Drago's: Is It Worth It?

Shrimp and grits at Drago's

Until a meal at Drago's last week, I never had any reason to feud with grits. Grits are a staple of southern cooking, an exclamation point on meals from Charleston to Texas. When done correctly, the grits take on an amorphous shape, able to float between liquid and solid form, soaking up juices or just a receptacle for an oozing pat of butter. Great grits, to paraphrase Vinny Gambini are "magic grits."

The grits at Drago's were a disaster. With the texture of wet sand, they mounded above the shrimp in Drago's take on the southern dish sweeping the nation faster than kudzu. We were eating with my mom, but luckily she put her motherly instincts aside and didn't force me to finish my plate. Normally, you could throw away the starch component of a dish. When grits are one of the two main components of a dish and they arrive dry and unappetizing, someone in the kitchen has never had a proper bowl of girts. The shrimp surrounding the gritsaster benefited from being close to tasso, but otherwise the dish lacked any punch.

Before we go on, let me say something nice lest I not be able to say anything at all. The fleur de lis shrimp, plump fried shrimp coated in a fiery sauce with chopped peanuts, were immensely enjoyable. Perhaps a plate of those with a beer would be a good way to watch a ballgame. But you don't come to Drago's for fleur de lis shrimp or shrimp and grits, you come here for the chargrilled oysters. A dish which Drago's is credited with inventing. But much like bbq shrimp at Manale's, Drago's sure hasn't perfected their greatest hit.

Below the crust of garlic butter and parmesan, there lies an oyster which depending on the time of year will either be flavorful or not. At this time of year, the latter is more likely.* Without the salinity of a plump oyster, the topping is better placed on bread than a milky oyster. The way in which the oysters are opened is perhaps a bit too rough resulting in shell fragments worthy of awarding the oyster a Purple Heart.

A plank of drum arrived bland despite being covered in all manners of things. Lindsay described the crabmeat and shrimp dressing which sat next to it as "interesting."  This was an improvement upon a plate of oysters en brochette served with a sweetened Jack Daniels sauce that managed to disprove the twin theories of southern cooking that bacon and bourbon make everything taste better. There were salads of basic salad bar quantity. These were included in the price of the entrees, which depending on your satisfaction with your meal are either very high or just high. Everybody has an off night or maybe it still holds true that eating oysters in summer is a bad idea.

I'll end on another good note. The beer is very cold and the service couldn't be nicer.

Drago's: Is It Worth It? Nope.
Fat City and Downtown Locations
888-9254

*Tangent: The idea that anyone would host an Oyster Festival in New Orleans in June is a goddamn disgrace. Oysters couldn't be less appetizing than right now through the end of a summer. There is a reason why Casamento's is closed. Please move this festival to a cold weather month.

2010 We Live To Eat Contest

Last summer, we turned the blog over to you guys on Thursdays with astonishing results for a contest. Guess what? This summer we are doing it again. But this year, every Friday will be your time to get your shine on. And we have real prizes to replace last year's crummy prizes: a gently used Invincible DVD, an annotated compendium to Windows 95, and lunch with Legend.

A few months ago the Greater New Orleans Chapter of the Louisiana Restaurant Association launched the We Live To Eat Campaign. The WLTE Campaign highlights the incredible bounty of delicious restaurants in the Greater New Orleans Area. One of the best things we have found about writing this blog is that everyone in New Orleans is a food expert. We love talking about where we have eaten, what we are eating, and where we are going to be eating. No one could ever accuse New Orleans of being a city of Debbie Downers. Now more than ever, the restaurants of our home town need our cheerleading and support.

So here is how the contest works. You get to tell us your most ideal day of dining in the Greater New Orleans Area. Where would you go for breakfast, what do you do for lunch, what do you eat for a snack, and where do you eat dinner. Money is no object, and there are no geographical limitations besides that the restaurants must be in the Greater New Orleans Area. Afternoon snack at Cafe du Monde followed by a cocktail at Napoleon House and dinner at Mosca's? Sounds perfect to us. Chart out your day and email us your submissions at BlackenedOut at Gmail Dot Com (or click "Contact Us" on the task bar).

Not from around here but love to visit? You can play too; we are sure you have your eating itinerary lined up before you book your flight. Nervous about using your name? Come up with an alias. Each Friday we will post your entries and allow our readers to vote on each week's winner. After six weeks, the top 6 entries will be up for consideration for the 2010 We Live To Eat Award where, once again, you the readers will vote on your favorite dining itinerary.

Here are the prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place:

1st Place - $100 gift certificate to Commander's Palace and $75 gift certificate to Drago's.

2nd Place - $100 gift certificate to Mr. B's and a $25 gift certificate to Drago's.

3rd Place - $75 gift certificate to Ruth's Chris.

Plus a whole slew of hats and t-shirts. Much better than a Windows manual.

People the world over consider New Orleans a dining destination. This mantle is not just because we have Galatoire's, Antoine's, and August. It is also because we have mom and pop po-boy shops, charming bistros, and neighborhood joints. So give us your best shot at designing the perfect day of dining.

We can't wait to hear from you.

If Tomorrow Never Comes

The Pope emailed me yesterday with this suggestion: "I think you and Rene should do a blog asking that if Monday was your last day on earth, where would you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner (and maybe a snack in between), and what would you have."

But with Gustav in the Gulf and today being the 3rd anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, I decided to take some literary license with this question. If today was your last day to eat out in New Orleans, where would you go? While we wait with baited breath for The Pope's final day of dining out, I will give you my list of last NOLA meals. Though I must say that if you asked me this question tomorrow, I might have completely different answers.

Breakfast - Cafe du Monde
Nothing like an order of beignets with a cup of coffee and chicory to start the day.

Lunch - Galatoire's
Why? Because nowhere else in the world can you have a remotely similar lunch experience. You can't go to Galatoire's for lunch and not have a great time.* Table of 8. Start with a Sazerac. Grand Goute, Oysters En Brochette, and Fried Eggplant & Pommes Soufflé Bearnaise to pass around with our cocktails. A nice piece of sauteed trout or redfish with either crawfish tails or crabmeat (whichever is in season). Dessert? How about a slice of chocolate pecan pie.

Snack - Drago's
Like a really need a mid-afternoon treat to hold me over. But if The Pope says that I can have one, I want it to be a dozen on the half shell.

Dinner - Stella!
Tasting menu, of course. With wine pairings. What would I get? Who knows. But if experience has taught me anything, Scott Boswell would not steer my wrong.

So there is my last day dining. Rene's and The Pope's are soon to come, but feel free to email us yours.

*Well, unless you are the judge's wife who was urinated on by some drunk college kid on Christmas Eve last year. But that's another story for another time.