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Restaurant Ratings

The ratings are based mostly on the degree to which the food excites us, and a little on environment, service, and other considerations. I rate restaurants relative to all other restaurants in the New Orleans area. Here's what the stars mean to me:

starstarstarstarstar
Among the best locally.

starstarstarstar
Excellent and ambitious.

starstarstar
Worth crossing town for.

starstar
Recommended.

*
Acceptable.

No star
Unacceptable.

Cost Ratings
Each dollar sign indicates a ten-dollar range, including a normal meal for the restaurant (dinner, if they serve other meals), not including drinks, or tips. So, for example. . .

1$--$5-15
2$--$15-25
3$--$25-35

. . . and so on, with no upper limit. While this scheme may suggest mathematical precision, know that perception of price varies from diner to diner as much as the star ratings do. So consider this an estimate.

All reviews are based entirely on meals I have personally taken at the restaurant and paid for from my own pocket. I don't take free review meals, nor am I reimbursed by anybody for my restaurant expenditures.

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Ristorante Del Porto

Tuscan. Italian.
Covington: 205 N. New Hampshire. 985-875-1006. Map.
Lunch Tuesday-Friday. Dinner Tuesday-Saturday.
Nice Casual.
AE DC DS MC V
Website

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
A contender for best Italian restaurant in the New Orleans area, the flavor of Del Porto's food is closer to that found in Tuscany and other parts of Northern Italy than can be found in any other local Italian restaurant.

WHY IT'S GOOD
The menu and cooking style here is dramatically different from those of other local Italian restaurants. Very little tomato and no melted cheese appear. The vivid freshness of the ingredients and the bold, herbal, roasted flavors permeate every dish that emerges from the kitchen. The cooking has a decidedly rustic style, with an easy-to-love deliciousness.

BACKSTORY
David and Torre Salazzo--both well-trained culinary school graduates--came to the North Shore after cooking in the California wine country, which has its own style of Tuscany-flavored Italian food. The restaurant opened in 2002 in a miniscule storefront, always full but barely making it. After the hurricane, it moved a half-block away to a much more spacious, more visible corner location. And then it took off.

DINING ROOM
The dining room was formerly a St. Tammany Parish office, an airy square room with big windows on two sides and a small bar in the rear corner. The lighting at night makes the food look even more beautiful than it already is.

ESSENTIAL DISHES
White bean and artichoke puree.
Antipasto.
Carpaccio.
Arugula salad with Pecorino Romano cheese, and lemon-oregano vinaigrette.
Spaghetti carbonara with guanciale.
Oxtail cannelloni.
Fennel-scented grilled tuna.
Anything even remotely like bouillabaisse.
New York strip sirloin steak.
Fennel risotto.
Vanilla bean panna cotta.
Assortment of homemade cookies and sorbetti.
Flourless chocolate torte.

FOR BEST RESULTS
Make reservations late in the evening, when the restaurant is less busy and the noise level lessens.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
The big problem here is the lively acoustics, which in certain parts of the restaurant make conversation almost impossible.

FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES

This review was updated with new information on 10/23/2009.