PR people come in all shapes and prices, but they have one thing in common: to create a “buzz” for their clients. In the world of social media, this can happen organically, but social media definitely enhances it. On The Food Show and on nomenu.com, we aren’t really even aware of social media, and Tom built the business before it became a “thing.” We only deal in organics.
But a buzz is a buzz, no matter how it started, and Osteria Lupo is swirling in a buzz right now. Of course, we had to go. Since we rarely get out much anymore, I had to go to the place with the buzziest buzz, or rather, the one I could stand. Osteria Lupo at least had a chance of being good. And it is Italian. What’s not to love?
I tried to get a reservation, because those are essential in the post-COVID world, especially at places with the “buzz.” I knew Osteria Lupo was in the coolest of the cool club because you reserve on RESY. Open Table is for, well, the rest of us. And then I noticed the blurb warning if I didn’t cancel 24 hours before the reservation time, it could trigger a $25 fee. PER GUEST. Immediately I decided the bar would be fine if indeed Osteria Lupo was that cool. And it was. The girl at the front who greeted me assured me that the entire open restaurant would be full by 6:30. Wait, when did early dining become cool?
I took the last two seats at the bar, and the hostess was not bluffing. The entire restaurant was full by 6:30. My companion for the evening was running behind me, so I tried to order a pizza while I waited. The waitress advised me that such a thing was not allowed. The entire order must be placed in one step, and the kitchen would course it out for us.
After ten or fifteen minutes I asked another bartender if pizza counted as a course, and she obliged, putting in a Quattro Formaggio pie. It arrived shortly. There was indeed a lot of cheese on it, but the dough was softer than I would have expected or wanted. It had a chili oil drizzle.
The predominant flavor of this was garlic, which was roasted to sweet and buttery. Its presence was heralded by an errant clove that fell out when I removed the first slice. The Mozzarella formed a thick seal over the rest, with the Parmesan and Fontina cheeses blending into a delicious harmony. The Bleu cheese seemed an odd choice and sort of derailed what else was going on here. It stopped the creamy and sweet but subtle marriage of tastes spiked with a welcome surprise of chili oil. Suddenly, it was all about the Bleu cheese.
I still liked this pizza. It was a nice start to the meal. When my companion arrived, we were allowed to order the rest of what we wanted to eat.
It wasn’t all that large a menu, but there were certainly enough choices for us. If there are arancini on any menu. I will get them, but my enthusiasm is waning on this dish because so many are ordinary. This version was not even that good. Too dark for my taste, and just stridently ordinary in every way. The accompanying slices of black truffle may woo others, but not me. The underlying sauce was not even worth noting.
We also ordered grilled oysters, but they never came.
My friend got snapper crudo, with a tomato-walnut pesto and fried capers, which he liked just fine.
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Another app we got was the crabmeat salad, a refreshing use of our local delicacy. It looked like a ravigote without the mayo, sprinkled with capers and served on thin slices of nice tomatoes with a vinaigrette that was tasty enough to drink. (We didn’t, just so you know…)
We also got two pastas, though several of these intrigued me. I always love pesto, especially when it is the cheapest of the pasta choices. This version was nothing like I expected, though I should have expected something exactly like it was. It was Casarecce pasta so al dente it was uncomfortably chewy, with very little sauce, a very generous scattering of pinoli, and leaves of fresh raw basil as garnish. This was not bad, though I would have liked it cooked a lot more. That pasta shape is much too thick to be barely cooked.
The radiatori was much better. It was tossed with blue crab and Parmesan in olive oil. There was not much to this dish, but with crabmeat, less is more. This was the favorite thing on the table for us.
At one point, one of the kids buzzing around waiting on tables passed the bar and greeted us. He asked us if everything was amazing, very confident we would validate that assumption. I gushed in agreement, mainly to entertain my companion.
Was my pasta amazing? Actually, no. Amazing is Tom cheating death recently. The food on my plate is never going to amaze me, though the serving of something ridiculous that I am supposed to rubber stamp might possibly amaze me…in its absurdity.
Our meal at Osteria Lupo was not absurd, and it was not amazing. What is amazing is the number of people there who probably thought it was, just because they were supposed to. It was not a bad meal at all, but there was just nothing exceptional about it.
Both of us decided that we would have much preferred Italian food to be the comfort food that it is in its soul. And we would have preferred to have it at places that recognize it for what it is, and who wholeheartedly embrace that. That kind of food is found in places like Fausto’s and Filippo in Metairie, Tony Mandina’s in Gretna, Irene’s in the French Quarter, Two Tony’s in Lakeview, and Marcello's in Covington. For delicious but still hip, there is AVO down the street from Osteria Lupo, and Del Porto in Covington.
