Archive for 'Italian'

Orris Morphs into Spaghetti House, Brings Japanese Pasta to Sawtelle

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There is something happening on Sawtelle these days. Empty spaces are being filled, tons of coming soon signs are going up, and for the first time in awhile Little Osaka doesn’t feel like a tired, second rate alternative to the South Bay (third rate if you include Little Tokyo.)  There’s still a long way to go, but signs are pointing in the right direction. With the opening of Tusjita, West L.A. can legitimately lay claim to serving the best ramen and tsukemen in L.A., and Ramen Jinya is also on the way (presumably to capitalize on the lunchtime overflow and give people a dinner time ramen option?) Plan Check is opening Feb. 22nd. Blockheads Shavery is now open on Mississippi, for all those people looking to try the hot-right-now Taiwanese shaved snow phenomenom. And coffee snobs now have Balconi and Cafe Tomo.  Gr/eats, which closed on Monday, is supposedly going to become another tsukemen place.  And the empty space next to Tsujita is going to be a new Vietnamese cafe called Nong L.A.  Even food trucks are getting in on the action.  Signage recently went up for a brick and mortar location of the Slice Truck.  (Huzzah?)

And if you like Japanese pasta we were excited to find last week courtesy of Lunch’er Dylan that Orris, the French/Japanese restaurant owned by Chef Shiro (of Restaurant Shiro in Pasadena), has become Spaghetti House.

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Fat Spoon is a Solid Option Out of the Gate

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Most people will point to upscale cocktail bars, fancy pour over coffee shops, and hip gastro-pubs as the only proof you need that Downtown is experiencing a major resurgence.  But for the Midtown Lunch crowd, nothing says DTLA hotness like the rise of the Asian fast casual lunch spot. Starry Kitchen (which, at 18 months old, could be considered the old Grandpa of the trend) hit the scene to huge fanfare last year, and it looks as if others have taken notice. Spice Table started their under $10 banh mi lunch menu four months ago, Flying Pig Cafe followed a few months later, and last week Fat Spoon got into the fray (not to be confused with Wood Spoon, the great Brazilian place on 9th & Main.)

Fat Spoon features a menu of Japanese curry and Italian pastas, a unlikely sounding combo- until you find out that Italian style pastas are huge in Japan.  In some ways it sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.  But unlike Flying Pig, which seemed to stumble a bit out of the gate, Fat Spoon seems ready to dominate on week one.

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Are Coly’s Stromboli As Exciting as They Sound?

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A few weeks ago Coly’s Stromboli opened up in Downtown L.A. (at 456 Hill) and I couldn’t help but be excited by the description posted on Blog Downtown: “Imagine a calzone, a slice of pizza and a burrito had a threesome and somehow made a baby named Strombol”.  For some reason that particular description caused me to ignore the fact that I’ve had access to stromboli all my life (they can usually be spotted getting stale behind the glass of mall food court pizzerias.)  But I’ve never seen a place that specializes in stromboli.  Perhaps they’ve unlocked some kind of  pizzazonerito magic that has previously been undiscovered!?

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Il Forno’s $6 Take Out Special is Carbtacular!

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A few weeks ago I couldn’t help but notice profiled L.A. lunch’er Himanshu’s go-to lunch recommendation in Santa Monica.  Usually a go-to lunch is the place you hit up when you’re feeling lazy and unadventurous- but this one stood out as a tiny bit awesome:  “Lunch specials at Il Forno (2901 Ocean Park Blvd) $6 for pasta + excellent bread”.  $6?  And you get “excellent bread”?   How could I not?

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Mozza2Go Now Selling Two Pizza For $20

**Since this post was originally published, Mozza2Go has begun to offer these specials daily**

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I don’t know if there are many absolute food truths in this world, but one that is seemingly undeniable is that Nancy Silverton is an L.A. food goddess. And nowhere is that more evident than at Pizzeria Mozza. Minor quibbles aside (some people just have to be contrarian!), the place is awesome… so much so, I’ve been back more than once. (Which is saying a lot considering how much catching up I have to do since moving back to L.A. from NYC at the beginning of the year after 4+ years away.) Obviously the place isn’t a Midtown Lunch, but when Mozza To Go opened up around the corner it didn’t give me hope that maybe- just maybe- we could squeeze a $10 lunch item out of the Mozza empire. Sadly on their whole menu of pizzas and sandwiches (sorry, I think of salads as an appetizer not a lunch!) only one thing qualifies: the $10 tomato pizza with oregano and extra virgin olive oil. I’m guessing that means no cheese, right? A cheese-less pizza? (*sigh*) Can Midtown Lunch really endorse this?

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Obligatory Bay Cities Lunch (And I Did It In Under 40 Minutes)

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Over the weekend I had these words thrown at me by a good friend: “You’re a foodie a you haven’t been to Bay Cities yet!” First of all, don’t ever call me the F word. And if you ever hear me using the F word to describe myself, feel free to tell me to shut up.  (Unless I’m calling myself fat.  Because that is true.)  Second of all… uh… no.  I haven’t been to Bay Cities yes.  Is that bad? Is this is a challenge?  Do I need to fix this right away by scarfing a giant Italian sub with the works while sitting on a sidewalk in Santa Monica?  Yes, yes I do.

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