With the debut of @procidarestaurant , now open, New Orleans has showplace for the regional Italian cuisine of Campania and especially Naples and the seafood-loving Amalfi Coast.

Chef Valeriano Chiella and his partners Alessandro and Ali have created an ode to the old country blends elegant and rustic in that seemingly effortless Italian way.

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 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.

And yes, that’s Stanley Tucci’s current pasta crush, anolini alla Nerano with zucchini and squash blossoms.

Currently open for dinner Wed.-Sun.

Here’s a look around, link in my bio has the full read with much more.

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolaeats #nolafoodie #marigny

Procida is open in the Marigny, just past the Frenchmen Street clubs

Crudo platters with tuna, toro, amberjack and cobia are drizzled with colatura di alici, the fish sauce of the Amalfi coast

Alessandro, chef Vale and Ali opened Procida together

Smoked swordfish carpaccio has a whiff of both salty sea and smoky earth

The restaurant and bar serves dinner now with a happy hour and brunch starting soon

DOP buffalo mozzarella is listed under “salads,” my kind of menu

The restaurant and lounge have transformed a Marigny corner spot

The arancina is filled with seafood and scamorza cheese

Flounder Siciliana is poached and finished with crabmeat

Anolini alla Nerano are filled with scamorza, like a smoky, denser mozzarella, with zucchini and squash blossoms. Link in my bio has the full story with much more. Less