Wednesday, April 27, 2011.
Fantastic Bread, And Then What?
I'm working on the Mother's Day page for the website. Every time I do this I think I can get away with using last year's list, but I always wind up compiling the entire 100-plus-restaurant catalog from scratch. Sometimes I wonder if I'm compulsive enough to be called nutty, or whether I'm merely doing a good job.
Three callers on the radio said more or less the same thing last week:"There's a little place in Mandeville that I never hear you talk about," they said. "You owe it to yourself and your listeners to try it." In fact, I have tried it, and I've heard the same thing enough times before to know what restaurant the caller is talking about.
Ceasar's (that is how Ceasar Calovini spells it) started as an Italian deli a couple of years ago. It's in the same strip mall as Mandina's--not a great place to be, given the number of restaurants that have come and gone here and next door over the years. Ceasar and his wife do everything: greet, pour wine, cook, serve, clean up. He's from far northern Italy--he was born not far from Lake Como, which is in the Alps. He worked at Andrea's some years ago.
The best job they do is with their bread. It's a dark-crusted, rustic loaf that's so delicious that you wind up stuffing yourself with it. After we ate two plates of it, we ordered some of it toasted and topped with tomatoes, olive oil, and herbs for very good bruschetta.
Next, one of the specials: gnocchetti with Gorgonzola cheese and a cream sauce. This was good as a pasta appetizer, although Mary Leigh found the blue cheese too strong for her, and Mary Ann didn't want to eat much pasta. (That diet again.)
Entrees were a drumfish (above, top)special. It was cut very thick and was a shade undercooked, and came out with olives, capers, and tomatoes. I thought it was okay; Mary Ann was less enthusiastic, saying it wasn't cooked enough for her. Mary Leigh had Ceasar's version of lasagna, made to order with a cheese-tinged bechamel between the layers. The flavor seemed all right to me, but it was a little too foreign for ML, who is accustomed to the more common local/Sicilian style with lots of ricotta. (I told her she should just have had spaghetti marinara.)
My entree was veal saltimbocca. It was prepared very simply, with the three main ingredients all there and accounted for: thin veal, prosciutto, and fresh sage leaves. Not bad.
The Marys don't do dessert often, and didn't tonight. I was touted by Ceasar on the almond semifreddo, whose texture was like that of a heavy, semi-frozen custard. Good taste, large portion, oddly crunchy.
All the while, Ceasar kept visiting the table to talk. He's a very likeable fellow, with a lot of stories about Italy and Italian food. You want to love his food. Almost everybody who comes here does. The fans talk about how authentic it all is. But every Italian chef in the world says he cooks authentic Italian food, yet they all cook differently.
But boy, does Ceasar bake great bread!
Ceasar's. Mandeville: 4250 La Hwy 22. 985-624-3695.
