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The Pizza of the Week

Actually, it was the only pizza I ate this week, so I chose carefully, and it was fine.

The place was Terroni, and the pizza was a white one called mangiabhun, with mozzarella, rapini, garlic and little blobs of Italian sausage that is made at the restaurant. With its light topping, it seemed the right thing to order on the first hot day of summer.

Others at the table chose a pizza with red sauce, but that wasn't heavy either, as the tomato sauce was spread very thin.

Topped with, mozzarella, gorgonzola, Italian sausage and red onion slivers in addition to the tomato, this one was called smendozzata.

Terroni's menu states that the pizzas are to be eaten with knife and fork. However, slicing them required two people, one to hold the pizza in place and the other to cut. The crusts are thin, but they are chewy, and a serrated knife isn't powerful enough to get through them. 

Therefore, we all wound up eating our pizzas with our hands, and hoping that Terroni wouldn't send out the kitchen police to scold us. 

Mangiabhun and smendozzata pizzas are $17 at Terroni, 7605 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036. Tel: (323) 954-0300.

 

Take a Break at Baciami

If you're doing last minute Christmas shopping on Larchmont Boulevard (or go there afterward for the sales), drop into Baciami. It's the newest eating place on the street, specializing in crepes and gelati.

You can lunch on a savory crepe, composing the filling from such ingredients as turkey bacon, tuna, chicken, avocado, mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach and cheeses. The price is $8.75 to $10.75, depending upon how many you choose.

The crepe in the photo was my choice--Gruyere, ham and caramelized onions.

Each is made to order--you can watch the procedure because the griddle is in full view--and each comes with a small salad.

After that, you ought to explore the sorbets and gelati. These are made at Il Cono, Baciami's sister restaurant in Beverly Hills. Ask for a taste before you choose. I thought red-streaked cheesecake gelato was wonderful, although cheesecake is not my favorite dessert.

The more than 30 flavors offered daily include cappuccino, mint, pistachio, Nutella, coffee, chocolate, Oreo and toasted almond.  Among the sorbets, limoncello ought to be good at a place that prides itself on its Italian recipes.  

If you need a last minute gift, you can pick it up here, from an assortment of luscious chocolates that Baciami will pack to order. 

Flavors include caramel sea salt, liquid caramel, hazelnut truffles, saffron marzipan and milk chocolate crowns filled with orange-flavored dark chocolate ganache. If you can get the box home without sneaking a sample, you're a stronger person than I am.   

Baciami Gelateria & Creperie, 139 1/2 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004. Tel: (323) 336-8110.  

Fast Moving Chefs at Minestraio

Sometimes the worst table in a restaurant is the best.

This happened at Minestraio when I wound up at a table that faced the kitchen door. I missed the scene in the main room, but I watched a better show--chef/owner Gino Angelini in action.

The pressure was heavy. Angelini and executive chef Gianluca Sarti were cooking for an Italian delegation in town to promote next year's World Figure Skating Championships in Turin.

The visitors had talked about the glories of Piedmont, the region in which Turin is located. Now it was up to the chefs to show off the cuisine. A chef from Piedmont had drawn up the menu, but they had to devise the recipes. 

As the door swung open, I watched Angelini orchestrate every course, check every tray of plates headed for the tables, constantly moving, bobbing up and down, running back and forth, calling out instructions.

My blurry photos make the point. Angelini never stopped, certainly not for a camera. Sarti was deeper in the kitchen, I couldn't see him through the crack in the door.

While the guests relaxed and sipped Gavi and Barbera d'Alba, the chefs sent out battuto di vitello, marinated chopped raw veal with a pale green celery sauce and shavings of Parmesan cheese.

Bagna cauda, Piedmont's famous anchovy and garlic dip, became a dressing for shredded Savoy cabbage and roasted red pepper.

The last of three antipasti was an ethereal molded carrot pudding surrounded by a velvety sauce made with  Piedmont's  Grana Padano cheese.

Next came risotto, chewy grains of rice cooked with Barolo wine. Plain and undecorated, just a flat circle of dark rice on a white plate, it was like a woman so beautiful she wore no gems to distract from her perfection.

Cream of zucchini soup had unexpected assertive flavors. The chefs had blended the cooled soup with extra virgin olive oil and Parmesan and served it at room temperature.

The main course was veal that had been marinated for 48 hours with red wine, aromatic vegetables, rosemary, sage and thyme and then braised. Its accompaniments were golden roasted potatoes and spinach flan.

To show off Piedmont's hazelnut crop, the chefs had decided on a hazelnut cake bathed with pale yellow zabaglione flavored with Piedmont's Moscato d'Asti, the wine poured with the dessert. 

And then dinner was over and Angelini and Sarti burst out to take their bows. The applause was rousing for these stars of an edible drama.

"Bravo, Gino." "Bravo Gianluca." Many thanks for a delicious performance. 

Minestraio Trattoria, 8384 W. 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048. Tel: (323) 782-8384.

A Stimulus to Eat at Lago

You can have a stimulus package right now at Locanda del Lago in Santa Monica.

This Italian restaurant on the Third Street Promenade has set a blackboard outside advertising its stimulus menu--two courses for $15. This would be a high price for "poor" food prepared in massive quantities, as if Lago were a trendy soup kitchen.

