Del Porto OMG!!!! Semi-Colon, Close Parentheses
Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:20 pm
My birthday dinner at Del Porto was so fing awesome I totally couldn't stand it. Hot date, gorgeous night, good food. I was giddier than Chuck Todd asking Obama a question at Wednesday's press conference.
I have wanted to go to Del Porto since late 2006 when I had some business at the old Courthouse in Covington. I walked across the street and was soooo totally OMG! that I had to txt my bff. LOL. Well, after reading Brett Anderson's review a couple of weeks later I was salivating and dying to eat there. But since I almost never leave New Orleans, it took me almost 2 and 1/2 years and the best girlfriend in the world for me to fulfill my dream of dining in downtown Covington.
Our reservation was for 8 pm and the place was packed. We were seated immediately which was sweet. There was an open two top at the front or four top in the back against the wall, TGWWSATFTAW.
I wouldn't describe the menu as pure Tuscan but it certainly isn't New Orleans Italian either. JAG and I decided to kind of eat our way through the menu. We started by sharing two appetizers. The first was white bean, artichoke puree served with crostini. Very creamy with bright vibrant flavors. The dish was garnished with caperberries and kalamata olives. I was able to take the stem of the caperberry and erotically feed it to JAG in a playful manner while still grossing out the rest of the restaurant. The second app was terrific as well. It was homemade mozzarella, melted and then accompanied by some roasted roma tomatoes and toasted pine nuts. This was amazing. Truly a terrfiic app that I could have ordered two of.
Our next course was a spinach salad with caramaelized mushrooms, Ricotta Salata and a mushroom sherry vingarette. I think the mushrooms were JAG's favorite food item of the whole weekend. The chef really brought out the earthiness to them and the flavor just exploded in your mouth. An incredibly simple salad that had an overwhelming amount of flavor. We had kinda thought this was the best thing we ate all weekend until.......
The waitress brought our pasta course, spaghettini with shrimp and fennel and olive oil. Not only was this the best tasting dish I have had in 2009, it was the best smelling thing ever brought to a table occupied by bam bam. The shrimp were as big as my fist and packed a big flavor to boot. The fennel while not overpowering the dish accented the shrimp perfectly.The pasta was buttery and light and gave a mouthful feel to the dish that it might have otherwise lacked. This was the food highlight of our weekend and if any of you get to Del Porto, this is a must order.
Next up came the entree. Kinda hard to believe after a day and a half at the B&B but JAG wanted sausage. So we ordered fennel sausage with roasted yukon potatoes and topped with caramelized onions. After the last dish, anything brought to the table was going to be a come down. However, this certainly was very good and I would definitely order it again but it wasn't the previous course. Our wine had opened up siginificantly by this point and the sausage and caramelized onions really pair well with the deep flavors of the Vallopolicella.
In the seven weeks we have been dating, JAG and I have a history of ordering non-euphemsitic blueberry desserts. Saturday night was no exception. We went with a blueberry tart, that had the best vanilla ice cream in the center. I was pretty full at that point but the blueberries were extremely fresh and vibrant.
Although the food is awesome, the restaurant's decor has no personality whatsoever. You do not even think you are in an Italian restaurant. The accoustics are terrible and the place is very loud to the point where it is very difficult to sustain a conversation. But they do turn the tables over fairly quickly. We arrived at 8 pm and they were still seating people until about 9:30 pm. Our waitress was cute and bubbly, yet professional. She had zero issue with us taking our time and having a liesurely northern Italian meal. When JAG told her, we wanted to have several courses and split them, she said "that's how to eat here." Well done, Ma'am.
Overall, this place not only lived up to the hype, it exceeeded it. It was the best birthday gift I could have received and was so pleased that the person giving it to me was there to share it. VERY Strong Recommendation. I can't wait to go back and it is now the frontrunner for best meal I had in 2009.
I have wanted to go to Del Porto since late 2006 when I had some business at the old Courthouse in Covington. I walked across the street and was soooo totally OMG! that I had to txt my bff. LOL. Well, after reading Brett Anderson's review a couple of weeks later I was salivating and dying to eat there. But since I almost never leave New Orleans, it took me almost 2 and 1/2 years and the best girlfriend in the world for me to fulfill my dream of dining in downtown Covington.
Our reservation was for 8 pm and the place was packed. We were seated immediately which was sweet. There was an open two top at the front or four top in the back against the wall, TGWWSATFTAW.
I wouldn't describe the menu as pure Tuscan but it certainly isn't New Orleans Italian either. JAG and I decided to kind of eat our way through the menu. We started by sharing two appetizers. The first was white bean, artichoke puree served with crostini. Very creamy with bright vibrant flavors. The dish was garnished with caperberries and kalamata olives. I was able to take the stem of the caperberry and erotically feed it to JAG in a playful manner while still grossing out the rest of the restaurant. The second app was terrific as well. It was homemade mozzarella, melted and then accompanied by some roasted roma tomatoes and toasted pine nuts. This was amazing. Truly a terrfiic app that I could have ordered two of.
Our next course was a spinach salad with caramaelized mushrooms, Ricotta Salata and a mushroom sherry vingarette. I think the mushrooms were JAG's favorite food item of the whole weekend. The chef really brought out the earthiness to them and the flavor just exploded in your mouth. An incredibly simple salad that had an overwhelming amount of flavor. We had kinda thought this was the best thing we ate all weekend until.......
The waitress brought our pasta course, spaghettini with shrimp and fennel and olive oil. Not only was this the best tasting dish I have had in 2009, it was the best smelling thing ever brought to a table occupied by bam bam. The shrimp were as big as my fist and packed a big flavor to boot. The fennel while not overpowering the dish accented the shrimp perfectly.The pasta was buttery and light and gave a mouthful feel to the dish that it might have otherwise lacked. This was the food highlight of our weekend and if any of you get to Del Porto, this is a must order.
Next up came the entree. Kinda hard to believe after a day and a half at the B&B but JAG wanted sausage. So we ordered fennel sausage with roasted yukon potatoes and topped with caramelized onions. After the last dish, anything brought to the table was going to be a come down. However, this certainly was very good and I would definitely order it again but it wasn't the previous course. Our wine had opened up siginificantly by this point and the sausage and caramelized onions really pair well with the deep flavors of the Vallopolicella.
In the seven weeks we have been dating, JAG and I have a history of ordering non-euphemsitic blueberry desserts. Saturday night was no exception. We went with a blueberry tart, that had the best vanilla ice cream in the center. I was pretty full at that point but the blueberries were extremely fresh and vibrant.
Although the food is awesome, the restaurant's decor has no personality whatsoever. You do not even think you are in an Italian restaurant. The accoustics are terrible and the place is very loud to the point where it is very difficult to sustain a conversation. But they do turn the tables over fairly quickly. We arrived at 8 pm and they were still seating people until about 9:30 pm. Our waitress was cute and bubbly, yet professional. She had zero issue with us taking our time and having a liesurely northern Italian meal. When JAG told her, we wanted to have several courses and split them, she said "that's how to eat here." Well done, Ma'am.
Overall, this place not only lived up to the hype, it exceeeded it. It was the best birthday gift I could have received and was so pleased that the person giving it to me was there to share it. VERY Strong Recommendation. I can't wait to go back and it is now the frontrunner for best meal I had in 2009.