Al Bacio Ristorante: La Loggia Room: Old World Italy, Modern Style in WeHo

As far as I know, it's not often that a chef reaches out directly to invite bloggers to their restaurant.

So when I received an email from Chef Christian Simionato of Al Bacio, I was definitely curious.

It was for a tasting to be held in the La Loggia Room in the restaurant.  Reading that “Al Bacio” means detail, care, and experience, tradition, respect, and passion, and seeing the personal effort that the chef put in just on the outreach, I knew I would be in for an experience.

Chef Christian was raised on his family farm in Villanova, a small town bordering Venice, where growing food, making wine, and curing meats - everything done with respect, and tradition - was a way of life that passed down through the generations.

Chef Christian is passionate about sharing lesser known dishes and ways of cooking from Italy, that would take LA's food lovers beyond the tried and true but all too familiar pastas and antipasti, was clear - and now he has a nook of a platform to do it with, in a front room called La Loggia.  It's a cozy event / private dining space where he gets to showcase and share, with more curious diners, the dishes that he loves in a tasting menu format.

Our experience of this new front room started with a bountiful spread of charcuterie and antipasto served personally by the chef.

There was a gorgeous leg of prosciutto, and cutting boards piled with salami, sopressa...

But of all the charcuterie the one that made the biggest impression on me was the Heart & Liver Salsiccia.  Its rich, intense flavor, density and pleasing fattiness reminded me of the Chinese version I used to love growing up: yun cheong (preserved liver sausage).  I haven't seen these in other Italian restaurants in LA - so many are focused on fresh, housemade - and cured meats tend towards salami and sopressata.  I couldn't stop eating these lovely little preserved sausages.

Then there was the Focassia di Recco with mozzarella and tomato, and fun appetizers like salted cod in a mason jar with crostini, and oysters in tomato sauce - all beautifully presented but less memorable in texture / taste.

For the formal start of the meal, we were seated at one large communal table for 10, the better for encouraging conversation, and sense of shared experience by design.

Our first course was Tortellini al Parmigiano - Parmesan Cheese Tortellini, Chicken Consomme.  The tortellinis arrived first, then chef ladled roiling hot chicken broth over it, which released strong fresh dough fragrance on contact.  

Some of chef's plates come with interesting notes about its history: Maccheroni Ragu alla Barese - pasta topped w/ a roll of beef neck, pecorino, pancetta and herbs was the 'legal' version that could be served in the US.  In Italy, apparently they would make this with horse meat.

Loved the light touch with the tomato sauce, over the fresh made al dente pasta, topped by the flavor bomb roll.

The first meat course was Coniglio alla Siciliana - Sicilian rabbit with pine nuts, black olives, roasted fennel & carrots.  Though tasty, nothing really stood out for me on this one.

It was the next course that I still dream of: Quaglia e Piccione Cotti alla Spiedo - spit roasted quail & squab, with glazed cipollini, roasted potatoes.  Perfectly cooked to delicious succulence, it made me work hard to try to tear every last piece of meat off the tiny wings.

 After dinner, a selection of Italian cheeses were served at the banquet tables to the side.  There was the photogenic large wheel of super creamy, spreadable Bontazola gorgonzola cheese, Maccagno raw cow's milk cheese, and other luscious wedges.  But it was the accompaniment that were intriguing: one such was a red wine soaked rhubarb (?) preserve that somehow tasted like beets, and went perfectly with the gorgonzola.  There was the truffle honey, which I can never resist.

To finish, chef served us a Neopolitan Rum Cake and chocolate almond cake with gelato (sorry no pics as it got too dark by then to take good ones!).

The menu will change seasonally at La Loggia.  Can't wait to see what Chef Christian does for Fall!  To book a tasting at the La Loggia Room, contact the restaurant (see below).


*Disclaimer: This meal was hosted.

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Al Bacio Ristorante La Loggia Room

8741 W Sunset Boulevard West Hollywood, CA 90069

Ph: 310.657.1182

Website: albacioristorante.com  

Parking: public open air lot across the street (except Thursday nights when it is taken over by a farmers market), or limited parking behind restaurant

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RivaBella: Reflection of Beauty on Sunset

Have I mentioned how much I love indoor/outdoor spaces? Maybe because often, I love the idea of dining al fresco more than the actual experience.  Restaurants that bring all that is lovely about being outside, into a more refined and controlled environment gives you the best of both worlds. So I was excited to be invited to check out the recently opened RivaBella in West Hollywood, featuring an 8,000 square foot dining space described as "rustic Tuscan" AND chef Gino Angelini of locally beloved Angelini Osteria - creating an anticipated pairing of style and substance.