But there's no economizing here. "Stimulate your cravings, not your wallet," the menu says.

Instead of bulky, grainy dishes and tough, gristly meats, you get high end food such as vitello tonnato (chilled veal tenderloin with creamy tuna-caper aioli), tiger shrimp wrapped with Parma prosciutto, a salad of grilled chicken breast with warm Gorgonzola dressing and toasted walnuts, and a "Euro" burger blanketed with Robiola cheese on a good bun.

These are four out of nine main dishes. The three starters are similarly ambitious. Well, there is a green salad, but, judging by the rest of the food, it must be quite good. The soup is an unusual cream of Savoy cabbage with fried Brussels sprouts, topped with long thin ciabatta croutons.

The third choice, a meal in itself, lets you choose anything you want from the tavola freddo, the chilled appetizer buffet.

There were so many choices that I had to leave several behind. My plate was already handsomely filled with grilled eggplant, marinated mushrooms, sliced sweet peppers, tomato slices with fresh mozzarella and basil, a frittata wedge, a tomato half stuffed with risotto and several slices of bresaola--dark red, air-dried salted beef accompanied by arugula and shaved Parmesan.

After this I ordered pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese, or pappardelle (made at the restaurant with buckwheat flour) combined with fried fresh sage sprigs, finely diced Yukon gold potatoes, garlic and a Bitto cheese sauce. The pasta arrived covered with a single leaf of braised Savoy cabbage, like a pretty green, edible dome.

There was no skimping, no eliminating of extras.  The waiter brought a basket of good, warm bread, butter and a container of olive oil.

Like other shoppers, my friends and I had dropped in because we liked the look of the restaurant and the menu. And we stayed for a long time, enjoying the pleasant, open space. 

The challenge to our stimulus savings was the dessert menu. We simply couldn't resist a semifreddo di zabaglione, a small cake of frozen hazelnut ice cream topped with a bright yellow slice of star fruit and a mint sprig and surrounded by swirls of caramel sauce.

Economizing on calories and budgets, we split the semifreddo four ways, adding $2.25 to each of our stimulus lunches, a small sum for such a beautiful creamy dessert.

Locanda del Lago, 231 Arizona Ave. in the Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, CA 90401. Tel: (310) 451-3525.

A Big Crowd at Little Dom's

Restaurants are closing right and left. Where are the customers? A lot of them are in Little Dom's, which was so mobbed on a weekday night that you'd never guess a recession was in progress.

When tables emptied, they filled again. And the buzz was ear-splitting, not from bad acoustics but from so many people crowded into a small, cozy space.  Actually two spaces--a bar lined with booths and the restaurant itself, which is closely packed with booths, small window tables and larger tables in the center.

A third room contains a deli stocked with homemade pasta and sauces, sandwiches, deli salads and desserts. It's open during the day. 

Novelty isn't the attraction, because Little Dom's has been open for more than a year. The location is good--Hillhurst Avenue near Los Feliz, a lively restaurant strip with more places to come, including a Korean barbecue restaurant that will occupy some of the empty space next to Little Dom's.

The food is what everybody likes--pizza and pasta, plus interesting appetizers, salads and seasonal specials. 

Monday bargain suppers--three courses for $15--cater to the weak economy.

The March 16 supper will include fried green tomatoes, red bean and andouille risotto and banana gelato with Banana's Foster sauce.

Chef and co-owner Brandon Boudet is from New Orleans and freely mixes Creole and Cajun tastes with Italian.

This results in fusion dishes such as risotto "Jambalaya," grilled orata (gilthead seabream), a fish popular in Italy, paired with crawfish tails, fresh fava beans and roasted tomato, and spicy linguine with New Orleans style barbecued crawfish.

That linguine was one of the best dishes I had, a cohesive blend of flavors and ingredients.

Other dishes were rich, fried and cheesy, which made a simple presentation of farmer's market baby carrots a standout. A grilled artichoke appetizer was also appealing, although the leaves had little meat to chew on. 

That night's specials included sticks of polenta and mascarpone that looked like fat French fries, accompanied by a three-cheese dip (taleggio, gorgonzola dolce and parmigiano). Rich indeed, but the polenta "fries" were surprisingly light.

Rich and light blended in a salad of firm, sweet fuyu persimmon with arugula, balsamic dressing and a golden-brown square of fried fontina cheese.

A foodie friend who was leaving as I came in raved about pappardelle, long strips of pasta combined with small mounds of ricotta, crumbled fennel-flavored sausage made at the restaurant, and chewy fresh green peas. 

Not everything was perfect. Pizza Margherita with herbed ricotta was a little bland, and the topping quickly softened the thin crisp crust. And a few rancid pine nuts had sneaked into the topping for my dessert, torta della nonna with blackberry sauce and sweet cream gelato.

This wouldn't stop me from going back. Little Dom's is warm and cheerful, dark and old fashioned, like a well-seasoned corner bistro. The attention to fresh seasonal foods, farmers market produce and local products such as burrata from South El Monte outweighs the random mishap.

Little Dom’s,  2128 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027.  Tel: (323) 661-0055. Open daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. for breakfast and lunch. Dinner is 6 to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 6 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. The deli is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.