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Travaglini--Nebbiolo at Its Best

This beautiful pale sparkler is made from a red wine grape--Nebbiolo. 

It's the Nebolé 2013, produced by Travaglini, a family-owned Italian winery that specializes in this grape.

Only the tips of the bunches are used for Nebolé, said Cinzia Travaglini (above) at a tasting and luncheon at Angelini Osteria in Los Angeles. These are greener and higher in acid, while those closer to the vine are better for red wines, she said.

Founded in the 1920s by Clemente Travaglini, the winery is located in Gattinara, a small area in northern Piedmont. It's the largest producer there, although just 52 of its 59 hectares (146 acres) of land are under vine.

Cinzia Travaglini runs the daily operation, and her husband Massimo Collauto is the head winemaker. Their daughter Alessia, at left, took part in the presentation in Los Angeles along with her mother. 

The area's rocky, mineral-rich soil produces elegant, easy to drink wines, Cinzia Travaglini said. For the Travaglini winery, this means only Nebbiolo, six of which were poured at the tasting, from young to library wines. 

The youngest was the Nebbiolo Coste Della Sesia DOC 2017, aged in stainless steel for 4 months and then in Slovenian oak for 10 months. Recommended for starters, pastas and roast meats, it paired well with the first course, an insalata caprese.

The next youngest was the Gattinara DOCG 2015 followed by two wines from 2013, the Gattinara Tre Vigne DOCG, which blends grapes from three vineyards, and the Gattinara Riserva DOCG from Travaglini's oldest vineyards. 

Two pasta dishes were now on the table, lasagna verde, made with green lasagne noodles and beef and veal ragu, and bombolotti alla Norma, large tubular ridged pasta with eggplant, tomato, basil and dried ricotta. 

Next came wines from two great vintages, the Gattinara Riserva DOCG 2009, made with the choicest grapes from the oldest vineyards, and the Gattinara Tre Vigne DOCG 2006 (above), a three-vineyard wine aged four years in Slovenian oak.

During the last year, part of the 2006 wine was removed, aged separately and then blended with the remaining wine, which then rested in the bottle for 10 months. Both of these are in limited availability. 

To go with wines of this caliber, Angelini offered a choice of grilled branzino filet (above), organic chicken or grilled hanger steak.

Alessia Travaglini explained that at first the emphasis at Travaglini was on quantity. Then her grandfather, Giancarlo Travaglini, switched the focus to quality. 

The last wine poured was his final project, Il Sogno 2014, which means The Dream. For this wine, Travaglini designed a special bottle that could capture sediment inside as the wine was poured.

Rather than crushed fresh, the grapes were dried for 100 days until half the moisture had evaporated. The sugar content is higher than in the other reds, but the sweetness is moderate (4.2%), and Il Sogno could go with red meats as well as aged cheese and, at the end of the meal, dark chocolate.

At Angelini Osteria, dessert was a cheese plate.

And a platter of housemade biscotti.

The wines in the photo were those served at lunch. Travaglini exports 65% of its production, and the United States is the main export market. Company policy is to maintain a good price point as well as quality, Cinzia Travaglini said. 

The Nebbiolo Coste Della Sesia DOC 2017 is a reasonable $21. The Gattinara DOCG 2015 is $33, and the prices rise from there to what one would expect for the dream wine Il Sogno, $128.

Any Time's the Right Time for Prosecco

Pizza and Prosecco. Is this a match made in heaven?

No, it's a match made at Eataly in Century City. 

The occasion: a Prosecco master class conducted by Luigi Capasso of Eataly's beverage operations.

The class reviewed eight Proseccos paired with pizzas from Fabio Ugoletti, Eataly's chef de cuisine. 

They weren't Neapolitan style pizzas but pizza romana, thick-crusted, crunchy at the bottom and soft inside. The dough for pizza romana is more moist and baked at a lower temperature than Neapolitan style pizza, Ugoletti said.

Unlike individual Neapolitan pizzas, pizza romana is large and long, meant to be cut into multiple servings.

