Maria Compagno ran her legendary Italian restaurant for half the twentieth century before it came to my attention. I probably passed it countless times without giving it a second thought because before Tom entered my life, I didn't eat much at restaurants. Compagno's closed before Tom and I got together, and the only time I went inside the place was with Tom, long after Vincent Catalanotto moved in with a second location of Vincent’s. I immediately loved the look of the place, and that got me to wonder about it.
When I heard that Acropolis had closed on the Weat Causeway approach in Mandeville, I was still mourning its loss when I was told it was now Compagno’s. “Not the Compagno’s from St.Charles?” I asked, daring to hope. As soon as it was affirmed that it was Maria’s grandson and a childhood friend who was moving in with the old recipes, I was excited to finally taste the food at Compagno's.
I went over there not long after they opened, and they gave me a cookbook of her fantastic recipes. But what excited me most was something I had in restaurants in Italy that I haven’t seen anywhere in the States. In April and October there, when artichokes are in season, Carciofi are everywhere on menus. It’s a small whole artichoke, deep-fried, and the entire small globe is edible. This dish thrills me to my core because I love artichokes, and you can eat the whole thing. I also ordered an Italian salad, meatballs and spaghetti, and spaghetti aglio e olio.
.jpeg)
The artichoke was everything I wanted it to be. It was small and compact, and the entire thing was covered with regular Italian breadcrumbs. I thought it was deep-fried, but when I talked to Maria on The Food Show, she told me it was crisped in the oven. I was delighted because it reminded me of the Carciofo in Italy. The entire artichoke was gone in no time. It was served over a lemony, creamy sauce with olive oil and Parmesan cheese. This was so delicious.
I wasn’t as enthusiastic about the Italian Salad. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, but I just expected it to be exceptional. This seems like the kind of place from last century that would have a fantastic Italian salad. And it was good, with the greens and cheese and a little olive salad, but not much meat. I was impressed with the salad dressing, which was a creamy Italian dressing, and I loved the plentiful artichokes, but overall this was nothing really special.
I was also a bit underwhelmed with the meatballs and spaghetti as well. It was a delicious, thick, and smooth red sauce. It was not too sweet. The meatballs were not ideal. I prefer softer meatballs that are fork-tender. Meatballs that are too tough are completely unacceptable to me. These meatballs were closer to the tender side than the too-firm side. Overall, this was a nice plate of food but not one I would have to get again, with other things I want to try.
The last dish in this meal was the spaghetti with aglio e olio. I liked this garlicky and very oily herbal pasta. This had a great garlic flavor and a lot of herbs, exactly what I want in aglio e olio.
I just love what the Compagno’s have done with this space. It’s comfortable and classy without being pretentious, very much as I imagine the original one that I missed was. I look forward to more lovely dining experiences here.