 

It was a pretty breath-taking space from the moment you set foot inside the main dining room, with its soaring ceilings, sleek, sophisticated woods and elegant greenery all around including several manicured trees between sections of tables.  And a wine cave with arched brick ceiling!

The roof is retractable, for when the signature SoCal sunny weather returns.  In terms of ambience, this place is perfect for date night or that Hollywood power lunch. The crowd on a weeknight? If there was a Housewives of Hollywood Hills - this is a place where they might often be spotted.  There were also lots of beautiful people in their 30s, 40s and up, dressed to impress.

 

Our tasting started with an off-menu item: Seared Swordfish with Bottarga - personally, I'm not a big fan of swordfish, but those who are would say this is a nicely seared piece - and who doesn't love bottarga!

Next up was the Beef Carpaccio Romagna Style ($15 on regular menu - full sized.  Image shown is sample sized for our tasting only) - this was a lovely starter that mixes Italian staples together: raw beef slices with (fresh-tasting) anchovies topped by shavings of parmesan

One of the most unforgettable dishes of the night was the Roasted Octopus Salad ($21 on regular menu - image shown is sample sized for tasting only) with potatoes, Taggiasche olives, salsa verde - the octopus was roasted perfectly, nice crisp clean smokey charred exterior opening up to incredibly tender, flavorful meat inside.  Loved the use of potatoes to soak up the amazing juices and for a different type of crunch, while the brininess of olives and acidity of tomatoes helped cut through the heft of the proteins and carbs.

We were then generously treated to another unscheduled dish, Eggplant Parmagiana ($14 full size on regular menu) the chef's own modern interpretation of it topped by delicious flash-fried eggplant skin!

Where's the pasta, you say?  It came in the form of the showstopper for the night in my opinion: Nidi di Rondine nested pasta with Italian ham and parmagiano cream ($17 full size on regular menu) - I have never seen pasta presented this way, wrapped like a Jewish deli roll, but with layers of freshmade noodle around delicious, juicy ham.  The 'roll' is then topped by amazing veal and wild boar ragu that I think must have been wine-braised (for great depth of flavor that is instantly addictive) and baked onto the roll with a nice slightly crunchy crusty texture.  The parmagiano cream sent me over the edge - I couldn't even pause for breath, I loved this thing so much and only wished I could have ten more. This one was my favorite of the night, hands down, and one I would definitely have to go back to RivaBella for, especially since at $17 for an entree sized dish, it's not a bad deal at all either.

Grilled Filet of Branzino with Sautéed Spinach and Sicilian Style Sauce I didn't see this on the regular menu posted online.  Not the most impressive plating, nor game changing execution, but a tasty piece of fish and 'safe' choice for date night.

Our tasting concluded with a round of various desserts: I liked the presentations especially of the Beignets with raspberry, chocolate and mocha sauces...

...and the Tiramisu with a silhouette of a fork reversed into cocoa powder.

In terms of taste, the tiramisu was a solid execution of a classic.  The others weren't very memorable and were not something I would crave and make a special trip back for.

While we were finishing up, we noticed several tables around us with guests celebrating birthdays - it was cool for us to see the waitstaff bring out treats with sparklers, showing that despite our inital assessment of the 'scene' here, that at least the restaurant doesn't take itself too seriously (even if some of its patrons do).

All things considered, RivaBella successfully delivers with upscale, event dining ambiance paired with some fantastic dishes and great people watching. A nice addition to the WeHo area!

*Disclaimer: This meal was hosted.

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RivaBella
9201 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Ph: 310.278.2060
Website: innovativedining.com/restaurants/rivabella

Parking: Valet parking is probably your best bet in this area $10 for first 3 hours

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dineLA Summer 2012: Truffle Heaven at Piccolo Venice

Another favorite from this year's Summer edition of dineLA for me was Piccolo Venice.  The place is a bit of a hidden gem - so glad I dineLA drew me to this discovery! The offer was generous with 5-courses (versus the standard 3) at no extra cost, for the $45 prix fixe menu and TWO of those courses involved choices with the magic-Pavlovian word: "truffles".

