The Little Village: Three Strikes and You're Out!

I love Italian food.  I love local restaurants.  I love giving second chances.   But after three tries, I still don’t love The Little Village!  And I have no idea why it remains a popular Baton Rouge restaurant.

Let me just fly through the first two meals. 

Try #1:  Mediocre meal, and there was that pricey bread that they sort of trick you into buying. (More about that "bread trick" later.)

Try #2:  An o.k. meal with my sisters—but the restaurant was infested with fruit flies.  Not appetizing, and the servers seemed to think it was not a problem.  (More about that "not a problem" later.)

Try # 3:

The atmosphere of the new location is pleasant enough, but, as with so many restaurants, the acoustics are a bit loud.  More annoying is the fact that the tables are so cramped together that trying to dodge waiters on the way to the table is difficult.  Evidence of this was a head-on collision of two waiters and a lot of broken plates.

And the restrooms are not IN the restaurant.  You have to go out to a hall and then another turn into another hall—no signage to guide you there or back!

Our waiter took our drink order and asked that tricky question: Did we want to start out with bread? Since we hadn’t even looked our menus yet, we didn’t remember that the “half loaf” that we agreed to was $6.  It was a good thing we declined the tapenade the waiter suggested ($1.50) and roasted garlic ($3.00).  The bread is very airy and drenched in oil and topped with cheese.  Good?  Yes.  Worth $6?  No.  

[Let me just pause to say that I am so tired of the new server mantra:  “Not a problem.”  Is waiting on customers mostly a problem and I am the exception?  I just don’t get this expression.]

We ordered the “A la Village Oysters 2-2-2” for an appetizer—2 Bienville, 2 Rockefeller, and 2 A la Village oysters--or so we thought.  After our waiter brought our wine and took our entrée order, he said he would have our salads out right away.  We thought he just misspoke, but, nope, he had forgotten our appetizer order.

So we were told to “enjoy” our salads before the appetizer.  The salads were unremarkable—only greens, not a vegetable or garnish in sight. 

The oysters arrived, lukewarm, but edible.  Well, again—sort of.  My oysters had a lot of grit in them.

My husband did enjoy his bruccialuna, which is a veal cutlet roll stuffed with bread crumbs, prosciutto and pine nuts and stewed in a red sauce.

I had the veal marsala.  Although this dish consisted of a generous two-slice portion of veal, it was a little over-breaded.  The marsala sauce was plentiful but tasted more of beef broth, and not a homemade one, than marsala. 

Then there was a long wait after we finished our entrées until our server came to ask us about our dessert order.  There was another long wait before our server brought our dessert order.  There was another long wait for our check to arrive.  There was another long wait for our bill to be processed.

The Little Village was crowded, even on a rainy Saturday night, but I continue to wonder why.  Mediocre food.  Slow, spacy service.  That’s it for our The Little Village “inning.”  You're outa here!

Summer Berries

There are so many foods that SCREAM summer:  s’mores, corn on the cob, BLTs, watermelon, ice cream, anything grilled, anything from a farmers’ market, and, of course, anything with berries.  Following are a handful of recipes featuring berries.  Fortunately, today most berries are available year-round, so these recipes aren’t just for summer.  Berry good--especially for the Olympic festivities!

Summer Pudding

I first had this dessert many years ago in a very unstuffy buffet restaurant before attending a play at the Barbican Theater in London, England.  Summer pudding is quintessentially British but very easy. 

Source:  an old clipping (from New Home Cooking by Florence Fabricant Clarkson, 1992)

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

1 loaf (1 pound) thinly-sliced white sandwich bread (I use Pepperidge Farms)

1 ½ c. sugar

2 T. fresh lemon juice

2 ½ pints mixed fresh berries, such as strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries

2 T. raspberry liqueur

1 c. heavy cream, whipped (optional)

Remove crusts from bread and discard or save for crumbs.  Line 1 ½-quart bowl with bread slices in a single layer cutting slices to fit so that no gaps appear.  Reserve remaining bread for covering top of pudding.

Combine sugar and lemon juice in large saucepan.  Heat over medium heat until sugar starts to dissolve.  Stir in berries; cook 5 to 8 minutes until berries have softened, but still hold their shape.  Remove from heat.  Stir in liqueur.

Spoon berries with slotted spoon into bread-lined bowl.  Reserve ½ cup berry juice; pour remaining juice over berries.  Fit remaining bread on top in double layer to cover berries.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

Place flat plate that fits inside bowl on top layer of bread.  Place filled 2-pound can on plate to weight down pudding.  Refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight, or for up to 2 days.

To serve, remove can and plate.  Carefully run thin knife around inside of bowl.  Invert onto large plate with rim.  Use reserved berry juice to “paint” any areas of bread where color did not completely soak in.  Slice pudding and serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Wisconsin Schaum Torte

This is a recipe I remember my German paternal grandmother and my mother making.  These may be filled or topped with many things.  My mom used to fill them with ice cream or pudding and then berries.  For chocolate lovers, Nutella would be a good option.  


For 6 servings, I whisked 8 oz. of marscapone cheese with a little bit of sugar and put that in the base of the cups.  Then I topped them with a mixture of berries:  sliced and sugared strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and black berries.  I didn’t garnish with whipped cream, but when has whipped cream ever hurt anything? 

Source:  an old clipping

Yield:  12 servings, may be halved

Ingredients:

6 egg whites

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1 T. vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla

Process:

Preheat oven to 275°.  In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites until foamy.  Add cream of tartar and vinegar and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form (tips curl).  Add vanilla and sugar a little at a time, beating on high speed until very stiff peaks form.  Make twelve tortes on greased and floured cookie sheets (I lined the pans with parchment paper instead) using the back of the spoon to build up sides and dent the middle. Bake for 50 minutes.  Then turn off the oven, leave undisturbed and allow meringues to sit with the door closed for 1 more hour.

Loosen tortes from cookie sheets before they are cold.  Makes 12 tortes.  (I made these a day before I served half of them and put them in a plastic container.  I served the second half two days later, and they were still nice and crispy.)

Berries with Almond Cream

This is super simple, but elegant and refreshing.  Recently I made this without the Amaretto, and the cream tasted like “liquid” cheese cake with a nice tang that complemented the berries

Source:  Kay Ewing’s Cooking School Cookbook

Yield:  about 1 cup of topping

Ingredients:

1 (3-oz.) package cream cheese, softened

½ c. powdered sugar (I tend to use less, about ¼ c.)

3 T. Amaretto

½ c. whipping cream

Fresh berries (If I use strawberries, I usually slice and lightly sugar them first.)

Process:

Beat cream cheese, sugar and amaretto with an electric mixer until smooth.  While beating, very slowly pour in cream until combined.  Cover and refrigerate.  Top individual servings of any combination of berries with the cream.