwasher…and blab, blab, blab, which I ignored. After the lecture, I began to think about stuff. “Hummm, dirty tissues on the cabinet, kitchen counter with butter left out, towels thrown on the bathroom floor….and then a tiny, well the egg on the plate was about an inch or two long….but it had been in near boiling water and steam so it was as clean as the plate.” That’s when I decided I had been wronged, and a 24 strike was called.

The next morning I left the dishes from the night before and the breakfast dishes on the cabinet and in the sink, didn’t unload the dishwasher with yesterday’s “clean” dishes, and left the coffee maker with dirty grounds. The action started when I was getting ready to leave for work, and Vertis walked into the bathroom.

“I finished cleaning the kitchen.”

Yeah, there was an edge to that comment, and I didn’t help by saying, “Did you clean the coffee pot?” If you have seen the commercial where the pro basketball player is watching his home camera and a crook is stealing his car, and he says, “What?” Well, that’s what happened, and when I said, “I’m not going to do that anymore,” it was another, “What?” and then more words, and it was getting more than a little testy, and when I rattled off some little negative Vertis things such as –tissues on the floor, butter left out, and other very serious shortcoming, and got her reaction, that’s when I knew it was time for my strike to be over. Maybe I made my point, but I’m not sure. After I load the dishwasher with dishes from our big Easter meal, I’ll let you know.

• • •

But back to current Arkansas items: first let me thank the folks who email me. I really do appreciate the feedback, and I try to answer every email. Keep them coming because they help me understand what you, the reader, would like to read about. As you know from my columns, I have a special care about Arkansas’s environment, and I’m not bashful in expressing how I feel. However, I do try to mix the column’s content up, or I would bore you to death.

Richard Mason is a registered professional geologist, downtown developer, former chairman of the Department of Environmental Quality Board of Commissioners, past president of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation, and syndicated columnist. Email richard@ gibraltarenergy.com.

Upcoming Events