If you are kind enough to follow me on Instagram, you saw lots of pictures of this meal tagged with #foodgasm.  Even the complimentary bread basket featured foccacia studded with truffle.  I got food-drunk with happiness with every fragrant bite.

(One quick note though on location: Piccolo sits on a lesser-trafficked street (Dudley) directly off the Venice boardwalk: a little hard to spot driving through the alley even with the GPS, and despite parking being in general quite difficult in Venice, the restaurant did not have valet. I parked a few blocks down at a flat rate lot on Speedway, and passed the usual 'Venice' crowd along the way - kind of not the best spot for date night or single ladies to get to at night.  Once I got there it was a lovely, bright, airy white-linened place, with a cozy fireplace on one side, that could just as easily have been in Santa Monica or Beverly/Third)

But the food and hospitality, they were quite impressive.  Course 1: Capesante seared sea scallops, parmesan truffle fondue ($17 on regular menu) - a beautifully seared scallop topped with shaved truffle, and that was not enough, they also had truffle in this parmesan cheese sauce on the side.  Gorgeous presentation as well!

Course 2: Neri squid ink spaghettini, lobster emulsion, sunchokes ragu, roasted garlic oil, thyme (next closest pasta dish on regular menu served with mantis shrimp vs lobster, $26) - loved the perfectly al dente squid ink spaghettini.  Generous pieces of lobster added pops of red/pink that provided beautiful contrast against the stark pasta. I found the lobster pieces a bit overcooked, unfortunately, and wanting a bit more flavor.

Course 3: Plin fontina filled handcrafted ravioli, parmesan truffle butter sauce, fresh truffle shavings (next closest dish on regular menu is beet filled ravioli, $23) - LOVED every bite of this.  It had me at 'truffle', but the ravioli more than held its own as well - you can taste that the ravioli is fresh made, and were served at just the right density and temperature. 

Course 4: Much as I am obsessed with love truffle, the course that was most mindblowing of this dineLA meal was the Germano Reale breast of mallard (wild duck) pan-seared, truffle-honey sauce ($34 on regular menu) - the duck was incredibly tender, juicy and flavorful in the all-tastebuds-awake way that I can only compare to your first taste of grass-fed beef, and the realization that it is not-even-in-the-same-league more delicious than the common grain-fed beef. Loved that it wasn't served with the usual mashed potato either - but paired with a gorgeously purple whipped ube.  Then to kick this dish up to absolute transcendence, a translucent golden halo of truffle honey. Fragrant, earthy yet light and ever so slightly sweet - a perfect element to counterbalance the rich hefty slices of duck.

Course 5: Tortino ricotta and mascarpone torte, saffron coulis (not on regular menu, but desserts standard price $9) - where most other dineLA venues were half-heartedly phoning in some kind of chocolate dessert, Piccolo actually had six pretty exciting sounding ones to choose from.  My friendly server suggested the Tortino as the more unusual of the bunch.  I do love mascarpone, and saffron, so that sounded good to me.  This turned out to be a lite, perfect portioned cake topped with rose-colored flower petals, and saffron sauce.  The flavors were very subtle, and after four filling courses it was nice to have that light sweet finish. 

If that were 'all' for the dineLA meal I already would have loved it as possibly one of the best deals if not the best deal on the list (could have been a savings of up to $65, with the disclaimer that I"m not sure of any differences in portion size of dineLA vs. regular menu as it was my first time checking out the place.  Also of course a few of the items are not on the regular menu in its exact form so hard to draw exact comparisan).  But Piccolo is big on hospitality, and to top off my meal, came a free glass of prosecco!

All in all, a lovely dineLA experience.  Next time I'm down in Venice I would definitely hit up Piccolo for dinner!

On a 7 point scale:
Flavor - 6 bites
Presentation - 6 bites
Originality - 5.5 bites
Ambience - 5.5 stars
Service - 6 stars
Overall experience - 6 bites
Price - $$ (2 bite marks regular menu)
Probability of return visit - 90% 

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Piccolo Venice  
5 Dudley Avenue, Venice, CA 90291
Ph: 310.314.3222

Parking: Flat fee lot a few blocks down on Speedway $10 (street parking very hard to come by in this area)
Website: piccolovenice.com
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dineLA 2012: Ombra Ristorante

After discovering this gem of a lunchspot in Studio City last dineLA (well, we ended up ordering off the regular menu that first time, but dineLA was the reason we'd gone there!), we'd been back to Ombra numerous times - and after looking at their dineLA menu for 2012, just had to go in for another fix.  Especially for the $22 lunch deal (savings estimated at $17)!

