Marigny

The seller's market for sushi seems to have peaked. With seventy-three sushi bars around town, I think I detect a few net sushi bar closings, and a much smaller, less ambitious menu in most of the new places. While I've never seen a big crowd at either Wasabi, the food has always been excellent, and the place seems solid.

Metairie 2: Orleans Line To Houma Blvd

Covington

For me, all Italian food falls into two categories. There's the cooking that blows me away every time I go to Italy, or to a few restaurants in this country. And then there's everything else. I like the food in the latter category, but not nearly as much as I like the former. In New Orleans we only occasionally get the memorable stuff. Even when it appears, it has a way of morphing into Category Due. Del Porto is the only restaurant in the New Orleans area that has managed to keep that amazing, herbal, rustic, robust style of cooking over the long term.