BLAINE'S RESTAURANT REPORT

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Not too long ago, the space this place is in was an Italian chain restaurant named Bravo!, which I really liked. I’m not sure why they closed down. The food was good and it seemed there were always plenty of customers in the restaurant.

This restaurant just opened a couple months ago. As a rule, I normally wait about six months before I try a new place out. Reason being, when a restaurant first opens people rush in because it’s new, but places need time to get their act together. Six months later when they have their act together, and people have stopped going, that’s when I go! And after six months if you still don’t have your act together you probably never will so I won’t be going back!

But I have a friend whose a certified, authentic, New Orleans Italian. She knows good food and recommended this place. That was good enough for me!

Beautiful and big place! I love the open kitchen design and the wood fired pizza oven. When I saw it I knew I had to get a pizza. There’s also plenty of outdoor dining available, and some people were taking advantage of it, even though it was about 50 degrees outside (which is cold by New Orleans standards) and drizzling. Then I noticed the glowing orange heaters along the ceiling, which I guess was enough to keep it toasty out there. I opted to not find out and sit inside.

We decided on:

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@@@@@@@@@@@@ THE FOOD @@@@@@@@@@@@

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The bread was good. Hot and fresh with a chewy texture.

The warm, baked goat cheese and sauce was really yummy. I liked it better on the house bread instead of the little rounds they served it with.

If I ever had a better crab cake I can’t think of when or where right now. It was utterly delicious. Seasoned well and pretty much solid crab meat, as I was trying to show in the picture on the right of the deconstructed piece. It came with a kale salad which I had absolutely no interest in trying. I eat my vegetables all week just so I can act stupid on the weekends. But my dining partner FORCED me to try it! It was actually good. There was a kind of sweet vinaigrette on it that I liked.

The pizza was great. Loved the fennel sausage.

My dining partner had the spaghetti and meatballs. She said the meatballs were very meaty and seasoned well. The spaghetti sauce tasted very fresh.

I had the Pesto Shrimp Linguine. Fantastic! The pasta was cooked perfectly and it was served with six really big shrimp. And the sauce was creamy but not too rich.

Excellent dinner. I will be back.

3413 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, LA 70002 Ph: 504-577-2235

Blaine 2-5-2021