I started with the Vitello Tonnato Sliced Veal / tuna sauce / pickled onions.  Beautiful slices of young cow (eloquently described, I know) - with texture somewhere between chicken and turkey, and a mild taste that I would say would be a cross between chicken and beef, are punctuated by shreds of sour and crunchy, vibrantly pink pickled onions, and capers, and counterbalanced by giant dollop of creamy tuna sauce, a completely unexpected combination that works surprisingly well together.  The sour flavors were a perfect way to whet the appetite at the start of the meal - I ate every last bit and wanted to lick my plate.

My friend 'Wise' chose as her starter, Zuppa di Baccala Stewed salt cod / gaeta olives / potatoes / light tomato broth. This seemed to be sort of a more exotic take on minestrone.  I liked the taste of the salt cod in the tomato-based soup-stew, but in texture it was a bit muscular / tough. 

Fellow luncher 'Wonder' went for the Lenticchie e Burrata Brown Lentil Salad / Quinoa / Burrata. I had a taste and wanted more variety of flavors, colors and textures in this one.  Lentils and quinoa don't really excite me on their own, so for me they needed to play sidekick to another ingredient that would be the superhero.  As it was, this felt like a side, or a work in progress - waiting for something else to come in and save the day.

As it was my last week at my old job, I guess we got too absorbed in conversation while ordering to notice that we'd all gotten the same entree, which was a shame as I'd actually wanted to try the ones with truffle / bottarga!  In any case, all three of us got Polpette di Cinghiale Wild Boar Meatballs / soft polenta.  I really wanted to love this, but while the meatballs were juicy and tasty, the polenta was much too salty and dense where I wanted it to be light, creamy and mild to let the wild boar take center stage. 

Since I knew I was starting a new job on the Westside this week, and would not have another chance to revisit Ombra for lunch during dineLA, I went back on my own another day to have the veal again as starter, and then to try the Tortelli di Patate Blu e tartufo Peruvian potato ravioli / butter / parmigiano / black truffle.  Here's where I remember why I love Ombra so much - Chef Michael Young delivers simple pasta dishes that are incredibly well executed, but with some unexpected ingredient that makes eating at Ombra a fun culinary discovery.

Instead of the usual meat or seafood, Chef Young filled these ravioli with Peruvian potato, which offered a beautiful bloom of purple wrapped inside each freshmade dough wrapper.  Served at just the right heat to maximize the aromas of the simple yet delicious butter and parmigiano on top, raised to another level of food-euphoria with slices of fragrant black truffle.

For dessert, all three of us went for the Budino di Pan D'oro "Pan D'oro" Bread pudding / salted caramel sauce.  A rustic preparation of a classic dessert, but one of the best I've ever tasted - soft, fluffy yet substantial, served at perfect temperature, skillfully controlled sweetness offset by bursts of salt.  I can still taste it in my mind a week later.

On my return visit, I reluctantly dragged myself away from the bread pudding (since it was going to be added to regular menu) to give the Strudel di Mela e papaveri Apple and poppy seed strudel a try.   I enjoyed the slices of apple that tasted poached, and loved that instead of the usual cinnamon, Chef Young used poppy seed for flavor.  My only note on this was that the dough could have been more buttery, flakey and less tough to cut through.  Loved the light, airy whipped cream on the side as well.

Chef Young actually made his rounds in the dining room on my second dineLA visit, to chat with fellow diners, and perhaps it was seeing my eyes light and blow up to an unnatural size every time another dish arrived - but Chef Young was kind enough to send out a complimentary plate of a dessert from their regular menu: Bonet Piemontese ($7 on regular menu) which I absolutely fell in love with.  The menu description says "typical Piemonte chocolate dessert / amaretti cookies".  I have never been to Italy and have no idea what a 'typical' Piemonte chocolate dessert is like, but to me this was anything but ordinary.  In consistency, it was somewhere between jello and mousse. In flavor, it was sort of like Nutella with amaretto - chocolatey hazelnutty almond scented deliciousness.  Need to go back soon, even if just for this dessert alone.

So, my picks out of the dineLA items tasted?  Sliced veal, Peruvian potato ravioli with black truffle, and bread pudding, hands down.
And with the Amex foursquare sync/check-in, I got an extra $5 statement credit which renders my total lunch bill at $22-$5= $17!!!!  For a 3-course meal that involved truffle!!! In an elegant space with awesome service!  Plus I got hotel points by using a credit card associated with a hotel loyalty program, and 100 points for making my reservation with OpenTable.