Ugoletti (above) brought out five, with savory, sweet, earthy and bitter toppings designed to show how well Prosecco pairs with a variety of flavors.

Meanwhile, Capasso explained that Prosecco isn't just a popular sparkling wine but a tightly controlled product, named for the region in northeastern Italy where it is produced.

Bright and fresh, it's less expensive than classic Champagne, delivering quality at a reasonable price.

In 2018, 464,000,000 bottles were produced, of which 75% was exported. Slightly more than 20% of this went to the United States, the second largest export market.

Here are more Prosecco facts from Capasso:

The dominant grape is Giera, a semi-aromatic variety. Legally, Prosecco must be 85% Giera. The remaining 15% can be from a variety of approved grapes.

Prosecco is at it's best one year after harvest, but don't wait longer than two years to drink it.

There have been bogus Proseccos on the market. To make sure you have the real thing, look for Prosecco DOC on the label and the state mark and seal. Above is an example.

Each of the wines poured at the class tasted slightly different, some a little sweeter, some more aromatic or acidic, but all paired well with the pizzas.

They were Zonin Brut, Valdo Brut, Le Contesse Brut, Villa Sandi Il Fresco Brut, Torresella Extra Dry, Villa degli Olmi Extra Dry, La Marca Extra Dry and Mionetto Organic Extra Dry.

The first pizza was topped with calamari, clams, mussels  and shrimp.

Next came pizza with burrata, mortadella and pistachios.

If any flavor could challenge a wine, it would be the bitterness of radicchio on this pizza. But the Proseccos could handle it. Asiago cheese and walnuts helped to counteract the bitterness.

Truffles dominated this pizza. On top are zucchini and zucchini blossoms.

The most unusual was a sweet pizza with wildflower honey, Pecorino cheese and black pepper. This would be perfect for a sunny summer brunch.

As Capasso said, the balance of sugar and acidity makes Prosecco perfect with different cuisines and at any time of day. It's "something fun to drink."

Drinking Chianti with Italian Food

What fun to eat at a vintage Italian restaurant, a dark and cozy place with red checkered tablecloths, raffia-covered Chianti bottles hanging from the ceiling, lollipops to pick up when you leave and free matchbooks.

This is 70-year-old Miceli's in Hollywood, the perfect setting for a tasting of Chiantis, none of them wrapped in raffia. These were the wines of Tuscany's Castello di Albola, an estate in Radda in the heart of the Chianti district. Two are on Miceli's wine list, a Chianti Classico and a Chianti Riserva.

Winemaker Alessandro Gallo came to the tasting, which started with Chianti Classicos from 2015 and 2016. After these came Riservas from 2012 and 2014--Riservas are made from the best grapes in the vineyard, Gallo said. (Sangiovese is the main grape for all Chiantis. Small amounts of other approved grapes are allowed to be blended in.)

After these came the Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Santa Caterina 2013 and 2015, the first single vineyard wines from Castello di Albolo to be sent to the United States, Gallo said.

The wines range in price from around $16 for the Chianti Classicos and $18 to $21 for the Riservas to $90 for the Santa Caterina Gran Selezione Chiantis. 

It was glorious to taste such wines with old school Italian food, starting with the antipasto plate above. 

And fritto misto, an assortment of fried squid, fish and zucchini.

There was Caesar salad too.

Then, three types of pizza. This one is vegetarian.

This meaty pizza included pepperoni and Italian sausage. Another pasta was topped only with cheese. 

The "dessert" was Castello di Albola's luscious sweet Vin Santo rather than the tiramisu, canoli or spumoni from Miceli's menu. Made from Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes, it's "an unusual wine," Gallo said, and one that can age for years. This was the 2006 vintage.


With it here is Miceli's double espresso, the perfect way to end a hearty Italian lunch. 

What Real Italian Pizza Is Like

Simple things can be the best, like what Andrea Barbato calls the "original" Neapolitan pizza (above).

It's colorful and crisp, with almost no toppings compared to pizzas loaded with meats, sausages, cheeses, vegetables and more.

