A wise man once told me: “Never debate politics with a fig tree.” By wise, of course, I mean drunk, but you can’t quibble with the accuracy of the advice: fig trees are truly awful conversationalists. I hope what follows is at least as accurate, and more useful as a practical matter.
Theo’s Pizza, which has operated at at 4218 Magazine St., has opened a second location for their extra-thin crust pizzas. The new location, at 4024 Canal St., near the corner of Carrollton Avenue, serves the same menu as the original, which you can peruse at their Web site www.theospizza.com. You can also call the restaurant at 894-8554 (Uptown) or 302-1133 (Mid-City).
Freret Street Poboy & Donut Shop (4701 Freret St.) opened at the end of August. It is a modest place with a few tables, and a basic but well executed menu that features the standard poor boys as well as a few specialty sandwiches, such as a slow-cooked roast beef poor boy with garlic and gravy and a burger with bacon, pepper jack cheese, grilled mushrooms and onions. There are also daily plate lunches, such as seafood stuffed bell peppers that came with macaroni and cheese, peas and a small salad. The salad was nothing to write home about, but the pepper was good, with a moist, meaty stuffing studded with shrimp. As you might have guessed from the name, they also serve doughnuts, and again the selection is basic but good. Call 872-9676 for more information.
Crescent City Cooks!, a New Orleans-style cooking school, is opening this fall at the Riverwalk Marketplace. The locally owned cooking school will have cooking classes and a retail shop focused on Louisiana products. If you want to learn about CCC!, call them at 529-1600 or e-mail cccooks@att.net.
By the time this issue reaches your hands, Chef Adolfo Garcia will, if things go as planned, have opened A Mano (870 Tchoupitoulas St.) an Italian trattoria in the location formerly occupied by Hipstix in the Warehouse District.
Garcia, who also operates the tapas restaurant Rio Mar and the Argentine steakhouse La Boca, is partnering with Josh Smith, who has been working at Rio Mar, and who will handle day-to-day affairs in the kitchen as executive chef. The restaurant will focus on the food of central and southern Italy, and will feature house-made salumi, as well as products from Italy and from other purveyors such as Cochon and La Querica, in Iowa. The restaurant will seat 80, and the wine list will be entirely from Italy. As I write, there’s no phone number for the restaurant, but 525-3474 is the number at Rio Mar, and I’m sure they’ll be happy to get you situated.
Did you know Emeril’s flagship restaurant (800 Tchoupitoulas St.) has a three-course, prix fixe lunch menu that they promise will get you in and out under 30 minutes? They do, and it’s only $19.50. You choose between four different starters and four different entrées, plus a few desserts. The appetizers when I dined included a cup of gumbo or the soup of the day, fried oysters or a pasta dish. Among the entrées were sautéed rainbow trout with artichoke-sweet potato hash and blue crab, preserved lemon and fennel compote and a Niman ranch pork chop with field pea succotash, “Southern” greens and chow chow. Call 528-9393 for more information.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? E-mail Peyton: rdpeyton@gmail.com.
