Dolce redux: This isn't tripe

Los Angeles is tough on former ingenues and celebrity restaurants. So it's not surprising that Dolce Enoteca & Ristorante underwent serious menu surgery a few weeks ago.

A little backstory: Dolce opened in 2003 as a boldface name in restaurant form -- Ashton Kutcher owned it (among others), celebrities flocked to it. Furthermore, while Dolce gets credit/blame for launching L.A.'s restaurant-as-nightclub fad, it was also hailed as a gustatory oxymoron -- a trendy restaurant that put food first, with chef Mirko Paderno (Valentino, Drago) and former Valentino sommelier Alessandro Sbrendola.

Since then, Dolce Group opened Geisha House, Les Deux and Ketchup, among others, as well as two more Dolces (Reno, Atlanta). But for the original Dolce, things got rough. Paderno left Dolce in September 2005, sometime after he made lobster ravioli for Nick and Jessica on "Newlyweds."  Sbrendola also found the exit. Big deal -- restaurant staffs are never bastions of stability -- but the celebrities started leaving, too.