Barbato, who is from Naples, is chef at Domingo's Italian Deli in Encino, where he showed recently what Neapolitan pizzaiolos (pizza makers) really do. 

These are the steps he followed in making the "original" marinara pizza.

First, he placed a spoonful of tomato sauce on the crust.

Next, he spread it in smooth circles.

Then he added large pieces of garlic. 

And finally dried oregano and a sprinkling of olive oil.

The pizza then baked at high heat (700 to 800 degrees F) in Domingo's stone-floored oven (above).

The dough is made with 00 flour from Italy (above) and requires two types of yeast--granular dry yeast and mother yeast, which is a piece of yesterday's dough combined with a piece of the morning's batch of dough.

The dough should age for about eight hours before use. "If you make pizza immediately, the dough breaks," Barbato said, showing how to shape the dough by pressing it round and round on a floured surface. "No real pizza maker throws the dough," he said. 

You can't toss this kind of pizza together at the last minute for hungry kids. But there's a way around that. You can buy the pizza dough at Domingo's as well as house-made tomato sauce and, for serious bakers, 00 flour.

Domingo's Italian Deli, 17548 Ventura Blvd, Encino, CA 91316. Tel: (818) 981-4466.

Cecchi's Vermentino--It's a Winner

If the discovery of a new dish does a lot for the world, what about the discovery of a new wine? 

My world was certainly brightened by a Vermentino from Cecchi Family Estates in Tuscany. Dry, bright and fresh with a touch of minerality, it's perfect for the food I like to eat-- Indian, Thai, Mexican and Middle Eastern.

The wine is Cecchi La Mora Vermentino Maremma DOC 2016 (in the glass at the front). The price is, amazingly, $15 or less. Vermentino isn't rare. It's one of the most important grapes in Italy, said Andrea Cecchi (at the top) during a lunch and tasting at Cecconi's West Hollywood. Vermentino is planted in California too.

The Cecchi wine stands out because it comes from a newer appellation, Maremma Toscana. Maremma was once considered wild and unruly, home to wild horses, Cecchi said. On the Mediterranean coast where the climate is dry, warm and windy, Maremma has been discovered as a wine area, and Cecchi sees great potential there.

The Cecchi Vermentino honors the region's horsey tradition with the name La Mora, which means female horse, and by showing a horse on the label (above). The wine is 100% Vermentino and was fermented in stainless steel.

The Cecchi family entered the wine business in 1893 and now has five estates, three of them with restaurants. At the Maremma estate, Val delle Rose, the restaurant serves local dishes such as tortello (a stuffed pasta) with ricotta and spinach, wild boar stew, osso buco and tagliatelle with meat sauce. 

Vermentino "is fantastic with fish dishes," Cecchi said. And for lunch we tasted it with calamari fritti with lemon and chili aioli (above).

And with organic salmon with caponata and aged balsamic, accompanied by baby broccoli (above).

The Vermentino even stood up to the acidic dressing on a first-course salad (above).

I could drink this Vermentino every day, but Cecchi thinks differently. "For me, every day wine is red," he said. His choice is the Cecchi Storia di Famigilia Chianti Classico DOCG 2014. Aged eight months in barrels and more than a year in bottles, it is 95% Sangiovese plus 5% Colorino Toscana, a red grape used to impart color.

Rainfall in Tuscany turned 2014 into a bad vintage, Cecchi said, requiring careful selection of grapes to produce this wine.  The alcohol content is 13%. The price is $21. 

Next Cecchi poured the elegant Cecchi Riserva di Famiglia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2013, $41. Deeper in color than the Storia di Famigilia, it is 90% Sangiovese and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. It's a beautiful, refined, dark cherry-red wine.

And then came the super Tuscan Coevo 2011, $106, which Cecchi is drinking in the photo. Coevo, meaning contemporary, is a fit name for this stylish blend of grapes from two areas. The composition is Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon from Chianti, and Merlot and Petit Verdot from Maremma, Cecchi said.

Each varietal was fermented separately. The wine was then aged in oak for 18 months and in the bottle for 12 months. The alcohol content is 13.5%. 

