Savory Bites

...offering tidbits of information on interesting discoveries in the food and wine scene of New Orleans.

Eating Like an Italian

Chef Joshua Smith at a Mano talking about the 1st course

Tre Bicchieri Dinner at a Mano - Chef Josh Smith nailed the pairings last week at our annual Italian wine dinner held this year at a Mano. Combined with Antonio's humorous and informative presentation of the amazing award winning wines, and the company of 50 very appreciative diners, I think it is safe to say that a great time was had by all! While I enjoyed each course, I have to say my favorite in terms of food and wine pairing was the fresh pasta with lamb ragu paired with the Feudo Maccari Saia Nero d’Avola from Sicilia. The staff at a Mano did an excellent job and we are all ready talking about what we want to do together next...and FYI my culinary idol, Lidia Bastianich, was in town last week for a book signing and decided that the place she had to go to for Italian food in New Orleans was a Mano...if you haven't been there yet, get there soon. I promise you'll be impressed!

Dining at Domenica - We were invited by friends to dinner Saturday night at Domenica which we hadn't been to since right after they opened, so we happily joined them. I'm not going to go into a big review here, but here's my take for what it's worth: What works: the food was excellent, from the roasted sardines (highly recommended by another Italian foodie and he was so right!) salads, to the grilled summer squash pizza (the best pizza we've had since Rome) pasta, and desserts (the gelato affogato, frittole and pana cotta), we were surprisingly impressed. And the prices are great with most items offered in small or large portions. What also works: no corkage fee!! We brought a selection of our favorites from the store and ordered cocktails and more wine from the extensive, well priced menu, which has some really nice selections at many different price points. What doesn't work? The noise level and just general atmosphere are not what I personally enjoy in a dining experience. And the service was super slow, as we waited more than an hour for our sardines while the rest of the table waited almost an hour and a half for their salads and the entrees took another 30 minutes after that! Maybe it was an off night, but people were getting pretty cranky....