All' Angelo: The Soul of Italy
Stefano Ongaro found a former Indian restaurant at 7166 Melrose Avenue, redesigned its interior beautifully and named it after his father, Angelo. The All' which precedes the name stands for "Place"! This is Angelo's Place! And a warm, inviting place it is.
We arrived an hour later than we planned and Stefano greeted us cordially. He turned us over to Carlo, his G.M. and we were escorted to our table overlooking the entire room. There are no bad tables among the twenty in this small, but beautiful room. Blonde woodwork frames the onionskin walls. They are adorned with
hand-blown Murano glass sconces that gently light the dining room. The candle on the table appears to be from Murano also., The total atmosphere has a relaxed, inviting, gentle affect on all the senses. Nice!
The quarterly-changing menu was presented and the array of choices favoring the cuisine of Milan and Venice filled us with anticipation. You have a choice of nine Antipasti, five Primi Piatti, three Risotti, and six Secondi Piatti and the choices are quite inviting. I selected the warm Maine lobster salad with wild fennel and baby frisee. It's a small plate with five pieces of lobster topped with the frisee in a warm lobster sauce. To call this tempting treat "Delicious" is to undervalue it for I shall never forget the tender, yet chewable, morsels in a sauce, every drop of which I eagerly finished with bread. Fran's spicy big eye tuna tartar with crispy saffron on risotto came as a foursome. With each bite her eyes lit up, the broad smile getting larger and the nod of approval coming through. So far, so good. We chose a portion of home-made Chitarra spaghetti with langoustines in a flavorful white wine sauce to share. This is a very firm spaghetti which I loved. It really isn't a very large portion for its thirty dollar price. And, there were only two langoustines on both plates. Good, yes. Great, no.
We both selected fish for our entree: Fran chose the Branzino, an Italian striped bass, lately making it very big here in California. This delicacy came topped with cooked diced tomatoes, peppers and onions and brought the smile back to her face. My grilled whole Mediterranean sea bream was rolled out before us and Carlo proceeded to debone it: his labor of love became mine as I proceeded to devour this soft, flaky, tender fish. I loved the grilled onions and sliced potatoes that accompanied it, as well. Fran's fish was thirty-two dollars; mine, thirty-six – a bit on the pricey side, but for the extra few dollars you might save elsewhere, totally worth it! Executive Chef Mirko Paderno has a proud heritage and he told us, "My goal is to bring the most authentic tastes of Italy here to L.A., but with my own creative twist!." Chef Paderno is truth-in-advertising and his pedigree from Primi and Valentino attests to his competence here at All' Angelo. We closed out our magnificent dinner with their flourless chocolate tarte with a cocoa-meringue filling and the Gianduja dolce di Latte: a sweet treat of perfection – also memorable.
Stefano Ongaro found a former Indian restaurant at 7166 Melrose Avenue, redesigned its interior beautifully and named it after his father, Angelo. The All' which precedes the name stands for "Place"! This is Angelo's Place! And a warm, inviting place it is.
We arrived an hour later than we planned and Stefano greeted us cordially. He turned us over to Carlo, his G.M. and we were escorted to our table overlooking the entire room. There are no bad tables among the twenty in this small, but beautiful room. Blonde woodwork frames the onionskin walls. They are adorned with
hand-blown Murano glass sconces that gently light the dining room. The candle on the table appears to be from Murano also., The total atmosphere has a relaxed, inviting, gentle affect on all the senses. Nice!
The quarterly-changing menu was presented and the array of choices favoring the cuisine of Milan and Venice filled us with anticipation. You have a choice of nine Antipasti, five Primi Piatti, three Risotti, and six Secondi Piatti and the choices are quite inviting. I selected the warm Maine lobster salad with wild fennel and baby frisee. It's a small plate with five pieces of lobster topped with the frisee in a warm lobster sauce. To call this tempting treat "Delicious" is to undervalue it for I shall never forget the tender, yet chewable, morsels in a sauce, every drop of which I eagerly finished with bread. Fran's spicy big eye tuna tartar with crispy saffron on risotto came as a foursome. With each bite her eyes lit up, the broad smile getting larger and the nod of approval coming through. So far, so good. We chose a portion of home-made Chitarra spaghetti with langoustines in a flavorful white wine sauce to share. This is a very firm spaghetti which I loved. It really isn't a very large portion for its thirty dollar price. And, there were only two langoustines on both plates. Good, yes. Great, no.
We both selected fish for our entree: Fran chose the Branzino, an Italian striped bass, lately making it very big here in California. This delicacy came topped with cooked diced tomatoes, peppers and onions and brought the smile back to her face. My grilled whole Mediterranean sea bream was rolled out before us and Carlo proceeded to debone it: his labor of love became mine as I proceeded to devour this soft, flaky, tender fish. I loved the grilled onions and sliced potatoes that accompanied it, as well. Fran's fish was thirty-two dollars; mine, thirty-six – a bit on the pricey side, but for the extra few dollars you might save elsewhere, totally worth it! Executive Chef Mirko Paderno has a proud heritage and he told us, "My goal is to bring the most authentic tastes of Italy here to L.A., but with my own creative twist!." Chef Paderno is truth-in-advertising and his pedigree from Primi and Valentino attests to his competence here at All' Angelo. We closed out our magnificent dinner with their flourless chocolate tarte with a cocoa-meringue filling and the Gianduja dolce di Latte: a sweet treat of perfection – also memorable.
It's so nice visiting a restaurant you will want to return to again and again. The fine service by the handsome Emerson, the kind attention of both Carlo and Stefano and the excellence of the dishes sent out by Chef Paderno all add up to a most thrilling, authentic and delicious dining experience. As far as you are concerned, please remember to tell 'em Giuseppe sent you.
It's so nice visiting a restaurant you will want to return to again and again. The fine service by the handsome Emerson, the kind attention of both Carlo and Stefano and the excellence of the dishes sent out by Chef Paderno all add up to a most thrilling, authentic and delicious dining experience. As far as you are concerned, please remember to tell 'em Giuseppe sent you.
All' Angelo 7166 Melrose Avenue (near LaBrea), Los Angeles, CA 90046 Tel. 323-933-9540 www.allangelo.com Open for lunch and Dinner
Dinner for two approx. $100 w/o wine; Honored by Wine Spectator for their outstanding wine list.
Recent Comments