WHY A former textile factory transformed into a warehouse of authentic Italian cooking. WHAT Owner Antonio Pellini originally intended for Eatalian to be just a production facility for cheeses, gelati and baked goods. But the airy, industrial space is so big that a dining room was an easy addition. The restaurant veteran (he ran five [...]
January 2, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Terrific, refined Italian fare without having to go over the hill. WHAT Florentine native and sometime actor Armando Pucci has created a delightful spot for fans of light, sophisticated Tuscan food. We are slaves to the chalkboard daily specials (the pappardelle with Dungeness crab and cherry tomatoes is sublime), but the regular menu has [...]
November 6, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Because people need somewhere to drink in Brentwood. WHAT Situated next to longstanding Italian restaurant Toscana, this swank, nominally Italian bar goes heavy on the Amaro, Cynar, Campari and Fernet. The cocktails are a few bucks more expensive than they deserve to be, but the décor is pretty and clever. Suitable for a happy-hour [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY It’s like stepping into the neighborhood negozio di alimentari you frequented on your last trip to Italy. WHAT This family-run, 14,000-square-foot warehouse and teeny showroom teem with ‘tutti prodotti tipici regionali.’ It’s all here and it’s all Italian: excellent dried pastas (Spinosi! Columbro!); canned tuna, beans and San Marzano tomatoes; rice and faro; chocolates [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Because you can snack on squid-ink tagliolini and romanesco pizza at 3:30 in the afternoon. WHAT This casual spinoff of Piccolo in Venice may be a lot less expensive, but it has the same authentic culinary bent—think veal tongue in tuna sauce and baccala-filled ravioli. An upmarket pizza list of sauced and unsauced varieties [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY To bask in luxurious five-star service, eavesdrop on a few Industry conversations and partake of a sophisticated modern Italian menu. WHAT The wrap-around patio, the long, undulating crudo bar (pricey), the wall of chic aperitivi—all add Euro-cache to this decidedly upmarket Italian dining room, where the kitchen makes pasta twice daily and where the [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY The pampering, the prestige and the people-watching. Also the spaghetti with tomato and basil, which is as good as its $24 price tag would suggest. WHAT Scott Conant’s unfussy Mediterranean fare appeals both to the conservative older crowd and the moneyed young bucks who frequent this deluxe hotel restaurant. The kitchen shines at pasta, [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Without booking a trip to Rome, you can taste farmstead mozzarella di bufala from cheese makers working in the DOP (Denomination of Protected Origin). The cheese, sourced from Agro Pontina (where the bufala roam) and Paestum (south of Naples) is flown to L.A. three times weekly. WHAT Based on the sushi bar concept, Obika [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY For handmade pasta made by a real Italian mamma. WHAT When Filippo Cortiva split with his partner at nearby Osteria La Buca to open his own place, he brought his mother, Loredana, with him, and now she’s a partner and chef. When she’s not making fresh pasta, she cruises the relaxed, high-ceilinged trattoria to [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Upscale Italian food and service of a higher caliber than you’d expect from such a modest-looking place, at prices that are more than fair. WHAT A real find in the west Valley, Adagio is all about comfort: a cozy but not too fancy setting, solicitous but not too formal service, and well-prepared Italian food [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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