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I was in the mood this month for a change of pace so I ventured out to visit Cristiano’s in Houma.
As my guest and I entered, we were pleasantly greeted by the hostess. I noticed the attached bar was abuzz with the after-work crowd of locals.
As we were seated, our waiter was there immediately. As he took our drink order, he ran down a list from memory of the daily chef’s specials – soup, gnocchi, risotto, and a fish entree.
The owner came to our table afterward with a warm greeting and made his own menu recommendations. Attentive and friendly service is to me what separates a fine dining restaurant from a chain restaurant location that seems to be more of a scripted conversation with the staff. I enjoy the feeling that the staff knows me even when at a place for the first time. This is a hard concept to teach but one that is totally apparent at Cristiano’s.
Some fresh warm bread was brought to our table to nibble on while looking over the menu, which can be a bit overwhelming at Cristiano’s. There are so many choices that sound good.
The front page had all the classic offerings that have been a mainstay since the beginning and the back page was Chef Lindsey Mason’s seasonal offerings with a good mix of meats, fish and fowl. There can be many culinary words or techniques that might seem foreign at first but our waiter, Jim, was an excellent translator explaining in detail anytime we raised an eyebrow.
I followed the owner’s suggestion on my appetizer and chose to try the grilled quail appetizer ($15). The dish consisted of one boneless, butterflied quail served atop some grilled peaches and topped with a dark chocolate sauce scented with cayenne pepper with a few popcorn shoots as a garnish.
I sliced the quail and a peach so I could enjoy each element of the dish with each bite. I found the combination of flavors were in perfect balance and quite complimentary. My first sensation was a charred flavor from the quail skin followed by a sweet hint from the peach that finished with a bit of bitter from the chocolate sauce. The quail’s moist richness had a binding effect that pulled flavor from the other ingredients.
My compliments to the chef!
My guest chose the pizzeta ($9), which is basically a flatbread pizza in a rectangle shape with various toppings. This is a mainstay of the chef’s seasonal menu in which the toppings are changed quarterly.
This one was served with a béchamel sauce base and topped with yellow tomatoes, burrata cheese and a chiffonade of basil. The flatbread underneath was perfectly crusty palette that transported the flavors to our mouths. The burrata cheese, which is an Italian cheese made of fresh buffalo mozzarella that has cream added to the center with other pieces of the pulled milk curd, was the star of this dish as all the other flavors complimented the cheese. I could eat this one everyday for a month. It was that good.
For our main dish, we chose to split a grilled Chilean sea bass ($28). The kitchen staff took the time to split it in the back, so it arrived as two separate plates looking identical with the garnishes. This is one of those little extras so each diner can enjoy their plate visually before actually tasting the creation.
The sea bass had a nice grilled flavor and a moist texture. The habenero risotto was perfectly al dente maintaining the rice grains integrity to be delightfully chewy and creamy. It was excellent by itself and even better when combined with the fish. The little micro-greens lent a nice herbal flavor finish.
My guest overheard another table raving about the char-grilled oysters. After talking with Jim, he brought out one oyster for each of us to try on the house. This is a heavenly creation that should be a starter of every meal at Cristiano’s that come as a half or whole dozen.
The oyster was served in its own shell on a bed of rock salt. It had been grilled and was covered with a roasted red pepper and garlic mixture with hints of lemon and butter that I found myself trying to finish off every little bit from the shell.
We had to try one of the homemade desserts and selected the tiramisu ($8). This is a purely Italian creation incorporating mascarpone cheese into a mousse flavored with a hint of brandy and ladyfingers dipped in espresso. My first bite of the creamy concoction was in a word satisfying. It was a rich dessert but not overly sweet and achieved a balance from the espresso.
Cristiano’s seems to have something for everyone if you are interested in food and drink. Their extensive menu, warm welcoming staff and a very talented chef combined with an owner’s attention to detail make this restaurant one of the best I have reviewed and will be a mainstay in my future dinner plans. Do yourself a favor and give them a try!
Cristiano Ristorante Lounge & Wine Boutique 724 High St., Houma (985) 223-1130 Restaurant Hours: Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, 5 to 11 p.m. Sunday, by request only
