Wednesday, April 25, 2012.
Eat Club Braves Andrea's.
At the Eat Club dinners we do once or twice a year at Andrea's, most people have a pleasant evening. Many courses are served, the wine bottles appear to be bottomless (not always the case at wine dinners), we usually have live music, and the spirits are high.
But the food is always spotty, as it was in the dinner we held. Most of the dishes were beyond reproach, but enough were unimpressive that I am frustrated.
We began with a table full of appetizers, of which by far the best was the marinated eggplant (left). It's absurdly simple to make--if you have a few weeks to wait for it to marinate in the combination of olive oil, vinegar or lemon juice, garlic, crushed red pepper, and herbs. It's packed in jars and allowed to sit for a month or more. When it comes out, it's so good that it transcends eggplant. In fact, a rumor at two of the tables was that it was squid.
Also well liked were the grilled artichokes. These weren't the little ones, but the full-size jobs. The spines were trimmed, then the globes were cut into quarters and slapped down on the open grill. But the arancini were starchy and unappealing. The pizzetti (right, above)--using a fluffy dough, a bit of tomato and cheese--weren't nearly as good as the last time we had them. The dough was fluffy and dry. And the mozzarella en carrozza--a kind of Italian croque--was like something from a low-end wedding reception.
The pasta course was pappardelle with shrimp and zucchini. What was the chef thinking with this? It had no flavor whatsoever. I lost interest after two bites and left the rest there--a lot of food. The waiters didn't even question that.
Then things picked up. The insalata Caprese--ripe tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and basil--were their usual highly appealing selves.
Those who had the filet mignon pizzaiola were very pleased with it. I always thought that red sauces and steak go together very well, and in this presentation of the idea both the sauce and the steak were excellent.
Unfortunately, I went for the flounder option. It involved rolling fish around a stuffing. Through my entire life of eating, that has never been a successful concept, even though the best chefs in the best restaurants feel compelled to give it a go.
But I keep hoping. This one had the flounder pounded out (that's what the chef told me during our radio interview before the dinner), wrapped around a salmon mousse, breaded, seared, and baked off. Then it was sliced into discs about half an inch thick, and touched with a lemon butter. It looked beautiful on the plate, but in terms of flavor it looked beautiful on the plate.
Fortunately, we were drinking good wines with all this. Andrea is now making wine from the grapes that grow on his family's land in Capri. We had a Falanghina (a white) and Aglianioco (a red). Both were big in aroma and flavor, and quite aromatic. Also on the table was a white Greco di Tufo and the alarmingly-named wine Lachryma Christi ("the tears of Christ," a red).
I have always liked Andrea's torta di mandorle, a very light flourless chocolate cake made with a great deal of crushed almonds. It was on his original menu, and sometimes still is. He topped it with homemade ice cream.
Andrea's has become something like Antoine's was in the 1990s. You could get a good meal there, but you had to choose dishes very carefully, then guide them a bit with special instructions. Left to its own devices, the kitchen at Andrea's--especially in banquet situations--turns out food according to its own convenience. That's never a formula for a memorable meal.
One day, we will have an Eat Club dinner here without having to compete for the restaurant's attention with another, larger private dinner going on elsewhere under the chef's gaze. From the very first Eat Club event, we have suffered from that effect.
The evening ended nicely. Pianist Ruth Ann "Baby Ruth" Kerr all but twisted my arm to get me to sing a few songs. I must say we did better than we have in the past. (The problems were all mine.)
Andrea's. Metairie: 3100 19th St. 504-834-8583.
