It’s no big secret that New Orleans has a long history of Italian culture and cuisine, and you don’t have to look particularly far to find it. Some of our most cherished local bakeries, cafés and restaurants have been operated by the same Italian families for generations, and our particular brand of “Creole Italian,” from muffalettas at the Central Grocery to Gendusa’s po-boy loaves, garlicky spaghetti bordelaise at Mosca’s, or classic veal parmigiana at Vincent’s. That said, the Italian specialties we know and love can be largely traced to immigrant families from Sicily and Naples who’ve passed down their traditions and recipes from one generation to the next, and they don’t always account for how cuisine from southern Italy has evolved into more refined tastes of the 21st century. What, we might wonder, would “New Orleans Italian” look like if it shared its evolution with its European progenitor? Fortunately for Crescent City diners, Chef Valeriano “Vale” Chiella decided to deliver modern southern Italian specialties with his recently opened restaurant Procida.
Chiella is no stranger to either the local Italian food scene nor the Italian food scene in Italy, and as such seems the perfect ambassador to introduce New Orleans to the delights of more contemporary Southern Italian cooking, with a Gulf Coast twist. “We wanted to create a southern Italian restaurant, first because of my background,” he said. “I was born over there and raised in Florence, my parents are from there, and I’ve always been eating and cooking with them. So, coming to New Orleans, you think about its history, and there is a deep connection to the southern Italian people, all the people from Sicily and Naples. They dedicate their cuisine to the way their grandparents cooked when they came here a long time ago. So there is that gap between how Italy has changed and has transformed from then to now. It was our goal to celebrate the people that came a long time ago and that helped shape New Orleans into what it is, but give it a more fresh, modern look, maybe an reintroduction to what the south of Italy is like right now.”
With Procida, the young chef’s talents and passions are on full display. The menu is deep and varied, chockablock with dishes that span the palate from crisp and light to more hearty fare that will easily satisfy a larger party dining “family-style,” which Chiella recommends. Start by sampling one of the raw fish options available, like the signature Procida crudo, which features delicately sliced fresh bluefin tuna, amberjack, and cobia served with colatura and a chili lemon vinaigrette. There’s also a unique and splendidly satisfying smoked swordfish carpaccio, served with cherry tomatoes, arugula, lemon and salted olive tapenade, a direct reflection of Amalfi coastal cuisine. “It’s something that I always enjoyed growing up,” said Chiella. “That was one of the dishes that when I created this concept, I was like, ‘It’s gotta be there,’ because that’s what represents us the most and makes us stand apart from the others.”
Another savory starter is the Sicilian arancina, which will feel immediately familiar to fans of southern Italian cuisine, although Chiella’s twist is that the crispy fried cone stuffed with risotto and cheese also incorporates seafood instead of the traditional pork or beef ragu. “I wanted to give a new look to that beautiful cone of Sicilian arancini that you can find in every fresh market in Palermo,” he said. “They’ll sell you the arancina filled up with peas and pork ragu, cheese and saffron risotto into it, and we did the same thing, but with the seafood.” Another option for antipasti is a roasted delicata squash festooned with seasonal mushrooms and a luscious pecorino romano fonduta, a dish that’s both hearty and fall-forward as well as artful and elegant.
Of course, it wouldn’t be genuine Italian cooking without a pasta course. Some pastas are deceptively simple but bursting with flavor and depth, like the spaghetti limone and parmigiano with capers, colatura di acciughe and fennel pollen. “That’s another iconic dish that I love and I think is a good representation,” said the chef. “A little lemon in Parmigiano is the umami, the acidity, and the saltiness, and we add a little collatura into it to raise the bar a little more.” Similarly, the bucatini aglio e olio is an instantly recognizable and iconic dish, although Chiella adds a Louisianaian flare with the addition of blue crab, lemon and chili pangrattato and calabrian chili. Pasta and crab dishes are nothing new to many New Orleans diners, but somehow Procida’s version feels gratifyingly unique. Other pasta options include gnocchi with vodka sauce, lobster tagliolini, a hearty ziti alla genovese with a Neapolitan-style ragu of braised beef and onions, and of course a seafood risotto brimming with clams, saffron, local shrimp and mussels. Again, with this many outstanding options, you’re going to want to bring friends to sample everything or at least plan repeated visits.
