Friday, August 2, 2013.
Fausto's Thrills.
What happened that I can't seem to find a spare half-hour to take a walk? I seem to have slipped back into my old habit of working all morning until I leave for the South Shore in a panic, without a moment of exercise.
The Marys called me after the radio show, motivated by hunger. Fausto's? I suggested. Mary Ann I knew would go for that idea. Fausto and Rolando are clients of hers, which puts them on her A list. I like the place myself.
I started with an order of about a dozen escargots in a sauce made not only from garlic but other savory vegetables and a bit of tomato, too. Excellent, even though it wasn't conventional.
The specials list was jammed with dishes yelling to be ordered. I had to throw the question to the server. The soft shell crab with this or that kind of pasta? Or the parmesan-crusted fish with crabmeat and spinach?
"The fish, absolutely," she said, not missing a beat.
That proved to be the best bit of advice I've had from a server in a long time. It started with a titanic (the only size they ever serve here) fillet of drum, all but afloat in a butter sauce with too many herbs to describe and a bottom layer of spinach. Crabmeat over the top. I usually concur with the Italian dislike of combining seafood and cheese, but here was the exception that proves the rule. The flavors were so complementary--the cheese sharpened the fish to a fine edge--that before I was finished eating, I was already looking forward to the next time I could have this again.
The Marys, as is their wont, were playing their appetites right up the middle. Lasagna. Spaghetti and meatballs. You'd think they'd never been in a good restaurant before.
Well, to hell with them. I was having a great dinner with my snails, my cheesy fish, my Pinot Grigio, and my spumone. I'm proud that I got out of here without eating any pasta at all. I love it, but to quote an opera singer I can't recall, pasta is a moment on your lips, a lifetime on your hips.
Fausto's. Metairie: 530 Veterans Blvd. 504-833-7121.
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