appetites

Months before the restaurant opened, I had an email exchange with Domenica’s executive chef, Alon Shaya, about his expectations for the restaurant. That exchange took place in late May of this year, but clearly plans for the restaurant were already largely in place. The bold text are my questions, and the text in italics are Chef Shaya’s responses. I’ve also uploaded a few pictures I took during a recent lunch at the restaurant.

First and foremost, cooking Italian food has been a passion of mine since I was 16 years old and first started working in Italian restaurants in Philly. I have always had a place in my heart for northern Italian cuisine. I worked at a restaurant in Vegas called Antonio’s and learned from some great Italian chefs there. So traveling to Italy this last year was really a dream come true, but just another chapter in my love and passion for Italian food.

Fried Squash Blossoms Stuffed with Goat Cheese
Can you tell me a little bit about the time you spent in Italy?

I spent time working for families who owned small restaurants and salumifici (production of Italian cured meats). Throughout the time I spent there I was able to form great relationships with these families, and they really took me under their wing and taught me so much. On my time off, I would travel to different towns in search of regional dishes that I would study about. Those were some of the most incredible months of my life.


Bresaola with Arugula and Parmesano Reggiano

Did you work at any restaurants that stand out in particular?

I worked at two places in particular that really had an impact on me. One was Ristorante Al Vedel in a town called Vedole. The Bergonzi family has been running the restaurant since the 1700′s. They have an incredible salumi shop where they make culatello and other types of cured meats and salami. So I would work in the salumi shop (salumificio) in the mornings, and the ristorante in the evenings. Eddy, the wife of the executive chef, was my mentor and would teach me incredible ways to make desserts and pastas. She would also bring me to her grandmothers house to make pasta by hand with her. Her grandmother was 83 years old.


Tagliatelle with Rabbit Ragu

I also worked at a pizzeria in Parma called il Gabbiano. They made the best pizzas I have ever eaten. Enzo was the chef (pizzaiolo) and was like a big brother to me. He was a genius when it came to dough and we spent endless hours discussing pizza and every aspect of how to make a great one.


Peperonata Pizza at Domenica

Are there any dishes on the menu that you think are unique to Domenica, at least locally?

All of the dishes on the menu reflect my journey through Italy and the Italian food that I have studied and cooked my whole life. I have paid homage to the people and towns that inspired me out there with some of the menu items. So in a way I feel like all the food is unique to New Orleans. I feel like this is the food I’ve wanted to cook in New Orleans for years, and now this is my first chance to do it here. I feel like its all very soulful food, and I know people in New Orleans can relate to that.
I gather you’ll be using both local ingredients, and stuff imported from Italy; are you importing any salumi?

We will be using as many local ingredients as we can get our hands on. Many of the vegetables we will be using come from the same farmers that have been growing for us at Luke, August, La Provence, and Besh Steak for years. We currently have a local farmer growing an entire plot of San Marzano tomatoes for us for our pizza sauce. We also have been making all of the salumi for Domenica from our own raised Berkshire Pigs. A friend named Stuart Gardner is now coordinating local grass fed calves for our veal dishes. There will be some imported items as well like olive oils, flours and vinegars that are done best by the Italians.
I will also buy some imported salumi and we will be able to offer our guests a variety. It will be a lot of fun!!

I’ve been to the restaurant on two occasions; enjoyed both, and I haven’t even made it to the entree portion of the menu. Really the only complaint I’ve had about the food is that I would have preferred the rabbit in the ragu to have been more finely shredded and distributed through the sauce – a matter of taste.
If you haven’t checked it out, and you like Italian food, you should pay a visit.

Domenica, John Besh’s Italian restaurant in the Roosevelt Hotel, opened today. I was informed of this fact by a small bird who appeared to me in the form of my partner John. I thought it was odd that John, who is more of a hamster than a bird, would appear to me in this manner, but it could also have been the cold medicine I have been drinking lately.
Anyway, I stopped by Domenica after work this evening and sampled a few items from the antipasti menu. The restaurant is the latest in Besh’s empire, and is helmed by Alon Shaya, who most recently was in charge at Besh Steak, in Harrah’s Casino. Shaya spent a good bit of time in Italy last year, getting ready for the restaurant’s opening, and it shows. While the food on the plate is definitely what you’d expect from a Besh property, it’s also, at least from what I’ve seen, authentically Italian.
I did not bring my camera this evening, so you’ll have to wait for your food porn. I also left my notes, taken on a menu, at the restaurant. More on that in a bit.
The restaurant’s dining area is dominated by a single, huge room, separated by massive square columns, and with a ceiling that’s 30 feet high if it’s an inch. It’s a cavernous space, and combined with the hard surfaces used to line just about every available surface, it can get a little loud. The place was a good 3/4 full tonight, and while I wouldn’t put the noise at “Galatoire’s Friday Lunch” level, it’s the type of place where you’ll be leaning in to follow a conversation. There’s also a marble bar, raised above the dining room on one side, at which you, or I as it happens, can dine.
I started with the Sicilian meatballs, which are served in a dark beef broth garnished with a rough brunoise of vegetables, and flavored with thyme. The meatballs had a very light texture, cooked until just pink in the center, but with a bit of crispness on the outside. It’s a very simple dish, and carried off very well. As with all of the antipasti, and also the pasta dishes, the meatballs are available in small or large portions, with a corresponding difference in price. As I did not bring the f*cking menu home, I can’t be sure about the prices, but I believe the small portion of the meatballs (3 meatballs, if you’re interested) was around $7.
After that I tried the carpaccio of octopus, which is served with fregola and a citrus salad. The octopus is sliced very thinly, and arranged in small, circular pieces around the plate, with the pasta mounded in the center, along with “supremes” of orange, fresh herbs and thinly sliced onion. The pasta, which is basically the Italian version of “Israeli” cous cous, had a pretty serious bite from some dried red chile in the citrus juice and olive oil dressing. Another excellent dish. I think it was $8 for a small portion.
After that, I had fried squash blossoms stuffed with a mild goat cheese, and served over diced roasted red peppers and a dressing of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. There is an art to frying squash blossoms, judged mainly on the lightness of the result. The squash blossoms at Domenica get an “A,” both for the almost dainty hand employed in the frying, and because the goat cheese used to stuff the blossoms was mild, and did not distract from the overall dish. Shaya’s touch with herbs is similar to Besh’s, and the squash blossoms were garnished with more diced red bell peppers, herbs, and baby greens. I think the small portion of the blossoms was $8.
At this point I was no longer hungry, but for you, my children, I ordered dessert. Fig fritters served with a lemon zabaglione. Five or six rich, tender, golf-ball sized fritters, dusted with sugar, and served with an airy, lemon-flavored sauce. There are five or six items on the dessert menu, and this dessert is third on the list. I didn’t get past it. I do recall that there’s a hazelnut-chocolate mousse, and a fresh fruit “minestrone” that looked pretty darn good. All of the desserts are $8. Unless they’re not. Which is possible.
It’s far too early to judge Domenica, but everything I tasted this evening was outstanding. I didn’t have a chance to taste the pastas or the entrees, to say nothing of the pizzas or the salumi and other charcuterie, but it’s clear that this is a serious restaurant. While, again, it’s too early to judge, from where I’m sitting it looks like the best Italian restaurant in New Orleans.
Now I suppose we’ll see what Adolfo Garcia has to say about that, when he opens his new place in the Warehouse District…