Cecchi Family Estates is a large producer--70 million bottles a year. In addition to winery restaurants, the company plans to open a cooking school, but that won't be for a couple of years. 

An Italian Lunch with Wines of Soave

It was a glorious golden afternoon in Los Angeles. Sea breezes fluttered through the window. There was good food on the table. And cool wine to drink, fresh, aromatic, and perfect for a warm day.  

The place was Obicà Mozzarella Bar Pizza e Cucina on Sunset Boulevard, where a small group had gathered to taste the wines of Anselmi. This winery is in Soave in the Veneto region of northeastern Italy. Chilling in ice buckets for lunch were three Anselmi white wines. 

Presenting them was Lisa Anselmi (at the top), who was on a quick tour of the United States.  Her father, Roberto, and brother, Tommaso, are the winemakers. 

The primary grape used in Soave's white wines is Garganega. A Soave wine must contain at least 70% Garganega, Anselmi said, and one that we were going to taste was 100% Garganega. This was the Anselmi Capitel Croce 2013 (above), which spent time in French oak, emerging with full, fruity flavors and a deeper color than the other two, which saw no oak.

We tried the wines before lunch, without food, as Anselmi suggested. Perfect that way was the 2015 San Vincenzo (above). “In my opinion, an aperitif is the best way to drink San Vincenzo,” she said.

Crisp and dry, with notes of pineapple, it was lovely with this antipasto board. 

And with burrata topped with smoked salmon, sea urchin and bottarga (above), melted cheese toast and other appetizers. 

San Vincenzo, which accounts for 75% of Anselmi’s production, is composed of 80% Garganega, 10% Chardonnay and 10% Sauvignon Blanc. Although Anselmi calls it “an entry level wine,” the 2015 San Vincenzo wound up in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 wines for 2016.

Next came the 2013 Capitel Foscarino, a single vineyard estate wine fermented and vinified in stainless steel. This wine is 90% Garganega and 10% Chardonnay. The best pairing is with Soave's local white asparagus, Anselmi said.

The 2013 Capitel Croce followed. “The idea is to give three different styles of the territory,” Anselmi said, two of them from single vineyards. The Foscarino vineyard is on volcanic soil, located in the hills and higher than the Croce vineyard, where soils are limestone. The two vineyards are one air mile apart.

Capitel Croce could age as long as 10 years, Anselmi said. She recommends it with, among other dishes, mushroom risotto. And that is what she ordered for lunch, Obicà’s risotto al tartufo nero (above). The strong mushroom flavors paired well with the rich wine. 

I asked Anselmi if the risotto was as good as risotto in Italy. She said yes, adding that Italian food in America is getting better every year.

Then a sweet treat came out for dessert, Anselmi's I Capitelli from 2011. The grapes—all Garganega--have to be perfect for this wine, so it is not made very year, Anselmi said. The next vintage released will be 2015.

This is not a late harvest wine. To produce the concentrated flavor, the grapes are stored for 2 1/2 months in a room where humidity, temperature and air are monitored 24 hours a day. After that come barrel fermentation and a year of aging. The back label says "passito bianco," meaning a white wine made by this method. 

The deep gold, sweet wine was lovely with desserts at Obicà.

Here it is with torta di Capri, a flourless chocolate and almond cake topped with fior di latte ice cream.

The Anselmi winery was founded in 1948 by Lisa Anselmi's grandfather, Almerino Anselmi. In those days, Soave producers turned out huge quantites of inexpensive wine. The Anselmi winery was no exception, producing 15 million bottles a year.

Then Anselmi, a hard-working visionary, decided to switch to quality production, buying vineyards and focusing on serious wines from estate grapes. Slowly, the Anselmi reputation began to grow. 

Today, the winery produces 750,000 to 800,000 bottles a year. The grapes come from 40 hectares of its own land and 30 more that are rented (a hectare is about 2.47 acres). The one red wine is a small production of Cabernet Sauvignon that is not exported to the United States.

