Pizza Domenica (Magazine)
4933 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115, USA
Uptown 3: Napoleon To Audubon
Backstory
After over a year of planning (during which Chef Alon Shaya spent many months in Italy) Dominica opened in the fall of 2009, as nearly the last piece of the renewed Roosevelt Hotel. The restaurant's name is Italian for "Sunday," when in the glory days of the Roosevelt Hotel many local people went there for dinner. The hotel had a restaurant in this space for almost a hundred years--most recently Bailey's, the hotel's all-day restaurant.
Dining Room
The tall, wide room gets further spaciousness from a wall of windows looking to the rococo facade of Jesuit Church. Unclothed, rustic tables built of wood planks, topped with jars of long breadsticks, stand a bit too close to one another throughout the room, which is divided by massive square columns and split levels. What looks like the bar is actually the salumi station, where chefs work meat slicers on the cured meats in the glass-fronted walk-in cooler behind them.
Why It's Essential
Domenica is the maximum current attempt to duplicate certain culinary practices very common in Italy but rarely seen here. There are three major specialties. The best is pizza, baked in a five-ton, wood-fired oven made of stone. The chef makes a showy array of salumi, curing meats for months in house. The remainder of the menu uses pasta, meats and seafood in about three dozen small and large dishes, most of them rustic in style. A large portion of the menu will be familiar to anyone who has been to Italy.
Why It's Good
The pizza here is the best of all time locally. The thin crust is charred here and there by the hot fire, topped with an offbeat selection of ingredients. The salumi is extraordinary. It may even be too good. A little of it goes a long way. The remainder of the menu is widely variable, with some dishes tasting much better than they sound, and a few (the pasta with chicken livers and oxtail ragu, for example) giving the opposite effect. This is a great restaurant for culinary explorers, and less good for those whose definition of "authentic" Italian food is what their grandmothers cooked.
Most Interesting Dishes
<em><strong>Antipasto And Salads</strong></em><br /> »Affettati misti (salumi, cheeses, olives, roasted vegetables)<br /> Prosciutto<br /> »Coppa (cured pork shoulder)<br /> Bresaola (air-dried beef)<br /> Soppressata di Toscana<br /> »House made salami<br /> »Lardo (cured pork fat)<br /> Speck (smoked and cured ham)<br /> Cheeses (many imported varieties)<br /> Herb roasted pork ribs<br /> Chicken liver crostini<br /> »Wild mushroom soup, truffle bruschetta<br /> »Octopus carpaccio<br /> Fresh ricotta, date-pecan pesto, grilled country bread<br /> »Arugula, beets, gorgonzola and pistachios<br /> Baby green salad, apples, goat cheese, crispy prosciutto<br /> »Burrata mozzarella, pesto, tomatoes, focaccia<br /> »Roasted cauliflower, goat feta<br /> <em><strong>Primi</strong></em><br /> »Tagliatelle with rabbit and porcini<br /> »White truffle risotto, pancetta croutons<br /> Stracci, oxtail and fried chicken livers<br /> Garganelli pasta, pork ragu, garlic and rapini<br /> »Squid ink tagliolini, blue crab and herbs<br /> »Anolini (ring pasta), pork, tomato and basil<br /> Tortelloni, sweet potatoes, hazelnut brown butter<br /> Lasagne bolognese<br /> Pizzoccheri (buckwheat noodles), sausage, onions, cabbage<br /> Fusilli, shrimp sauce, celery and lemon<br /> <em><strong>Pizza </strong></em> »Margherita (tomato, basil, fresh mozzarella)<br /> »Calabrese (tomato, salami, mozzarella, capers, olives)<br /> Prosciutto, tomato, fresh mozzarella and arugula<br /> Cotechino sausage, scallions and tomatoes<br /> »Spicy lamb meatballs, tomato, ricotta, rapini, mint<br /> »Wild mushroom, tomato, fontina, bacon, yard egg<br /> »Pizza Enzo (anchovies, tomatoes, garlic, mortadella)<br /> »Gorgonzola, apples, speck, pecans<br /> Clams, oregano, calabrese pepper, garlic and olive oil<br /> »Bolzano (roast pork shoulder, fennel, bacon, sweet onions)<br /> Quattro formaggi<br /> »Pizza bianca (fennel, mozzarella, lardo)<br /> »White anchovies, oregano, garlic, Calabrese pepper, tomatoes<br /> Tutto carne (fennel sausage, bacon, salami, cotechino)<br /> <em><strong>Entrees</strong></em><br /> »Whole grilled fish, lemon and herbs<br /> »Redfish, celery root puree, warm olive vinaigrette<br /> »Wood roasted goat, yard egg and tomato sauce<br /> Panneed veal, arugula, olive oil roasted tomatoes<br /> Mangalitsa pork shank, white beans, pickled root vegetables<br /> <em><strong>Sides</strong></em><br /> Fried tuscan kale, lemon and parmigiano reggiano<br /> »Sweet potatoes, rosemary butter, cane syrup<br /> »Brussels sprouts with guanciale<br /> Rapini, garlic, pecorino<br /> Soft polenta, olive oil, roasted tomatoes<br /> <em><strong>Desserts</strong></em><br /> »Banana zuppa inglese<br /> Dark chocolate torta<br /> »Gianduja budino (chocolate and hazelnut pudding)<br /> »Sweet ricotta kataifi<br /> »Panna cotta, chocolate and almond torta<br /> »Gelato affogato<br /> Seasonal sorbetti and gelati<br />
Deficiencies
The lack of tablecloths and the use of smallish china with no underliners of any kind makes for a glaring comfort deficiency--at least to my sensitivities.
For Best Results
Start with pizza, no matter what else you get. Then a little of the house-made salumi. The cheeses (other than burrata) are less impressive. Every afternoon from three until six, pizzas, cocktails, and wine by the glass is half-price. Israel-born Chef Alon Shaya creates special menus for the major Jewish holidays. They're not kosher--the restaurant has too much prosciutto hanging around for that--but otherwise very traditional and worth ordering, even if you're not Jewish.
Bonus Ratings
1
Attitude
1
Environment
2
Hipness
2
Local Color
1
Value
1
Wine