West End & Bucktown

Warehouse District & Center City

La Boca had the guts to break away from the standards of the American steakhouse. Although one can get a filet or a ribeye, fries or mashed potatoes, such an order misses the point of the place. This is genuinely different steak house, and not just for the sake of being different. Inspired by the steakhouses of Argentina--where they eat more beef than we do--the style of the place is unique.

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.