The Knife

All' Angelo: Bragging rights

So last Friday, our friends wanted to go somewhere new for dinner. And by somewhere new they mean, of course, somewhere they haven't been AND that most of their friends haven't been AND maybe a place that they hadn't even heard of but could brag about later because I'm a food blogger, RIGHT?

Well, I could be a crap food blogger, which, the recent record will show, I may well be. (That's a crap food-blogger, not a crap-food blogger, despite my most recent post.)

But All' Angelo did me proud.

A word here: At this point, All' Angelo isn't exactly new. It's been open for a year and it's familiar enough to earn a best new restaurant slot in Esquire. But it's got a weird location (Melrose just east west of La Brea, where storefronts are easily overlooked) and a tough gig, since LA has something of a surfeit of Italian restaurants; like mice, they breed.

So this is what happens when you go to All' Angelo and put the owners in charge:

1. Spicy tuna tartare on crispy rice risotto cake
2. A puff of cauliflower puree and mascarpone cheese, with a Parmesan cream sauce (looks exactly like a scallop)
3. Melty tripe in tomato sauce
4. Papparadelle ravioli stuffed with ricotta, chicory and dandelion, with roasted tomaotes
5. Angus beef with a smear of a reduction sauce (so simple it could be on almost any menu, but I can't remember the last one that good)
6. Buttermilk panna cotta with fresh blueberry sauce
7. Lemon polenta cake with a mascarpone-and-cream brulee

How was it? Pretty great. I liked how Mirko Paderno toggled back and forth between refined (the cauliflower-mascarpone "scallop") and rustic (tripe!). The tasting menu runs $85 per person and portion sizes were kept in line. Stefano Ungaro is a consummate front-of-the-house guy who spends the night running to every table, keeping everyone's happiness in check. 

My only real complaint: Delicious as they were, I would have swapped out one of the five savory courses for something light, even a little acidic -- something as simple as arugula with lemon and olive oil. (Yes, I know, would wreak havoc with the wine. But really, would be worth abstaining for a course -- gives a breather from all the richness, you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone, etc.)

That said, my friends were duly impressed.

All'Angelo, 7166 Melrose Ave. (323) 933-9540

BREAKING NEWS: All' Angelo makes Esquire's Best New Restaurant list

Every October, Esquire's John Mariani compiles his list of the top  restaurants across the country. And this year, All' Angelo will be among them.

This is pretty cool for a number of reasons. One is that there have been lean years in which Mariani gave LA no love, although not recently. In 2005, Ortolan and Providence received local honors; in 2006, LA received Restaurant of the Year for Cut, but also took the prize for Most Emasculating Dessert (cotton candy at SimonLA) and worst city to order in front of a group (the Marilyn Monrolls at Geisha House, Republic's Oh! the World-Famous Mac n' Cheese, Providence's Nacho Ordinary Chocolate Dessert).

More importantly is national recognition like this can make a restaurant and All'Angelo deserves to be made.

Located on Melrose Avenue just west of the Rubicon that is La Brea Boulevard, its storefront is easy to overlook. Inside, it's a pleasant restaurant with a small bar at the back, a very good wine list and owner Stefano Ongaro. formerly of Valentino and Il Grano. In other words, it's an intimate space that takes Italian food seriously and in a town where every new-restaurant announcement comes with a "-lounge," that's no small feat.

End of sermon, although this seems as good a time as any to say that the first white truffles arrive from Italy Oct. 2 and All' Angelo will serve them Oct. 3. The white-truffle dinner is $180 per person; wine pairing is $45 additional. Advance reservations essential.

All' Angelo, 7166 Melrose Ave. (323) 933-9540