New Orleans is rich in Italian food, though much of it is, well, New Orleans Italian food, the Creole Italian cooking created from Sicilian traditions translated in the land of turtle soup and crabcakes.
With the debut of Procida this week, though, New Orleans now has a deep dive into the regional cuisine of southern Italy as it’s known around Campania and especially Naples and the seafood-loving Amalfi Coast.
Procida is an Italian restaurant with a focus on Compania and the Amalfi Coast, transforming a historic building in the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans. Staff photo by Ian McNulty▲
Chef Valeriano Chiella and his partners officially open Procida tonight, Aug. 19, in Faubourg Marigny after some trial runs.
For those accustomed to chicken parm and spaghetti Bordelaise, Procida’s opening menu is a trove of different, often lighter flavors, and perhaps some new food terms as well.
Crudo platters are made with a selection of fish and finished with colatura di alici, the Italian fish sauce, at Procida restaurant in New Orleans. Staff photo by Ian McNulty▲
Crudo platters composed from four different cuts of raw fish ripple with colatura di alici, Italy’s amber-hued, umami-laden fish sauce.
Scamorza, a cheese that’s like the smoky, denser cousin to mozzarella, is used across the menu, in pastas and in Sicilian arancina, a bulb-shaped rice fritter filled with a mix of chopped seafood.
Bucatini aglio e olio is finished with pangrattato, the tiny breadcrumbs fried in olive oil to make a crunchy contrast to the sweetness of crab and the slurp of the noodle.
Meet Procida
Chiella was most recently executive chef at Domenica, also known for its regional Italian specialties, and later he ran his pop-up Fico Cucina. He was born on the Amalfi Coast, grew up in Florence working in his family’s restaurants, and came to New Orleans after meeting the Louisiana native who would become his wife.
At Procida, partners (from left) chef Valeriano Chiella, Alessandro Apuzzo and Ali Rafiei created a restaurant that’s an ode to southern Italian cuisine in the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans. Staff photo by Ian McNulty▲
The chef runs Procida with Alessandro Apuzzo (also formerly of Domenica, and a nephew of the chef Andrea Apuzzo of Metairie’s former Andrea’s Restaurant) and their business partner Ali Rafiei.
On the menu, and in the design around a beautifully renovated Marigny corner space, their ode to the old country blends elegant and rustic in that seemingly effortless Italian way.
First tastes
Smoked swordfish carpaccio is fresh, light first course at Procida Italian restaurant in New Orleans. Staff photo by Ian McNulty▲
Seafood is a strong point of the opening menu. Swordfish carpaccio, listed with the salads, is smoked and pounded into velvety-thin slices, layered under swirls of arugula pesto and tapenade. Whiffs of salty sea and earthy smoke come together for these ephemeral bites, begging for a gulp of prosecco to finish.
The salad list also hides a baseball-sized orb of extra-fine buffalo mozzarella, taut on the surface, as if ready to pop under the fork. The inner texture turns to cream when spread over charred bread and becomes liquid on the palate.
Cutting into the extra fine buffalo mozzarella is a decadent first course at Procida restaurant in New Orleans. Staff photo by Ian McNulty▲
The flounder Siciliana is a delicate demonstration of olive oil poaching, under a sauce that’s like an especially chunky puttanesca, finished with crabmeat and another hit of colatura di alici.
One of the heartier and more home-style dishes is Neapolitan soffrito, a ragu of meatballs, braised beef and braciole (the stuffed beef roll known variously as bruccialuna or brucioloni in many local kitchens). Though it lives on the appetizer list it could make an entrée on its own.
The pasta dish anolini alla Nerano is having a moment, thanks to Italian food ambassador Stanley Tucci’s praise for it on his travel shows. Chiella’s version is made with star-shaped pasta (anolini, or “little rings”), filled with scamorza and finished with the dish’s trademark zucchini and squash blossoms.
The dish anolini alla Nerano is made with zucchini and squash blossoms and cheese-filled pasta at Procida restaurant in New Orleans. Staff photo by Ian McNulty▲
Don’t miss the eggplant on the list of contori (sides), sliced thin, simply grilled and sluiced with a red wine vinaigrette that makes the meaty vegetable taste closer to salumi.
For dessert, the limoncello cake is a whip of different creams over a soft dome of cake soaked with the lemony liqueur.
New in the Marigny
Procida is a restaurant for southern Italian cuisine in the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans. Staff photo by Ian McNulty▲
When it comes to Marigny restaurants, most of the new action has been downriver from Elysian Fields. But Procida brings a new upscale restaurant to the Marigny Triangle, just around the corner from the strip of music clubs and nightspots. It’s a beauty to discover.
The front dining room of weathered brick and many windows has a small lounge area adjoining the bar for drop-by visits, and a snug booth under stylish chandeliers. Through a set of blue curtains, a second dining room is flexible for private events.
A second dining room doubles as a venue for private events at Procida, an Italian restaurant in the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans. Staff photo by Ian McNulty▲
The name Procida comes from an island off Naples, which Chiella describes as more of a low-key destination for people from the region rather than a tourist hub. He compares that to the Marigny in relation to the French Quarter.
The restaurant has a full bar, with a focus on spritz cocktails to begin, including the namesake Procida spritz, which is blue to evoke the color of Mediterranean waters. The wine list takes a wider sweep of Italian regions, with many good values wines under $60.
Procida
2000 Burgundy St., 504-273-1100
Initial hours: dinner Wed.-Sun., happy hour 4-6 p.m. (weekend brunch to begin in September); reservations at resy.com.
Dining and Cooking