We’ve made no secret about the fact that Frencesca’s is one of our favorites. We love Francesca’s, and Katie’s before that. Scot Craig is a master at the restaurant game. Francesca’s is a fast-casual place on Harrison Avenue that serves the same great food as Katie’s with a whole different vibe to match its Lakeview locale. Katie’s is Mid-City, Francesca’s is Lakeview, and both are Scot Craig.
Since” the thing” began, we have often wondered why we have not done take-out from Katie’s or Francesca’s, and it really just amounts to location. We are never in Lakeview these days. We pick up from downtown and Metairie because we have business downtown and Metairie is a pass-through on the way to the bridge, and it’s also the location of our daughter’s home, so when we do leave our north shore isolation, it works. And for some reason, it worked last Friday to get Francesca’s famous pizza and boudin balls.
Katie’s is known for great food in general, but for a few things that have generated buzz. The Barge, for example, is a whole french bread poor boy dressed and brought through the dining room to a table much the same way a king would be hoisted on a chair and carried. This procedure takes a few waiters and makes a strong and fun statement.
Katie’s is also known for its savory beignets and pizza. Scot Craig is a master of the pit and has several smoked items on the menu that are especially delicious, which is saying something when you are talking about a menu where you just can’t go wrong.
ML is a boudin, or rather a fried egg roll fanatic, so putting boudin in a fried eggroll is a “hell yes!” proposition.
And so it was that she found herself in Lakeview last week, which meant that dropping in to pick up at Francesca’s was a given.
She got her favorite pizza on the menu, which is the Boudreaux, a crisp thin crust piled with cochon de lait, spinach and roasted pods of garlic. As expected, both were up to their usual standards. No surprise there. Restaurants like Francesca’s were poised by their very nature to do well in the new take-out culture.
What was less expected is how well food from the white tablecloths traveled. And that has been a very pleasant surprise.
Regardless, we will be happy when this weekend arrives and we may pass through the doors of our favorite establishments once again.
