Wednesday, January 19, 2011. Eat Club At Andrea's. Tonight's dinner at Andrea's had me tense. As of the weekend fewer than twenty people were signed up. A burst of action at the end brought it up to thirty, which is still about ten below normal. Are Maybe it was the twenty-sixth anniversary of the restaurant that finally got people's attention.
The crowd made up for small numbers with unusual avidity. Lots of first-timers, some of whom had never been to a wine dinner before and were blown away by the experience.
That's what I'm trying to accomplish with these dinners. I catch a certain amount of flack from former attendees who say the wines and food offer a lot of room for improvement. They're right, but that would raise the price to a level that would deter new diners. I don't really aim our dinners are dedicated gourmets, who will create their own, much more expensive dinners with wines from their private cellars when they go out together. I'm after people who are just getting into it. People who don't know how stimulating a wine dinner can be.
The evening went without a noticeable hitch. Chef Andrea Apuzzo included among the pass-around appetizers a few extra dishes not on the menu. (He's deviated from the menu before, but in the other direction.) The five pre-dinner items made a big splash, starting with a new item he rolled out at our last dinner. He calls it a pizzelle, and it's quite original. The dough for the mini-crust is fried instead of baked. The heat is enough to warm the sauce and melt the fresh-milk mozzarella cheese without further baking. They were big enough that one was a full appetizer unto itself.
But there were four other nibbles. Little crescents of puff pastry were stuffed with something akin to crawfish etouffee. Oysters and leeks wrapped in bacon and broiled. Fresh-made then fried cheese ravioli, with the red sauce as a dip. Those went very quickly. And mushrooms stuffed wit Italian sausage. A little heavy, but good.
We sat down to shrimp fra diavolo. Big shrimp in a slightly sweet tomato sauce with a good deal of crushed red pepper. This is a lot like shrimp Creole, one of my least favorite dishes. But with the sharpness cooked out of the tomatoes and the red pepper, it was not just acceptable but delicious.
I can't say I thought the Chianti Classico went really well with that, although it was far from a failure. I saved it for the next course, and asked for the Italian Chardonnay due with the pasta.
Peter Patti, who was here representing the wine distributor, disagreed with me about that. Good to see Peter, who I used to encounter much more often than I do now. I envy him his taste in clothes. He looks like the men you see walking around cities major and minor in Italy, where everybody dresses well all the time. Except the tourists.
The pasta was near-classic rigatoni carbonara. The sauce was very rich with eggs, cream, Romano cheese and bacon. Spaghetti would have been better, but that's a microscopic quibble.
Speckled trout with pesto cream sauce followed, the second consecutive creamy dish. I don't think anyone took note. (I didn't until just now.) The sauce combined a pesto of basil, parsley and garlic with the cream and white vermouth. I always thought this was one of the best ideas Chef Andrea ever came up with, so good that I wonder why it's never turned up anywhere else. The trout was nice and fresh and wowed all eaters.
The entree brought what I was hoping to see. I am trying to establish a signature New Orleans Cut steak: a sirloin strip steak twice as thick as normal but half as wide, so it looks like a filet mignon. This isn't for looks, though. Thick steaks cook more interestingly than thin ones. This is why filets are so popular, when strips are clearly better.
Andrea added a new twist on the idea: he cut the steaks in half after grilling them, not before. This opened up a luscious, juicy, red face on one side. Looked good and tasted good. Good saucer, too: peppercorn cream with demi-glace.
The other entree choice was good too. Veal Tanet is an outrageously large slice of panneed veal, set atop a row of cool, crisp romaine, with a mustard sauce that's almost a salad dressing. More of those were ordered than I would have expected, and they drew good comments. As did the super Tuscan wine we had with it.
I didn't bother with the dessert--a chocolate creme brulee, which seemed wrong to me but had great appeal to the chocolate lovers.
I remained at the restaurant very late. Many of our diners stuck around to talk about the food and wine. After they were gone, Chef Andrea kept the party going with an old bottle of Nippozzano Chianti. I could not allow myself even a taste of it. That would have led to a glassful, and I was at my limit for crossing the Causeway unaided. I am determined to avoid that particular headline.
Andrea's. Metairie: 3100 19th St. 504-834-8583.
