Louro’s Nossa Mesa Supper Club

After six straight nights of dinner service (and a double-header on Sunday, for brunch), you’d think that Louro’s Dave Santos would be all too eager to shut down the restaurant on Mondays. And yet, the chefs “day off” is undoubtedly one of his busiest, as he swaps out Louro’s modern American menu for a banquet well befitting the “Game of Thrones” cast, say, or an Italian spread a la “The Sopranos.”

That’s because every Monday evening, the tranquil, West Village restaurant transforms into the convivial, BYOB Nossa Mesa Supper Club, based on the intimate dinner parties Santos used to throw in his Roosevelt Island apartment.  And structured around an overarching theme, no two meals are ever alike.  Yes, Santos invariably goes all out for the major holidays (Elvis’ birthday counts), but his inspirations are all over the map, ranging from music (The Beatles) to seasons (Portuguese Winter) to literature (Tragic Love Stories) to yes, even TV shows, like “The Walking Dead,” movies, like “A Christmas Story,” and animated characters, like Marvel’s Wolverine.

Unsure about eating dishes crafted around flesh eating zombies, or devouring a giant emu egg, as featured in the “Game of Thrones” feast?  Inspirational ingredients are frequently given their due as well, like Uni, which was recently showcased in a luxurious, five-course meal. Five courses of uni you say? Dreamy no?  Buttery lobes of sea urchin comingled with Beef Tartare, flavored with shiso and strewn with apricot kernels tasting of almond.  They also provided the perfect, unctuous foil for an exquisitely silky Chawanmushi, topped with spears of spring asparagus and offset by an earthy mushroom puree.  Used as a filling for plump Tortellini, the saline notes of the uni were enhanced, not sublimated, by a surrounding puddle of pork bone-infused kombu dashi.  And Santos did his mentor, Thomas Keller proud with an ode to his famous creation — “Peas and Carrots” Lobster Crepes, folded around, you guessed it, another helping of vibrantly orange uni.  That’s just another Monday evening at Louro.

With dishes as unfailingly delicious as this, we might just have to check out one of Santos’ “Walking Dead” dinners after all.