Osteria La Buca: Inside the new space

Osteria La Buca's expansion is almost complete. Actually, I think it's all but done -- but except for all the permits (of course). They say it will be another two weeks.

Noted: Big windows facing Melrose Avenue; high ceilings; love the wine-bottle chandeliers (there's two); free of any Dodd Mitchellian touches (hurrah!). Also noted: Free corkage is now a thing of the past: La Buca has a license for wine, a list of same and corkage is $18.95. And: Donald Sutherland likes La Buca, too; that's the smallest slice of his shoulder in the right-hand corner's foreground, where he was sitting at the new bar sipping espresso with the owners. The woman in the back in the red cap, however, is far more important; that's the chef, otherwise known as the owners' mom.