A Deanie's Do-Over

Deanie’s, the popular seafood restaurant known mostly for its large portions, was always a point of disdain for Tom. He frequently quoted a conversation he overheard once at the original Bucktown location. Two diners discussing the meal, the first declaring, “This is the woist (he always used the yat dialect) food I’ve ever had!” His companion replied, “Yeah, but they sure do give you a lot of it!” After quoting these two, Tom would then ponder the reasoning of the second one. Why would anyone want more of terrible food?

Since this episode occurred before I even knew Tom, my own view of Deanie’s was colored from the get-go. I went there only once with Tom, a few years ago, to the Magazine St location. But a caller to The Food  Show is rather high on the place, and while his reports are hit and miss with me, he is so effusive in his praise of places I am often convinced to go. Usually I regret it.

This time I found myself at Deanie’s because of business in Metairie and not enough time to go anywhere else. I was also looking to investigate a rumor I got from somewhere that they do an in-house stuffed artichoke, something quite rare that I am always in search of . Lots of places have stuffed artichokes but few do them in-house.  Most stuffed artichokes in restaurants are from a third-party vendor, whose sole product is stuffed artichokes. I have yet to find one as good as my mom’s, but that requires me to do them myself, something I am not likely to do, unless I get really desperate. People who read these pieces or listen to The Food Show are aware that I am really desperate, but it’s hard to find good raw artichokes in the stores.

I hate to drop in on a full-service restaurant the size of Deanie’s without making it “count,” so I looked for a few more things to order. It’s a fry house more than anything, so I got fried things. I ordered a seafood gumbo first and followed that with fried artichokes, a kid’s fried shrimp, and the classic Sicilian stuffed artichoke.

The place was way different the last time I was there. The main entrance has shifted considerably to the right, and the old front door now opens to a market. Can’t say I’m a fan of picking up cooked food in a raw seafood space, but that’s just a weird proclivity of mine.

The seafood gumbo was good, with a dense soup and a decent amount of shrimp. I didn’t see a lot of crab, but I wasn’t expecting to.  This gumbo had a nice flavor and a lot of okra cooked down nicely. Lately I have eaten more gumbos of all kinds than I remember, and nearly all of them fall into a realm that is quite pleasing , but not exceptional on either end. This would be in the arena of generically good. I liked it.

The fried shrimp was exactly as I expected, which was typical old West End fried seafood fare. Not as crispy as I see fried seafood these days. The shrimp were the perfect size for me, fried in the standard batter, and were served with fries that are a cut above the norm. Deanie’s seems to spend extra on fries. These were not the ones I remember from Magazine St, but they were certainly better than the average frozen fries. All of this had wilted a bit from sitting in a bag waiting for pickup, but I still liked it.

The artichoke hearts were the most interesting thing I got here. They were enormous pieces of artichoke, fried in a flour batter, but it was another quality that got my attention. They appeared to be cutting their own artichokes and cooking them before frying. In Italy, I am obsessed with Carciofi, small fried artichokes you can eat in their entirety. They use small globes with tender leaves at the peak of the season (April-May) and they fry the entire thing. This dish is irresistible, but I’ve never seen the like here. A few of these Deanie’s artichoke pieces had the ends of leaves I didn’t want to swallow, but I only discarded a few.

This was served with a choice of Ranch dressing or house marinara, and I’m glad I chose the latter. Usually I like fried vegetables with a mayo-based aioli, but the marinara was excellent. It was that cooked-all-day smooth and thick sauce and was better than most of the old guard Sicilian places around town. I didn’t expect to like it that much.

The stuffed artichoke was also above expectations. It was very well done, since the leaves were almost edible as is. But there wasn’t a ridiculous amount of stuffing, and the cheese was also better than I expected. I would rate this one right behind Rocky & Carlo’s. Good stuff.

So often in the show I have spoken of dining experiences being tied to the diner’s expectations going in. Is a not so good place better because expectations were so low? Does a highly-touted place seem not so good because expectations were too lofty, even if the place is very good?

Based on my few times at Deanie’s , they seem to still be doing things just as they were before Katrina came and obliterated their neighbors. Blue Crab is better, Landry’s is not, and Deanie’s remains a reliable fried seafood house. With generous portions, just like that guy said so long ago.