Italian influence in New Orleans culture typically takes a second fiddle to more indiginous and inarguably dominant inspirations. And while jazz’s creation in New Orleans is credited to African-Americans, the Italians of the city, most notably Nick LaRocca and Louis Prima, can safely be assigned a supporting role. Of course, while the cuisine of the Crescent City is rooted in French origins, with its Cajun and Creole adaptations, Italian food has been a part of the city’s smorgasbord since the late 19th century, when immigrants from Italy arrived en masse. (The Muffaletta sandwich is a tasty reminder of the city's Italian legacy.) A testimony to this culinary contribution can be found today in a robust collection of Italian restaurants, a mix of old-world and new-school approaches to the Italian table.
Mosca’s
A garlic-soaked roadhouse dead west of NOLA in the swampy confines of Westwego, on the West Bank of the Mississippi, Mosca’s could be the backdrop for a Stanley Tucci period film. Founded in 1946 by Provino Mosca, an immigrant from Le Marche, the restaurant — a James Beard Foundation designated “America’s Classic” — has remained in the family and essentially unchanged, with family-style platters carrying legendary, traditional Italian-American fare, such as spaghetti and meatballs, with some Creole influences like Oysters Mosca. Mosca’s signature dish, Chicken à la Grande, a braised chicken buried in aromatics, is so pungent it lures visitors out from New Orleans to a roadside off of Highway 90.
Josephine Estelle
Opened in 2016 in the grand, Art Deco auspices of the Ace Hotel in the trendy Warehouse District, Josephine Estelle might be the epitome of New Italian in New Orleans. The osteria from James Beard Award-nominated chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman mingles the Southern upbringing of the chefs with their Italian backgrounds. The result consists of modern interpretations of classic recipes featuring seasonal, local ingredients, and homemade pastas, including a ravioli with crab meat, green garlic, basil, and ricotta or a pork porterhouse with pistachio, brown butter, coriander and vignole. There’s red sauce in the house, but it’s found on the Kid’s Menu.
Irene’s
Originally opened in a tiny section of a warehouse on an out-of-the-way French Quarter street, this ode to “civilized decadence” is the lifework of namesake Irene DiPietro, a Sicilian immigrant raised in the French Quarter in a family of restaurateurs. The little restaurant that could, Irene's opened in 1992, is a hybrid of colloquial hospitality and sophisticated cuisines from around the Italian peninsula and indigenous New Orleans cultures with dishes like Oysters Irene—baked with pancetta, pimento and Pecorino Romana—a San Francisco-style Cioppino, and crispy Duck St. Philip glazed in a pecan/raspberry demi. All are now served within the new, slightly roomier location within the Quarter that has maintained the bawdy ambiance among the elegant environs.
Paladar 511
Over in Marigny, this acclaimed neighborhood joint established in 2015 was the kind of newbie that eclectic and open-minded eaters from the area and journalists throughout the city welcomed immediately. The California-inspired cuisine of husband-and-wife team Jack Murphy and Susan Dunn, who've partnered on Paladar 511 with Susan’s brother, Chef Ed Dunn, delights within the light-filled, lofted industrial space. There’s an emphasis on inventive pizzas, such as a lamb merguez topped pie with garlic confit, roasted peppers, pine nuts and tzatziki; small plate gems like steelhead trout crudo or beef carpaccio with fried oysters, remoulade and chervil; and a new American take on classic Italian cuisine, with a nod to NOLA, in big plates or small, such as an arancini with a short rib rage, lemon, parmesan and parsley or a blue crab agnolotti with mascarpone, lemon and English peas.
Vincent’s
The original location in Metairie, on the banks of Lake Pontchartrain in Jefferson Parish in 1989, was joined in 1997 by a second Vincent's in the Uptown neighborhood of the city, courtesy of New Orleans’ native and hospitality veteran Vincent Catalanotto’s service-focused ethos and his passion for New Orleans style Italian cooking. The sibling restaurants have different head chefs and, therefore, somewhat distinct menus, but the usual upscale-Italian suspects are there writ large - fried calamari; pastas in sauces of cream or tomato; chicken or veal piccata/marsala/parmigiana; stuffed chops - buttressed by house specialties, such as Artichoke Vincent, fried hearts topped with crab meat and shrimp, and Cannelloni stuffed with ground veal, pureed spinach and Parmesan.
Gianna
Another Warehouse District addition to the Italian food scene in NOLA is 2019 James Beard Foundation nominee for Best New Restaurant, Gianna, where rustic Italian fare meets the farm-to-table, seasonal/regional gospel of local juggernaut the Link Restaurant Group (headed by chef-restaurateur Donald Link). The spacious interior, bright and modern, is home to a classic carbonara alongside an inventive capanelle with oyster mushrooms, artichoke, spring onion, and peas. The word-burning oven roasts gulf shrimp, Tuscan porchetta, and a massive rib eye. Can’t decide what to order? Choose “Feed Me” off the menu and Chef de Cuisine, Jared Heider, will pick four courses for you.