Serious Soave wines still face a challenge. Eighty per cent of Soave production today is controlled by cooperatives, Anselmi said at the lunch. These produce large amounts of cheap wine. Of the acres under cultivation, only 10% are in the hands of quality producers. 

Anselmi Soaves are not stratospherically priced. The suggested retail for San Vincenzo is $20, but less online. The most expensive would be I Capitelli, but dessert wines of this caliber are always pricey. 

So if you see a really cheap Soave, hesitate before you buy. It’s not the bargain you may think it is.

Italian Wines and Pizzas at Mozza

Six wines and four pizzas--it was a fun lunch at Pizzeria Mozza, but informative too.

Three visiting Italian winemakers provided the wines, and Mozza produced the pizzas along with appetizers, a salad and an outrageously rich dessert.

In this case, the food was vital. "In Italy, there is no wine without food," emphasized Giovanni Nencini (above), who shepherded the winemakers on their U.S. tour.

As soon as the first wines were poured, the appetizers began to appear, starting with marinated baby peppers stuffed with tuna (above).

Then potatoes that had been deep-fried along with garbanzo beans and herbs (above).

And Brussels sprouts with prosciutto breadcrumbs (above).

First to be poured were two white wines from Pieropan in Soave, the 2015 Soave Classico and the 2014 La Rocca, made from the grapes Garganera and Trebbiano di Soave.

Pieropan was the first vineyard in Soave to release a single-vineyard Soave classico. That was in 1971. The winemaker now is Dario Pieropan (above), who said, "Soave is coming back for the new generation. People are falling in love with it."

And what's not to love about the dry, elegant 2015 Classico? Steely and crisp, it paired well with the fried potatoes, while creamier La Rocca balanced the acidity in the sprouts.

Although highly acidic, this salad of arugula, mushrooms and Piave cheese couldn't squelch the Classico. And the wine might also go well with Indian food, said Nencini, in response to a guest's question. 

Now red wines were poured, and it was time for the pizzas.

The first two reds were the Renato Ratti 2014 Langhe Nebbiolo Ochetti and the Renato Ratti 2012 Marcenasco Barolo from Piedmont. They're in front in the photo above. Both were made from the Nebbiolo grape, which, said Pietro Ratti, is "the best grape we have in the world."

Ratti is the son of the late Renato Ratti, the winery founder. The Langhe Nebbiolo came from vines that grow in sandy soil, the Barolo, clay soil. Fruity and easy, the Langhe Nebbiolo could age at most five years, he said, but the beautiful big Barolo would last much longer. 

Both were perfect to drink now with the pizzas. Above is a white pizza made with three cheeses--fontina, mozzarella and sottocenere.

In the photo at the top is a pizza with squash blossoms, tomato and burrata, and another with prosciutto, arugula, tomato and mozzarella.

The richly meaty pizza in the lower left corner of the photo above came with bacon, salame, fennel sausage and guanciale as well as tomato and mozzarella.

The pizzas were also perfect foils for two super Tuscans from the winery Brancaia (at the back in the photo of the four red wines). They were the 2010 Il Blu and the 2012 Ilatraia, which were the  priciest wines of the tasting--Il Blu at $85 and Ilatraia at $70.

Each was blended differently, Il Blu from Sangiovese and Merlot with 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, and Ilatraia from equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot and 20% Cabernet Franc.

Brancaia's winemaker is Barbara Widmer (pouring wine, above), whose parents, Brigitte and Bruno Widmer, bought the estate and vineyards after they fell in love with Tuscany and moved there from Switzerland.

Lunch took place in the dark, cave-like wine room at Pizzeria Mozza. By the end, dessert was hardly necessary, but out came plates of super rich bittersweet chocolate cake with Perugian chocolates, including chocolate-coated honeycomb (above).

This was an opportunity to test red wines with chocolate, which some say can be a great combination. However, Nencini disagreed. Chocolate's acidity kills wines, he said. The only possible pairing he could see would be with a sweet wine such as Port, or even with rum. Better than both was the last drink of the lunch--coffee. 

