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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:

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Among the best locally.

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Excellent and ambitious.

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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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Eleven 79

Contemporary Creole-Italian.
Warehouse District: 1179 Annunciation. 504-569-0001. Map.
Lunch Monday-Friday. Dinner Monday-Saturday.
Casual
AE DC DS MC V
Website

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
A well-educated student of Italian cooking, Joe Segreto's take on Southern (and some Northern) Italian food is fascinating. Especially among the daily specials, dishes you're not likely to see outside of Italy appear. The regular menu is filled with the Creole-Italian food Joe has served for fifty years. All this keeps Eleven 79 busy at all hours, with a very loyal bunch of regular customers.

WHY IT'S GOOD
More thought goes into the menus and recipes here than in most Italian restaurants. The specials reflect the seasons of fresh food, and always include some exciting, unique concoctions. If you like veal prepared in the many ways that used to be common in the 1970s and 1980s, you'll find all of them and more here. You can assemble a classic meal in the Italian style by splitting the enormous courses.

BACKSTORY
After a lifetime of managing some of the best restaurants in New Orleans history (Elmwood Plantation and Broussard's, to name two) Joe Segreto settled into this little trattoria on the edge of the Warehouse District in 2000. Chef Anthony DiPiazza had a lot of history with Segreto, and the two of them clicked again to create a phenomenally hot restaurant. Anthony died in 2004, but his spirit lives in the food.

DINING ROOM
The building is much older than you might imagine, dating back to the early 1800s. The lofty height of the ceilings is the giveaway. The front room has a busy bar and a number of tables, which are among the most popular. As you enter, there's a complimentary antipasto bar on a sideboard. A second room has quieter, more intimate tables and the feel of an old library.

ESSENTIAL DISHES
Antipasto.
Panneed oysters with caviar and remoulade.
Tomato and mozzarella salad.
Fried or grilled calamari.
Any of the pasta dishes, especially in half-portions as an appetizer.
Seafood specials.
Veal Eleven 79 (roasted peppers, asparagus, and mozzarella).
Veal Sorrentina (eggplant and tomato).
Veal chop Milanese.
Filet mignon pizzaiola.
Tiramisu.
Spumone.

FOR BEST RESULTS
Have the pasta as a small introductory course rather than as an entree. Know that it will take longer for the food to come out than you might be accustomed to. The kitchen is too small for the volume they do here, and it's always a little backed up. It's worth waiting for.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
The servers are not as knowledgeable about the food as they should be. Fortunately, Joe Segreto is constantly making the rounds, and there's not much he doesn't know.

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 1/7/2009.