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Travel

Food lovers hit jackpot

At Isle of Capri's Bragozzo, the food is heavenly, the service down to earth.

By STEVE PERSALL
Published November 26, 2006

Chef Luke Palladino brings a seafood slant and sizable servings to Bragozzo Osteria and Wine Bar.
	[Isle of Capri Casino Resort]

BILOXI, Miss.

The Isle of Capri Casino Resort brought a lot of class to Gulf Coast dining with the November opening of Bragozzo Osteria and Wine Bar.

"Bragozzo" is a Venetian boat, a hint of chef Luke Palladino's seafood slant and sizable servings.

Palladino brought a heady reputation for culinary chic from Atlantic City's Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa but loosened up with the osteria notion of a friendly tavern, complete with a few interior design jokes. (That isn't a real purse left in the women's restroom; same for the hat and scarf on the stairs.)

Youthful looks and energy make Palladino ready for prime-time kitchen celebrity. His tantalizing dishes and manga mentality make Bragozzo a must-eat while visiting the Gulf Coast, no matter what other resorts throw his way.

Beau Rivage Resort & Casino has three posh restaurants opening in December: Todd English's Mediterranean spinoff Olives, the pan-Asian cuisine of Jia, and BR Prime, a cosmopolitan steakhouse.

Thirty-two Steak and Seafood at Imperial Palace has earned positive word-of-mouth since the Biloxi resort's reopening.

Gulfport's Island View Casino Resort plans to open a beachfront restaurant in mid 2007, headed by celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse.

They will all have to hustle to get ahead of Bragozzo, judging from a recent sampling of dishes.

Favorites included a caciocavallo appetizer ($6), pan-seared Sicilian cheese, toasted with garlic and mint, then flamed with Sambuca. Aracini ($7) was a delightful batch of crispy risotto fritters with black truffled cheese. Nibbling a gnocchi revealed an uncommonly light texture for such a rich potato taste.

Palladino personally filleted the Aqua Pazza ($29), roasted whitefish in "crazy water," a deceptively robust blend of potatoes, chilis, tomatoes and Ligurian olives. Dessert was a chocolate ganache with raspberry puree so enchanting that I forgot to take notes.

Bragozzo also boasts the Gulf Coast's first full-time sommelier, John O'Connor, formerly of Atlanta. O'Connor oversees the two-story, glass-enclosed wine vault spiraled by a staircase for easy peeking.

"We're going to have wines down here that nobody in the South has," O'Connor said. His recommendation of a pinot grigio from late actor Fred MacMurray's vineyard uncorked a sense of humor and smart selection. Bragozzo's food and wines are hoity-toity, but the staff isn't.

Diners may choose to sit at a counter overseeing the kitchen, where impressively efficient chefs work. On Day 3 of business, there was no Hell's Kitchen chaos at all, a sign of Palladino and executive sous chef Chris Scivally's kitchen leadership. They didn't need to raise their voices. The food did all the talking.

[Last modified November 24, 2006, 11:51:36]