Il Posto Italian Cafe – a tucked away hidden Uptown lunch gem

The delightful Madison Curry left New York not long after Katrina to return to her hometown and set up her dream cafe business in a residential area on Dryades nearby Napoleon and St Charles Avenue. The emphasis is on fresh simple Italian deli ingredients which conjure themselves into yummy full and pure tasting paninis and salads. A lovely change to the spicy and heavy butter and cream dishes elsewhere in the city. Her pesto is all made fresh on a daily basis (and you can buy jars to take home) and her salad dressings are perfectly tangy - lemon juice, EV olive oil and some salt and pepper. Milky mozzerellas, salty proscuittos and other Italian faves. The coffees are excellent with a slab of homemade cake of the day.

The interior and ambiance are simple and clean, yet cosy and European. I love to sit outside on the bench with a coffee and enjoy the quietness of the street.

Madison’s family is a talented one – her cousins Sasha and Martin Masakowski perform in a jazz trio once a month in Madison’s Jazz brunch. A lovely a relaxed way to pass a sleepy Sunday in New Orleans.