Soave, Your Go-To Italian White Wine

These 10 wines range from pale as moonlight to a deep honey gold.  Each differs in aroma and flavor, yet all are the same--in one respect. They are all white wines from the region of Soave in the Veneto in northeastern Italy.

Soave has nothing to do with the word suave, meaning smooth and polished. But in a broader sense the word applies, because these are polished wines that you would enjoy having on your table.

You could even go all Soave and not get bored, because the wines range from big and fruity to lean and elegant to dessert wines with honeyed sweetness. There's sparkling wine too. 

You'd have to give up Chardonnay though, because the lead grape for Soave is Garganega, which accounts for 94 % of the grapes planted in the region. There's a small amount of Chardonnay, but some of those vines are being pulled out.  

The other grape you'll encounter is Trebbiano di Soave, which is blended with Garganega in some wines. However, there's new interest in Trebbiano and in wines that use only that grape. An example is above.

To promote the wine, the Soave Consorzio Tutela presented a Sensational Soave Master Class with two experts assigned to impart as much information as possible. They were master sommelier Evan Goldstein and (above) Giovanni Ponchia of the Consorzio. The class took place at Terroni in downtown Los Angeles.

A few facts: In 1931 Soave and Chianti became the first two geographically delimited wine production zones in Italy.  Soave now has close to 100 wineries and 3,000 grape growers. Traditionally, the wine blended equal parts Garganega and Trebbiano di Soave. Now a Soave must contain at least 70% Garganega. The best wines use only this grape.

Then there are classifications within the region such as Soave DOC, which is the broadest category,  Soave Classico DOC, a more limited area, and Soave Colli Scaligeri DOC (hillside wines). 

A food friendly wine, Soave can pair with anything except bold, hearty dishes. "It's my al fresco go to wine," Goldstein said.

Taking a break, attendees went to a reception with appetizers accompanied by the non vintage Riondo Soave DOC Spumante "Castelforte Excelsa Brut" (above). This wine costs about $9, a terrific price when you need sparklers for a party.

Soave goes with "anything that swims, anything that clings to a rock," Goldstein said. As an example, lunch started with these skewers of calamari and shrimp. The wines were the 2014 Dal Cero Soave DOC "Corte Giacobbe" and the 2014 Fattori Soave DOC "Danieli".

Then on to risotto with luganega sausage and parmigiano (above) and two 2013 wines, the Casarotto Soave Classico DOC "Vigne di Fittà and Suavia Soave Classico DOC "Monte Carbonare."

To go with veal scaloppini with prosciutto, sage and roasted vegetables (above), there were two more 2013 wines, Marcato Soave Classico DOC "Monte Tenda" and Cantina di Monteforte Soave Superiore DOCG Classico "Vigneti di Castellaro."

Those names are real mouthfuls. One that I liked especially well was the 2014 Latium Morini, much easier to say. Full of bright tropical fruit flavors despite its pale color, it's a blend of 80% Garganega, 15% Trebbiano di Soave and the rest Sauvignon Blanc. 

The last wine in the pre-lunch tasting was the deep golden Franchetto Recioto di Soave  DOCG "Santin Dulco," so sweet it would make a lovely dessert on its own. The sweetness comes from Garganega grapes left to dry for four months, thus concentrating their juices. 

Half of the 17 wines tasted that day were priced at under $20, making Soave as affordable as it is versatile.  

Cardamom: Not Ordinary Indian Food

Thank God for Cardamom. I can walk there, and that's reason enough to be grateful.  Even better is the extensive wine list, which you don't ordinarily find in an Indian restaurant.  

Smart and sleek--the work of a French designer--it's a cool place to eat your chicken tikka, but not to chow down on cheap Indian buffet food.  Cardamom doesn't sink to that level. It does, however, offer a lunch special for $11.95 based on dishes from the regular menu.

That chicken tikka, murgh tikka to use the Indian name, is nicely presented, with grilled red and green bell peppers and a yogurt-mint sauce (above). It's yellow from the spicing, not tinted red with food color, which isn't allowed in this kitchen. If you insist on red tandoori chicken, go elsewhere.  

