Uptown 3: Napoleon To Audubon

Trying to think of a place for dinner recently, with the limitation that one of us didn't want Italian, the three of us could think of nothing but Italian restaurants. We finally settled on an Italian restaurant that was just different enough from the standard to make it seem. . . well, not really Italian. Whatever that means. Avo's take on Italian food is very new to the scene, having premiered only six months earlier. It wasn't until we were deep into the meal before we saw that not only is Avo's very Italian but very deep New Orleans-Italian roots. Avo's main selling point is its premises, a rebirth of the former Martinique restaurant and its hedge-surrounded, open-air courtyard. That part of the renovation was the deepest: it's now a weatherproof dining room that nevertheless has an outdoor-dining feeling. If the weather is even remotely nice, they open all the big windows. The menu is different enough from any other in that part of restaurant-loaded Magazine Street to be attractive. You will walk past at least three restaurants between your parking space and Avo.

CBD

CBD

The potential profitability of a top-class steakhouse explains why there have been so many new ones in the past couple of decades. Although there have been moments when the maximum was exceeded (anyone remember Hyde Park Grill?), the allure of a good steak is so universal that it's an easy sell. And the tickets so high that a restaurateur doesn't have to keep the room full all the time to make the nut.