For those who work in the Valley within driving distance - you've got 4 more days to go for dineLA - don't miss out on this one!

[For more of my dineLA picks and deal breakdowns, see my post here.]

On a 7 point scale:
Flavor - 6 bites
Presentation - 6 bites
Originality - 6 bites
Ambience - 6 stars
Service - 6 stars
Overall experience - 6 bites
Price - $ (1 bite mark)
Probability of return visit - 100% 
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Ombra Ristorante
3737 Cahuenga Blvd., Studio City, CA 91604
Ph: 818.985.7337

Parking: Street parking on Ventura Blvd in front of restaurant (note meters have 1 hour limit)
Website: ombrala.com
OpenTable: Look for reservations
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Drago Centro - Urban Italian in DTLA

"Ms. Sassy" and I have a little holiday tradition to get together for a nice meal before everyone heads their separate ways to family gatherings (the calm before the storm of frenzied feeding - might as well abandon all restraint until the new year).  This time we decided to take our year-end round-up to Drago Centro, with her $50 group buy deal in hand. 

Located in the City National Plaza tower, Drago Centro is a little hard to find while driving (don't do what I did and circle 5 times - get specific directions here).

Ducking inside the fortress-like glass tower on a cold night, we found a sleek yet welcoming space.  There was the bar area, floor to ceiling wine racks encased in glass, like a 1-story version of Aureole Vegas, followed by the main dining room with vaulted ceilings.

Though the ALL DAY Happy Hour was tempting, it was only served at the bar and with a limited selection in terms of cocktails, so on this night we headed straight for the table.


When we got the full menus, my heart nearly stopped when I saw a cocktail with TRUFFLE along with all kinds of market fresh sounding deliciousness in it: Pinzimonio ($18) jacopo poli grappa, fresh tomato, fresh orange, olive oil foam, fresh pepper, hangar one vodka, cucumber water, fresh basil, white truffle powder. 

Unfortunately, the bartender apparently 'had a rough night' the night before, and did not have all the ingredients left for this drink (the thought of bankers 'partying it up' and 'going crazy with the truffle cocktails' made us laugh a little - between my tears from not being able to try this amazing sounding drink.  Must come back another time.).

Though nothing can replace the concept of that drink, the Lushington ($12) rye whiskey, quince gastrique, egg white, 25yr aged balsamic vinegar also caught my eye, and our server gave it his recommendation.  I thought the whiskey was a little strong, so the cocktail would best consumed with or after food, not on an empty stomach.

For our starters, I was glad my archenemies for the night, those 1% bankers, didn't also deplete the supply of Le Animelle ($13) crispy sweet bread, gnocchi, huckleberry, rapini. 

Sweet breads are of course the best culinary euphemism ever - really the thymus gland or pancreas of usually calf or lamb. 

These little nuggets of offal have flavor that reminds me of veal but texture more smooth like organ meat - fried to a beautiful golden brown here to better highlight both.  I loved the counterbalance with thin, crispy crust, al dente gnocchi, and the chewy and still slightly crunchy rapini.  All held together by the sweet/tart huckleberry. 

The only thing I didn't love about this dish was the shape and stiffness of the gnocchi - they looked cocoon-like to me, especially in the dimly lit dining room.  But the sweetbreads and everything else on the plate was fantastic.

Ms. Sassy opted for a much healthier start with the L'insalata di Mele ($13) pink lady apples, bacon, candied walnuts, arugula.

Though truffles eluded me in cocktail form, I was excited to hear I could have fresh white truffles (excuse me while I faint!) in my Il Risotto ai Funghi.  (My eyes floated for two seconds to the saffron risotto with bone marrow, but then were lured by the beacon of truffle).  The dish is normally on the menu for $19 (sans truffle), and you can add fresh shaved white truffle as a 'topping' - which kicks the price up considerably to $85.  Thankfully, Drago Centro offers the white truffled risotto as a half portion at $45 - this would be a splurge, but more affordble than full portion, we had Ms Sassy's group buy deal, and I figured this would be my holiday present to myself? 

