Category Archives: Hancock Park

The Post Where I Use a Jewish Holiday Song to Describe a Pork Chop


Every Passover, we Jews sing a thousand-year-old song called “Dayenu,” which roughly translates to “It Would Have Been Enough.” It’s a song of appreciation for all the many gifts granted to us by God, and we sing that just one of such gifts alone would have been enough. Sorry Rabbi, but whenever I dine at Chi Spacca, I think of this song.

Chi Spacca is an upscale Italian steakhouse and their charcuterie plate (called Affettati Misti) is the best in town. All the meats (often including coppa, salami, speck, pancetta and/or lardo) are cured in-house and served with butcher’s pâté and trotter fritti. I recommend dining at Chi Spacca for this salumi board alone. However, my love for the Affettati Misti is nothing compared to my obsessive passion for the Focaccia di Recco. This cripy-edged flatbread is stuffed with salted and fermented mozzarella and baked and served in a special pan imported from Piedmont, Italy. It’s unbelievably amazing.

But I’m just getting started here folks. Chi Spacca serves a Beef and Bone Marrow Pie that is to die for. It’s a rich, golden-crusted beef pot pie with a baked marrow bone coming out of the top. If you go to Chi Spacca and just have the charcuterie, focaccia and pot pie, it would be one your best meals ever. But you would be sorely missing out if you didn’t also get the Tomahawk Pork Chop. This giant chop is rubbed with fennel pollen and then grilled to perfection. It’s easily one of the best pieces of meat I have ever consumed.

And even if you ordered none of the above, a trip to Chi Spacca would be well worth it if you just ordered the Butterscotch Budino with Sea Salt and Rosemary Pine Nut Cookies, a dessert which Chi SPACCA shares with its sister restaurants Osteria Mozza and Pizzeria Mozza. This pudding is one of my favorite desserts in the City. Thank you Chi Spacca. DAYENU!

Chi Spacca is located at 6610 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles (on the border between Hollywood and Hancock Park).

Toasted Pane Bianco with Beillevaire Butter

Warm Medjool Dates

Affettati Misti

Razor Clams

Focaccia di Recco

Insalata Primavera with Artichokes, Fennel, Asparagus, Hearts of Palm, Olio Nuovo and Pecorino Toscano

Tomahawk Pork Chop

Butterscotch Budino with Sea Salt and Rosemary Pine Nut Cookies

It’s an intimate restaurant with an open kitchen.

1 Comment

Filed under Hancock Park, Hollywood, Mid-City

Seafood Splendor

Providence is the most elegant, sophisticated and (along with The Bazaar) most inventive restaurant in Los Angeles. It has won all kinds of awards including two Michelin stars. Unfortunately, the high price tag prevents most of us from eating there regularly. But if you can afford it and need a restaurant to impress an important client or celebrate a special anniversary, or if you simply want to splurge and enjoy one of the best fine-dining meals you’ve ever eaten in LA, this is the place. The decor is elegant but not stuffy; minimal yet comfortable. There is an awesome wine list and the service (led by charming maitre d’ and co-owner Donato Poto) is impeccable. The food is exceptional and exciting. Each dish is a work of art.  Simply put: this is a place where magic happens.

Chef Michael Cimarusti will start your meal out with a bit of complimentary molecular gastronomy; a plate of amuse bouches which on my last visit included a mojito gelee, a screwdriver cocktail gelatin bubble, a gruyere cheese puff, and a shooter of parsnip with port reduction on the bottom. The bread, which they will replenish throughout your meal, is excellent here, especially my favorite, a bacon brioche. The main theme at Providence is seafood and they serve some of the best and most beautiful seafood concoctions you will ever eat. I recommend ordering the tasting menu and putting yourself in Chef Cimarusti’s hands. However, if you instead decide to order specific items, make sure to get the Spot Prawns, which are baked in a block of salt and prepared tableside. I also recommend Bobby’s Block Island Scallops with Buckwheat, Dashi and Cabbage and the Spaghetti all Chitarra with Santa Barbara Sea Urchin and Green Onions. The menu is not strictly limited to seafood. If it’s available, I always order the Foie Gras Ravioli with Aromatics and Parmesan Black Truffle; it’s extraordinary. I highly recommend getting the wine pairing (remember, you’re splurging, so don’t hold back). Finally, make sure to save room for dessert. Adrian Vasquez is one of the top pastry chefs in LA; a true genius with sweets. Some of my recent favorites are his “Simple Apple Tart” with Hazelnuts, Cinnamon Calvados Ice Cream and Green Apple Sorbet and his Pumpkin Polenta with Candied Pecans, Mascarpone and Maple Syrup.  Enjoy!

Providence is located at 5955 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles (on the border between Hollywood and Hancock Park; near Larchmont).

Quartet of cocktail-inspired amuse bouches

Quartet of cocktail-inspired amuse bouches

Spaghetti alla Chitarra with Santa Barbara Sea Urchin and Green Onions

Spaghetti alla Chitarra with Santa Barbara Sea Urchin and Green Onions

Spot prawns baked in salt and prepared tableside

Spot prawns baked in salt and prepared tableside

Foie Gras Ravioli with aromatics and parmesan black truffle

Foie Gras Ravioli with aromatics and parmesan black truffle

Pumpkin Polenta with candied pecans, mascarpone and maple syrup

Pumpkin Polenta with candied pecans, mascarpone and maple syrup

"Simple Apple Tart" with hazelnuts, cinnamon calvados ice cream and green apple sorbet

“Simple Apple Tart” with hazelnuts, cinnamon calvados ice cream and green apple sorbet

Comfortable and Elegant

Comfortable and Elegant


Providence on Urbanspoon

3 Comments

Filed under Hancock Park, Hollywood, Larchmont, Mid-City