Red chiles printed on the menu indicate spiciness, from one chile for subtly spiced to four for extremely hot. I found gosht (lamb) bhuna and Chetinad murgh, chicken in south Indian spiced coconut sauce, to be hotter than I expected from their single chiles.

Jhinga patia, tiger shrimp in a showy red sauce (above), didn't rate a single chile, despite its spiciness.

This was a good opportunity to see what wines could hold up to such food. Interestingly, a light, acidic French red wine, Chanson Le Bourgongne Pinot Noir 2011, which seemed unimpressive on its own, won out over a very good Malbec, Salentein Reserve 2013.

In another pairing, Marc Brédif Vouvray Classic 2012, a light, faintly sweet wine that seemed meant for Indian food, lost out to the more assertive minerality of Domaine Michel Girault Sancerre La Silicieuse 2012.   

These two white wines fought it out over an appetizer plate (above) that included what I thought was the best dish of the day--jhinga koliwada. Crunchy and a little spicy, this is Mumbai style shrimp, seasoned with garlic, ginger and other spices and fried. It's at upper right in the photo. 

In front of the shrimp, Cardamom's vegetable samosa is much lighter than the usual heavy potato samosas that fill you up so you can't eat anything more.

Similarly, among the desserts, gulab jamun (above) are light and fresh, not heavy balls of fried dough. Appealing in its subtlety, malai ice cream is made just with milk, no added flavorings, although it tasted richer than that. Another dessert, gajar ka halwa, or carrot halwa, is barely sweet. You could even serve it as a side dish at Thanksgiving dinner. 

Cardamom opened a few months ago, replacing India's Oven. The long menu veers away from standard Indian food to dishes you won't find elsewhere, like its rendition of Chetinad murgh (above).

Care has been taken with the seasonings. For example, the spicy lamb bhuna (above) could have been a one-note dish, but it tastes of sweet spices too, and I saw curry leaves in the pot.

I've not been inspired to eat much Indian food lately, because it's so routine and sometimes over-priced in relation to quality. That's why I'm glad Cardamom is in my neighborhood.

Cardamom, 7233 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036. (323) 936-1000. Check its website for more information.

Before and After Pizzas at DeSano

Take a look at my pomodorini pizza at DeSano Pizza Bakery in East Hollywood. The little cherry tomatoes added a vibrant pop of acidic flavor as well as brilliant color. The basil leaves in the center were a nice decoration, but I wanted more.  

Here's the pizza after I doctored it up with additional basil begged from the kitchen. Two friends, whose margherita pizzas did not include the basil promised on the menu, also had to ask. What we got was hair-fine shreds. Leaves would have added more flavor.

The crust was thin and crisp in places. Tasted alone it was delicious, like good bread dough. Above is the Italian flour used to make it.

Ingredients serve as decorations, like these cans of Italian olive oil. The condiment station includes a decanter of olive oil, but I wouldn't recommend dipping anything in it, or adding it to your pizza. Rather than fresh and fruity, it was dull and unpleasant, perhaps from standing too long.  Even oil protected by a can will deteriorate if not used reasonably soon.   

Here are the canned tomatoes that were on my pizza. In this case, canned was better than fresh. They were loaded with flavor.

At DeSano, you pay for your pizza, then go to an enormous room lined with communal tables. It's self-service, except the pizza you have ordered will be brought to your table. A bottle opener is mounted on the wall. There's water in a serve-yourself container. The napkins are rolls of paper towels. Containers on the tables hold plastic forks and knives.    

The cooks work in full view so you can watch as the dough is shaped and see the pizzas as they come from the wood-burning ovens (above). They're placed on trays, not plates, and rushed to your table by a server who calls out the order number.

If you can't eat all of your pizza, no problem, just help yourself to a take-out box from the stack by the ingredient displays. 

Driving past, the low building looks like an abandoned warehouse or factory, but inside it's full of action. Aside from the food, its most important attribute is outside--lots of free parking.

DeSano Pizza Bakery, 4959 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90029. Tel: (323) 913-7000.