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The very first Eat Club we had was at Bella Luna, a beautiful restaurant with a European chef named Horst Pfeifer. The night was a tremendous success, launching a decades-long event that was hosted by countless restaurants and innumerable chefs, featuring all different styles of food and different degrees of service. 

Bella Luna set the bar high. Not only were the digs glamorous, with panoramic views of the mighty Mississippi, but Horst’s European training produced polished food that was complex while seeming simple. And then Katrina came, and that was the end of Bella Luna. Members of the Food Show audience remembered Bella Luna fondly, but one thing stuck out in their memories above all. It was the impossibly light fettuccine they had experienced that first night, and many others after.

Horst and his Kansan wife didn’t miss a beat. They bought a beloved institution in Akers (Manchac) and renovated it post-Katrina. I found this transition intriguing. What were these two glamorous Euro-style restaurateurs going to do way out there in Manchac? 

Short answer: make money. But not until they spent an awful lot of money to put the legendary place back together. They went on to build another entirely new place on the lakefront in Slidell, with the same type of whimsical touches they added to Manchac, like a sandy beach and plenty of kid stuff. They greatly improved a beloved institution by modernizing it and making it fun. They celebrate holidays in a big way and host lots of events. And they are a big part of the local community.

Horst and Karen have heeded the calls for fettuccine from the customers at Bella Luna who fondly remember it. For a number of years now, they have offered these delicious housemade paper-thin noodles with a creamy sauce heavy with the flavor of Parmigiano Reggiano and cracked pepper.

It had been a while since I had this dreamy plate of fettuccine noodles. I went to the Slidell location on a Friday evening because it is only available Wednesday through Friday in September at both locations. The price for a big plate is $15.95, but you can add protein to it. I went for the purist’s version of just the Alfredo sauce. I don't remember them offering marinara instead, but there were two options. To me, pasta this light deserves a lighter-flavored cream sauce rather than marinara.

It was as perfect as I remember it. A dense flavor of Italian cheese in a light Alfredo sauce. The portion was generous, so I couldn’t let myself eat too much. It was really rich and decadent, but oh so good! Just as I remembered it.

As I mentioned, Middendorf’s would hardly qualify for the term “fancy restaurant”, but the fettuccine can stand up to anything served anywhere there are white tablecloths in town.

Like La Petite Grocery, which is a fancy restaurant serving fancy food all the time. But they are having a fun deal right now as well. It’s a Greatest Hits Lunch, though I don’t know how they will differentiate the greatest hits. Everyone loves everything served there. But Tuesdays - Fridays through September, they will offer three courses for $35 of their most popular dishes through the years, and each week the menu will change.

They started with the legendary LPG burger with house-cut fries as the entree in that first week, along with Blue Crab Beignets and Butterscotch Pudding. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it that first week because the burger and blue crab beignets were on the menu, and last week I missed the Pots de Crème.

I had no idea what the menu was when I finally got in there, and I was underwhelmed by these third-week offerings. But that is why I went, so I ordered the “Greatest Hits” menu anyway. The meal began with the pork belly starter, followed by the fried chicken sandwich with the house-cut fries, and an Apple Frangipane Tart à la mode as dessert with Salted Caramel and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. I wouldn't order any of this from the regular menu, but it is why I went.

The pork belly was maybe the worst of this I have had. It needed to be braised twice as long as it was. Any piece of any kind of meat that has to be wrestled needs more cooking. It was a pretty dish with lots of fermented veggies and fried peanuts, so there was at least that.

The fried chicken sandwich with house-cut fries was nice in a perky batter, dressed with more house pickles, tomato, and lettuce. The aioli and ketchup for the fries came alongside this plate. This was a perfectly fine fried chicken sandwich, and the house-cut fries were also fine, but a little dark.

To my great surprise, the apple tart was the best of these offerings. It was rather delicious, and that is coming from someone who never eats apple anything.

The crust was dense and flaky, and the apples were finely sliced, and it was the perfect everything: size, sweetness, and texture. The vanilla ice cream was also perfect with it. This dessert almost made it worth the effort to have this special menu, but I wish I had been more discriminating in choosing my week.

Devoted fans of the restaurant may want to make a point of going there for this. But what I learned from this visit is that I am maybe not as devoted a fan of the place as I was.

And that makes me sad.