But the show doesn’t begin and end with antipasti and pasta. “Secondi” of note include a classic chicken a la diavola with calabrian chili agrodolce, as well as a sixteen-ounce bone-in short rib spezzatino with arrabiata sauce. If forced to choose, however, you’ll want to set your eyes on the whole roasted branzino with a vibrant lemon gremolata. It’s a showstopper of a dish, served head-on, with the tender, flaky fish awakened by the bright, herby sauce. Similarly, the grilled pistachio and herb-crusted pork chop is a quintessential Southern Italian dish that Chiella puts his unique stamp upon, much to the delight of lucky guests. Chiella developed the dish in Italy working with his brother and a cook from Sicily. Said the chef, “It’s brilliant and delicious. In Sicily, they use either panéed chicken, veal or beef. I wanted to bring in the same idea, and I thought about the pork chop to be the best vessel for it, since we don’t really have a big steak on the menu.”
Chef Chiella and his team had some natural trepidation about opening a new restaurant in August, the most difficult month for any New Orleans restaurant due to the punishing heat and lull in tourism, but things appear to be working out well right out of the gate at Procida. “It seems to be the scariest thing ever,” the chef admits. “But to be honest, the response from the guests and the locals, has been great. We’ve been pretty much booked every night since reopened, and I think we found a good team that, um, have been executing our thoughts and intentions pretty well. All in all, I have nothing but positive vibes from this so far!”
Gianna
Since opening in the Warehouse district in 2019, Gianna quickly became one of our favorite modern Italian restaurants in town, with its refined approach to rustic Italian dishes spiked with an ample helping of Creole influences. Chef Justin Koslowsky took the helm last year, and his dedication to local fishermen and farmers is easy to see on the menu, with plenty of enticing crudos, pastas and small Italian bites. You’ll definitely need to start with the wood-fired puccia bread with chili butter for the table, followed by the ricotta gnocchi with spicy peperonata, sweet peppers, pork sausage, as well as the seared shrimp campanelle flavored with fennel pollen, lemon and a basil-almond pesto. Save room for our favorite, the outstanding lamb lasagna with mushrooms, béchamel and Grana Padano. And if you’re having a hard time choosing, let the kitchen do it for you with their four-course “Feed Me” menu, which never fails to satisfy.
San Lorenzo
San Lorenzo doesn’t seem so much like an elegant neighborhood spot so much as an upscale coastal Italian restaurant dropped directly into the Lower Garden District. As the signature restaurant in the Hotel St. Vincent, you’ll find a lush, romantic room that feels both luxurious and approachable. A sample from the raw bar will get your motor running, whether you’re in the mood for oysters, bluefin carpaccio with caramelized pistachio and creole spices, or the full-on caviar service, featuring sturgeon roe served with taleggio fonduta and beignets. For pastas, head directly for the saffron orecchiette topped with blue crab and fermented chili butter. For crowd-pleasing entrees try the monkfish schnitzel, Milanese risotto heaped with Gulf shrimp, or any of the wood-fired offerings. We adore the cider-brined pork chop with black garlic, date purée, grilled radicchio, and grapefruit, but you’d be just as well served with the massive dry-aged porterhouse prepared in the Florentine fashion. Whatever you choose, make sure to pair it with a few glasses of the house made limoncello to make the experience fully festive. We know we always do!
About the Chef
Chef Valeriano Chiella was born in a small town in Salerno, Italy, on the Amalfi coast, and at the age of 11 moved north with his family to Empoli, just outside of Florence. “I never went to culinary school,” he said, noting that his kitchen education came largely from working in his family’s restaurant. After running a small restaurant with his brother in Italy for a few years, Chiella moved to New Orleans in 2014, following the woman who would become his wife, a Crescent City native. The chef landed initially at Ancora Pizzeria, after which he worked his way up the kitchen hierarchy at Domenica, Pizza Domenica, Shaya, Restaurant August, and then back to Domenica as executive chef before leaving in 2025 to start a roaming Italian pop-up called “Fico Cucina,” which eventually led to the opening of Procida this past August. “We’ve had a fantastic experience, honestly,” he said, noting how much he’s enjoyed embracing the charms and people of the Marigny. “We have neighbors that live by us coming in twice or three times a week just to say hi, or just to chat to get a drink or a snack. We are very grateful, for sure!”
