Thursday, January 22, 2009.
Andrea's Anniversary Dinner.
Yesterday was the twenty-fourth anniversary of the opening of Andrea's. Tonight, the restaurant celebrated with a lightly-attended wine dinner. I contributed by promoting the event as a semi-Eat Club dinner, which brought in sixteen people--enough to push us into three separate tables, among which I moved from course to course.
Mary Ann drove into town with me--something she rarely does. We had nothing but business to talk about, and once that was done, we didn't have much to discuss at all. When I see couples in restaurants sitting there all night long, eating but not talking, I always say to myself, "I never want to be like that." So how does this happen? Is it inevitable that two people run out of enjoyable things to yack about? With us, part of the problem is that Mary Ann's favorite topic is politics. That is something we truly can't discuss pleasurably. Food? She's trying desperately to lose weight, and doesn't want to make herself hungry. 
I got off the air early--there was a basketball game--and we made it to the restaurant from downtown just as the dinner moved from aperitifs and pass-around appetizers to the real meal. The appetizers were the best part of this meal, so much so that MA asked if she could have another batch of the little crawfish pies in lieu of an entree. She couldn't--they were all gone and hard to make. But Andrea did send her favorite dish there--trout topped with crabmeat and lemon butter--in lieu of the steak. Still too much food, she said, even after passing her seared sea scallops over to me from the first course. I'm glad she did. Hers was only seared on one side. Mine wasn't seared on either side.
Then a risotto of wild mushrooms appeared, porridge-like. Not a good presentation, but the flavors were very good, with many little specialty mushrooms in the matrix. The entree for all but Mary Ann was a sirloin strip steak pizzaiola. Good sauce, tough steak. I ate half of it. The wine was terrific, though: Travaglina Gattinara, in its oddball, misshapen bottle. This is a spicy wine from Piemonte, the region better known for Barolo. A very nice pairing with the steak and especially with its sauce.
A dense chocolate cake topped with a chocolate truffle finished things off. The dinner was distinguished by its value more than its goodness: at $65 inclusive, it was hard to complain.
Antonio Molesini, a funny guy who works for the Republic wine distributorship, was an added bonus. He's one of the few fellows who talk about wines at dinners like this whose presentations are both funny and informative. He's very Italian, with a thick accent. He starts all his presentations by saying he's from Bogalusa.
Andrea's. Metairie: 3100 19th Street. 504-834-8583. Italian.
