God bless former Rocca chef-owner Don Dickman, but Matteo's remains an Italian mausoleum, a restaurant with red vinyl booths upholstered in faded leopard-print canvas, where the entrance features a trophy case of celebrity photos and the dining room features customers who became loyalists long before they needed walkers.
In August, Dickman launched Tuesday Pig Nights. The porchetta's authentic, but the sincerity feels misplaced. Granted, we're emerging from a foul heat wave, but I'm not sure who wants roasted pork and potatoes until November. (Roast pig did help keep the lights on last summer at the late Norman's, but he went for more of a patio-picnic vibe.)
You can eat well -- fine panzanella, prosciuitto with the sweetest melon -- but it still feels out of whack. Once upon a time, the clown paintings and the windowless dining room must have seemed like the height of glamour. It could be kitschy fun, but probably not without alienating the original patrons who still embrace it without irony.
Noise-O-Meter: A staid 60-63 dBs
Matteo's, 2321 Westwood Blvd. (310) 475-4521
You need to get the dudes who hipify faded glory places. They did Bigfoot Lodge in Atwater Village and The Little Cave in Highland Park. If you kept the Rat Pack without the Packrat vibe, you'd have something.
Posted by: Big Bomb | September 05, 2007 at 10:01 AM
But the pig is SOOOOOO good. Don is cooking it up Cuban-style on la Caja China. It's even better than it was at Rocca. I also recommend the Spaghetti Vongole and his amazing salumi. Ambience be damned...I'm all about the pig and Don knows his pig.
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