PRICE:
Frommer's Highly Recommended

Though Chef Duke LoCicero has been winning culinary awards right and left, Café Giovanni is kind of a mixed bag, thanks to a combo of fine food, lackadaisical service even before Katrina, and -- of course -- the dreaded (or highly enjoyable, depending on your conversational needs during dinner and your love of schmaltz) strolling opera singers (to be found Wed, Fri, and Sat nights, singing with all their might). Though Chef Duke is renowned for his pastas, including a duck-and-rabbit ragout over pappardelle (the duck overpowered the rabbit in this rich dish) and pasta Gambino, which tosses shrimp, garlic, cream, and other tidbits together, these may not be all that much better than the pastas found over at Irene's Cuisine.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's New Orleans 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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