So came the risotto with wild mushrooms and parmesan, cooked perfectly - and a special truffle escort/server came out to carefully shave the fungus over it.  It wasn't white glove service with a baby bell jar for the truffle like at Providence, but I didn't care as the truffle looked gorgeous with its veins of white weaving through rich, decadent chocolate colored 'flesh' and had an intoxicating perfume that I wanted to surgically implant inside my nose so I can carry the smell of bliss around with me. 

I was so taken by the truffle that I neglected to photograph Ms Sassy's entree!  She wanted Butternut Squash Agnolotti, but they were out of it (foiled by bankers once again?) so she went with the Le Pappardelle al Fagiano ($20) with roasted pheasant and morel mushrooms.  Ms Sassy kindly offered a bite and I loved the texture of the pappardelle, and the rich, gamey, earthy flavors - but found the strips of pheasant a bit on the dry side.

We felt like stuffed pheasant ourselves after the first two courses, and I know I was starting to wish I had worn stretchier pants - but the desserts sounded so good we couldn't leave without trying them.  I got the Panettone di Natale ($10) toasted bread pudding, orange caramel, salted cream, pears.  From the description, I was expecting a traditional bread pudding, thick and rich with carb and caramel on overdrive.  I was pleasantly surprised by the light, almost cake-light buttery rounds of bread pudding, served warm with slices of pear that I think has been poached in a light syrup.  I loved the texture and the flavors of the bread pudding, but wanted that to be punctuated by bolder flavors in the caramel and salted cream.  Everything on the plate was even keel - there was a relative deficit of 'je ne sais crois' - I wanted at least one flavor to 'pop' and make a statement.

Ms Sassy got the dessert I would have normally gone for - La Panna Cotta ($10) vanilla panna cotta, strawberry, rhubarb, basil cake, sunflower seeds. The presentation was fantastic, and this was the only plate in our meal that drew audible gasps (besides the truffle risotto, of course) when it arrived.  The humble vanilla panna cotta is served in a boat shaped dish with beautiful blooms of colors and textures - red from strawberries and raspberries, blackberries, green from hand torn pieces of basil sponge cake, and crunchy fried squares studded with sunflower seeds.  This tasted as good as it looked - the panna cotta smooth and creamy underneath it all.  This is a dessert that alone would draw us back to Drago Centro, even without another group buy deal.

All in all, another fantastic meal with Ms. Sassy, in a part of town we don't normally venture to - but that offered an enjoyable evening of great food in a nice setting (we got a table overlooking the plaza, felt Manhattanite) - with several items on the menu that would bring us back.

For more deals like this one, check out my Get More Bites Outta Your Budget page.

[Deal alert: Happy Hour all day, every day at the bar.  Cocktail, well drinks, beer and small bites specials starting at $4 - see menu here]

On a 7 point scale:
Flavor - 6 bites
Presentation - 5 bites
Originality - 5.5 bites
Ambience - 5.5 stars
Service - 6 stars
Overall experience - 5.5 bites
Price - $$$ (3 bite marks)
Probability of return visit - 100%
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Drago Centro
5 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, CA 90071
Ph: 213.228.8998

Parking: Structure - 3 hours free at dinnertime with validation from restaurant (3 hours for $5 with validation at lunchtime)

Website: dragocentro.com
Twitter: @dragocentro
OpenTable: Look for reservations (and points!) 
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Scarpetta - dineLA Escapade at the Montage Beverly Hills

When would you ever pay $24 for a plate of spaghetti?  For a lot of die-hard fans, the resounding answer has been: when you're at Scarpetta.

I didn't really get it - from all accounts, there weren't any luxury ingredients added - no truffle, no caviar, no champagne sauce or exotic shellfish.  Supposedly the beauty is in the simplicity - and skillful execution using highest quality ingredients. I do love fresh pasta and was extremely curious about that spaghetti, given all the rave reviews - but just couldn't bring myself to throw down that much cash for noodles with tomato sauce.  Then along came dineLA.

When I saw the notorious famous dish listed on the dineLA menu, as part of a 3-course lunch for $28, I knew this was my chance to go and try it.  I'd passed by the grounds of the Montage so many times, with its perfectly manicured 'park' between two wings of the hotel - and imagined what it would be like to be able to dine at any of the restaurants there. 

The bad news? They weren't offering the dineLA menu on either of the Sundays, and I wasn't ready to commit to a $44 dinner for the same menu items I could try at lunch for $28.

