WFDT

Broke rice plate with pork chop and asian sausage.

Scrambled eggs and a sausage.

Home alone. Baked some catfish, paired with leftover green beans. :)

Fried pork chops, some corn on the cob, and some mashed potaters.

ETA: Oh yeah, I made some fresh sweet tea this afternoon and some french vanilla pudding with cream cheese and Oreo dust.

ETATA: Also, this meal is 100% low-fat and gluten free.

Filets and a ribeye for Jr (who’s home for the weekend) in cast iron on the grill.
Finished with thyme and garlic butter

Also made stuffed Romas with a four cheese and fresh basil mixture
Roasted asparagus with Parmesan
And roasted cauliflower

Quick margherita pizza using Pillsbury canned pizza dough, shredded mozz with basil & cherry tomatoes from garden...

Friend,

Mother and I celebrated a safe hurricane experience and journey home by sharing our first indoor restaurant experience since early March. It was both spectacular and a reminder why Impastato's remains America's top Italian restaurant.

I will just detail my meal. My first course consisted of the crab fingers made popular by Rickey Jackson, the former Saints player who has a painting in the restaurant next to Mr. Roy Picou's perch. Mr. Roy usually sings on Friday nights, but he was not there. Perhaps he is on vacation, or is being cautious, or the state does not allow indoor singing in restaurants. His presence was missed.



The fingers were plump, almost stubby and chunky. If ever I could replicate that thick, butter-lemon sauce, I would. It makes for a perfect dipping with the Italian rolls from Angelo's, which may be my new favorite bakery in New Orleans. It is actually in Metairie on West Metairie.

The second course included the red and white pastas. Staff gave me a heaping serving of both, which I appreciated. The red sauce was a bit watery tonight. The white pasta was incredible. Diamond Jim Moran would be proud of what Impastato's has achieved with his fettucini Alfredo recipe.



The house salad, served on a chilled plate, is one of the city's best salads. The dressing tonight was more than ample, and the lettuce chilly and plentiful. The tomatoes were surprisingly fresh tasting for this time of year.



The restaurant was busting. One thing I think restaurants will struggle to do over the next few months is keep up with the crowds. As many restaurants have closed and getting good help is difficult, and people become more comfortable dining out, I think we will see longer lines for the restaurants that were able to survive.

To help mitigate this demand, Impastato's has reduced its menu, at least tonight. We were given one paper menu with a five course option only. Apps available were the crab fingers, shrimp scampi, and one other I cannot remember. There were also only about ten entrees offered, including the veals, trouts, steak, and the soft shell. I noticed a neighboring table had several plates of soft shells and they were huge. When they are as big as tonight, it's hard to justify getting any other dish. Impastato's has unquestionably the best soft shell crab entree of any restaurant in New Orleans. Clancy's, though great, has a distant second. The sauce tonight was absolutely flush with jumbo lump. I'm not talking one or two jumbo lump pieces with some shreds to make up the difference. I counted 24 jumbo lump backfin pieces, the kind of pieces when flaked makes about 30 shreds of crab meat. The crabs were enormous. One crab on its own was more than sufficient to feed a grown man.



Dessert was likewise great, but I got it to go and just finished it at home.



There is not a better meal in New Orleans. I have yet to find a better meal in America, but I am not quite ready to say Impastato's is America's best restaurant. But the older I become, the more it seems like it will earn that honor. I've eaten in over 40 Michelin starred restaurants, mostly in America, and there isn't a single one I would rate higher than Impastato's.

Yours,
TulaneLSU