Domenica - anyone tried it yet?

[foodophyle]

I am interested in trying one of the newest Chef John Besh restaurants, Domenica, in the Rooseveldt hotel. Has anyone been and what did you think?

[Bocuse NOLA]

Torta fritta, stracci with oxtails and fried chicken livers, and thin crust pizza all at an affordable price. I can't say that I have ever left Domenica wishing that I had ordered something else or gone somewhere else.

http://www.blackenedout.com/2010/03/m...

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Domenica
123 Baronne Street, New Orleans, LA 70112

[lawchick]

We thought the eggplant dish with goat cheese and balsamic was one of the best things we've ever had. I would go back for that!

Unfortunately, our margherita pizza (my favorite food) was terrible. It was visibly burnt, including the crust and basil. We didn't find the sauce to be very flavorful. Maybe it was an off day, but I couldn't believe they would serve a pizza that visibly burnt.

[Hungry Celeste]

I'm attaching a photo of a Domenica pizza, which does have some charred spots (like many wood-oven pizzas in Italy)....was your pie more burned than this one?

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Domenica
123 Baronne Street, New Orleans, LA 70112

[AnneBerryWrites]

My husband lived in Italy, and his very favorite pizza is the margherita from Domenica.
I was there for lunch yesterday and had a simple board of their house-cured meats and formaggi: shaved slices of pork shoulder and pork leg, a beautiful warm pork terrine flavored with citrus, and a square of cows' milk cheese. The board came with marinated vegetables & olives.
I eat healthy in New Orleans, and this was a perfect lunch: simple, hearty flavor from small portions. You could also get carbs from half a piece of their wonderful torta fritta (fried bread) or one of their grissini (crispy breadsticks).
I've tried nearly all the plates the other posters have mentioned, so I won't repeat, just ditto what they said!
In a city full of great restaurants, Domenica definitely stands out as one of the best.

[imnotorange]

went to domenica with a group of people... id say 6/8 of us did not like it. did not like the flavors.

[gastrotect]

Wow. Looks like we found the outlier.

[N.O.Food]

We took a large group there and I think a bunch of them didn't like it either. I think it comes down to tastes and expectations. I think they thought that it would be an Italian restaurant in the American sense of the term. They were looking for tomato heavy sauces and spaghetti and meatballs. Well, it's northern italian, and if you go in expecting run-of-the-mill american style italian, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. For example, one member of our party who had the lasagne didn't like it because the sauce wasn't tomatoey enough. But a bolognese sauce has very little tomato in it. So the food is accurate, but some folks might not like seeing octopus or oxtail on the menu in an Italian restaurant. At least that's what I noticed.

[Hungry Celeste]

Domenica isn't really "northern" Italian...it has a variety of regional specialties from various parts of that incredibly diverse country. The pizzas are Naples-style, for example (definitely not the north, LOL).

[N.O.Food]

Gotcha. Thanks for the correction. I pegged it as Northern Italian since most of the dishes I've had at Domenica seem to have a Bolognese/N. Italian heritage. But I have had the Octopus carpaccio which is definitely not a n. italian dish. I haven't had a pizza there, but I couldn't distinguish a Napoli pizza from a Bologna pizza anyway.

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Domenica
123 Baronne Street, New Orleans, LA 70112

[gastrotect]

I can definitely see that being a problem. It was the opposite for me. After having been to Italy I love finding regional Italian places because the cuisine is so much more varied than many realize (though I do love my Italian-American food).

I would also agree that it's not all northern Italian, but a mix of regional dishes. The northern ones attracted me though as I spent a semester in Florence and constantly miss the food.

Interestingly enough, while it never translated Stateside, octopus seems ubiquitous in Italy. That may be a result of better shipping methods, but it seems pretty ingrained all over. It was as in stock at grocery stores in Florence as chicken it seemed.

[N.O.Food]

Agree with most posters. Been a few times and liked just about everything. Octopus carpaccio is really good and different. Lasagne is good - bolognese and bechamel, not much tomato at all. But our favs are the rabbit pasta and the oxtail pasta. Both are really good. Gnocchi is good. Rissotto is good, too. All around yum.

[BayouTeche]

It's very good and surprisingly affordable. One other item not mentioned that's a "must try", the octopus carpaccio w/ fennel & citrus.

[nomadchowwoman]

Ditto on best pizzas in town and much like what you'd get in Italy. But we've loved almost everything we've eaten there--fantastic pastas (I'm partial to the rabbit ragu, but DH loves the lasagna, and there's an excellent one w/sausage and cannellini), good salad, the boards--cheese or meat--are fantastic. DH loves the fried calamari; meatballs are really good. Portions are generous, even small plates.
I dream about the clam pizza, which seems to be available only at lunch.
Yes, go!

[Hungry Celeste]

The pizzas are the closest thing you'll find to true neapolitan style in our region. If I worked downtown, I'd probably be there at least once a week for the pizza alone.

[gastrotect]

Just tried it two weeks ago. Loved it. I was with my nana and my girlfriend. We all decided to do small pasta plates. Great decision as the small plates were a bit larger than we thought they might be. I had a tagliatelle with a rabbit ragu that was rich, but not heavy. My girlfriend got a pesto pasta dish, can't remember the specifics, but it was quite good and on the lighter side. My nana had spinach gnocchi w/ prosciutto. It wasn't the best gnocchi I've ever had, but it was still worth remembering. My nana also had a small meatballs over polenta dish that was quite good. My girlfriend and I split a pizza. The pizza is among the best in the city (which I know isn't hard to do) and a bargain at 13 bucks. It reminded me more of pizza you'd find in Italy than here (which was the goal I assume). They have about 6 or 7 kinds I think. Anyway, we had a sausage and tomato pizza that I really enjoyed. We ended up bringing some home though because a) it was bigger than we'd thought it would be, b) our small plates had been bigger than we'd thought they'd be and c) we wanted to save some dessert room. Dessert was also quite good and we were glad we saved room for it. I had a chocolate-hazelnut pudding with candied hazelnuts. It was like a Nutella mousse if you are familiar with Nutella. My nana had the ricotta cheesecake and loved it. My girlfriend had the strawberry beignets which were pretty good. I stole a couple when she couldn't finish them all.

Now I've heard their entrees (meat and fish) are good, but maybe not worth getting when the apps, pizza and pasta dishes are so good and come in small or large plates. I can't say for myself if the entrees are worth it or not though as I've only heard secondhand. I also heard secondhand that their cheeseplate was more than worthwhile. And based on the sausage we had on the pizza I imagine their house-cured meats plate is a worthy choice.

Overall, definitely give it a try. Good, regional Italian food in a nice setting and for a reasonable price. The bill for the three of us, btw, was about $95 for a small app, three small pastas, a pizza, three desserts, three coffees and one glass of wine.
I might compare it to Luke in terms of Besh's other restaurants, though it's maybe not quite to Luke's consistency yet. I'll definitely be going back for what it's worth.

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Domenica
123 Baronne Street, New Orleans, LA 70112