That's when I realized the event I most wanted to avoid that week - a visit to the dentist - was really a blessing in disguise. The dentist office was only a short drive from Scarpetta.  I was already going to take time off work for the appointment - couldn't I just make a 'quick' stop as my late lunch hour?  Afterall, it's probably a good idea to eat before I potentially lose the ability to, for a few hours.

And so I found myself at Scarpetta on a weekday, freshly released from work and a short time away from my dreaded date with novocaine.  A finite, measured moment of anticipated joy, sunshine between bouts of rain (cue Base Rob song...can anyone say child of the 80s?)

For just a little while, I could live the fantasy of being a lady who lunches.  Whenever she wants to.  Even late in the afternoon.  The serene, mostly empty dining room fueled my imagination, and the servers kindly played along, offering the lone diner a magazine for entertainment, while they prepared my meal.

I of course went straight for the Creamy Polenta with fricassee of truffled mushrooms.  It's so hard to find a place that knows how to do polenta right (it's often too rubbery, or too mealy) - but Scarpetta serves theirs pitch perfect - living up to its name in lush texture and rich flavor.  Loved the generous portion as well - you could almost fill up on it alone.  This one could be a strong contender for 'the one dish I would choose, if I could only eat one dish for the rest of my life'. 


And then it came - the long awaited Spaghetti.  I didn't know what I thought it would be like, but hype by nature builds up unrealistic expectations, and stacks the odds against the object to deliver on them.  Like the feeling you got when you were 12, and totally crushing on that cute celebrity who has been giving you smoldering looks from your Tiger Beat pullout on your wall, for like, ever - only to find when you finally meet them in person that they're 'not all that', or not very nice, or have all the personality of a paperweight (*ahem* hypothetically speaking). 

I wanted to be dazzled - and mulled over bite after bite, second guessing my taste buds, challenging them to find the magic.  But at last, it just wasn't there.  Taste is obviously subjective - I love fresh pasta but this just didn't do it for me. Personally I found the noodles to be too thick, tough and chewy, so that it felt like I had to put a lot of work into eating it.  The sauce was fantastic - clean and well balanced with the ratio of noodles, and just a hint of acidity - you could still taste the sunshine in the tomatoes, and smell the fragrant, fresh basil in its folds.  This was indeed one of the best sauces I've ever had (with giant caveat that I've never actually been to Italy) - but the dish just wasn't $24 good.  But I was glad I got to try it during dineLA, when I could feel like it really didn't cost as much - with the $28 being spread across three courses.

For dessert, I went with the Vanilla Caramel Budino with gianduja chocolate sable cookies.  I LOVED this - as the streaks left on the glass by an apparently frenzied tongue would attest.

I knew I would not have time to brush my teeth before going to my dentist - she was going to take one look in and shake her head in disgust. But the budino left me no choice - it lured me with its creamy sea salty sweet caramelly pie crust crunchy crumbly deliciousness!

The portions for each of the courses were very generous, and I had to take a few deep breaths at the end of the meal before I could polish off the two sable cookies. A nice deal for lunch, I think. As the items I ordered are all on the regular menu, you can see that the dineLA deal saves you an estimated $20 per person for these dishes.
 
So, Scarpetta is actually an Italian colloquialism meaning 'little shoe', which is the shape that bread starts to look like, when you use it to scoop up sauce on your plate.  I love that visual of a happy diner relishing the last few bites of their meal. 

And even though I think this will be my first and last "$24 spaghetti", as I scooped up the last of the crumbs from my three course meal - I was glad I got to try the spaghetti while it's 'on a deal'.  (For my money, I prefer the more inventive pastas of Osteria Mozza - and their 3-course prix fixe, almost any mozza bar starter+pasta+dessert+glass of wine now $42 per person Sundays-Thursdays). I did enjoy it well enough at the dineLA price - and now I can say "di fare la scarpetta" - I've done the Scarpetta.

[For photos from other meals / deals from dineLA Fall 2011, check out the album on my Facebook page]

On a 7 point scale:
Flavor - 5.5 bites
Presentation - 5.5 bites
Originality - 4.5 bites
Ambience - 6 stars
Service - 6 stars
Overall experience - 5.5 bites
Price - $$$$ (4 bite marks regular menu)
Probability of return visit - 90% (for polenta & other dishes)
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Scarpetta 
Montage Beverly Hills, 225 North Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Ph: 310.860.7970     

dineLA - $28 lunch, $44 dinner
Parking:  Self-parking in structure next to hotel - 2 hours free

Website: montagebeverlyhills.com
OpenTable: Look for reservations
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