Chef Josh Smith (L) and owner Adolfo Garcia (R) photo credit Time Picayune
Last week, Josh Smith’s head was in Campania, home to Naples, the Amalfi Coast, Mount Vesuvius and, by the evidence of my meal at a Mano, the New Orleans Italian restaurant where Smith is chef, exceptional seafood salad. This one contained whole calamari and shrimp, and octopus sliced so thinly the pieces resembled slivered garlic. Tossed together with potatoes, served cool but cooked well enough to mash with a fork, the salad magnified the seldom-explored difference between soft and tender; dressed as spare as it was, celery leaves registered with the intensity of lemongrass.
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