A Proper Who Dat Parade

Another brief interruption from Chef's lingering Cafe 641 Profiles to announce a request for a reunion of sorts.

Cafe 641 Who Dats! Upper Terrace Who Dats! Any Who Dats within screaming distance!

Chef is looking to host a Who Dat Mardi Gras reunion to say thank you to our coach.

Saturday night, Endymion will have an entire float devoted to Saints players. Sunday night, Drew Brees will toss beads while a Bacchus paige supports his left elbow. Chef recommends Who Dat attendance at both these parades.

But Chef is saving up his own mojo for Monday night and Coach Payton.

As Coach Payton will be riding as Orpheus royalty on Monday night (Feb. 19), Chef (and probably every other Saints fan) thinks it proper to say thank you with deafening Who Dat cheers, standard black and gold Superdome attire, and hundreds of signs.

Chef will be holding it down on Monday, February 19th at the lake-side corner of Constantinople and St. Charles in Uptown New Orleans.

He's looking for other Cafe 641 diners and Dome rats at large to invade the streets with. Chef's groin has fully healed through a constant regimen of Payton's Playoff Punch (New Orleans Rum Reggie Rum w/ Deuce Juice). He'll be ready to roll.

Chef will bring menus, wooden spoons, eye black, and freshly groomed facial hair. You bring the love.

Leave e-mail for more info.

Cafe 641 Profile #5: Proud Mary

***NOTE: Fifth in a series of bare-all, expose profiles that allows Chef to e-hibernate this off season with a clear conscience.

Chef has already documented the inspirational Upper Terrace actions of one Proud Mary. But it's not just her demand for 4 Quarters of noise from Cafe 641 patrons that make her a great Who Dat. There's so much more to Proud Mary's game . . .

* Sometime during the first quarter of Miracle Monday, Proud Mary reveals, with very little prodding, that she is one of the greatest Who Dat mothers of all time. She has bestowed upon her son, Benson LeBlanc, one of the greatest gifts of all: season tickets in Cafe 641.

* Early in the season, possibly the Philly victory, Proud Mary grabs Chef by his shoulders, spins him around, and demands, "Chef. Give me some damn eye black. We gonna win this game." The subtle Who Dat gesture shames the grown men one row down who had just refused Chef's eye black invitation.

* Proud Mary carves another notch into her greatest Who Dat mother of all time belt: at least once a game, she returns from a restroom break with two Coors Lights. One for her dear son, Benson LeBlanc, and the other for herself.

* Already vying for top position as Cafe 641's Who Dat fashionista, Proud Mary brings out an impressive display of old school for a midseason game -- vintage Saints sweater, squeaky clean black Keds with gold laces, and helmet earrings.

* On the way out of the Dome after the Saints went limp against the Redskins, but still backed into the playoffs, Proud Mary reminded Chef that it was his 9th wedding anniversary. Stopping Chef and the Mrs. on the Upper Terrace ramps, Proud Mary uttered some inspiring advice: "9 years is a good number. I'm at 28 myself. Just remember, you always have the boys in black and gold."

Cafe 641 Profile #4: Red Carpet D

***NOTE: Fourth in a series of bare-all, expose profiles that allows Chef to e-hibernate this off season with a clear conscience.

Look left. Now look lower left. Look at the intense, upward looking face streaked with eye black. Look at the high-five concentration. Look at the delirious smile. This, my fellow Who Dats, is the face of Red Carpet D, a Cafe 641 family member who holds it down on Row 40.

The profile? Let Chef begin thusly . . .
* D forgets to set his clock back for daylight savings time, and shows up at Dome three hours before the Ravens game. Chef spots him at the players' red carpet entry site, banging on the police barricades, inciting the crowd with 9 a.m. "Who Dat?!!"

* D continues his Red Carpet stakeouts throughout the season, delivering a highly anticipated team report to Cafe 641. D's arrival to Row 40 goes something like this:
Cafe 641: "Who Dat D?!"
D: "Who Dat peeps!"
Cafe 641: "How'd the boys look this morning, D?"
D: "Lookin' good, livin' well. Coach is drinking Cafe Au Lait today. Brought his son to work. Will was listenin' to Lil Jon on the iPod. Fujita gave the valet driver a samurai bow. Drew healed a paralyzed boy's legs. Joe let me borrow his cell phone to call my mom for her birthday. We'll be fine today. The boys are ready."

* Red Carpet D raises the stakes on his level of Who Dat-itis. Mid-way through the season, he shaves his head on both sides, leaving an impressive mohawk-like streak of hair on top that he bleaches blonde and sculpts into intimidating spikes that keep visiting fans away from the Cafe.

* D raises the goodluck high-five to new heights. Never satisfied to high-five only Row 40 Who Dats, D treats every first down like the Sign O' Peace at Mass. After slapping hands with Row 40, he singles out crucial Cafe 641 family on Rows 41-43, waiting as long as 60 seconds to get that Who Dat Dap.