08/02/08

best of the best, you have to try it.

by giulio69

"After a lovely, loving almost, beef tartare that made me feel 10 pounds lighter for its delicacy and 10 years younger for its vitality, my favorite appetizer was served.

Laying together, in front of me, 2 deep fried zucchini flowers, filled with ricotta cheese and black truffle. Familiar, festive, but the elements were balanced like a Hitchcock script .

Closing my eyes, i could see the countryside around Paris.

As if Maupassant was guiding me through it, I could touch the summertime, watching it slowly flowing away through the yellow leaves.

While finishing the honest, surprising, Lugarara Gavi white wine that was paired with it, it was time for more.

Ravioli filled with Fontina cheese, in a comfy mat of butter and black truffle.

Once again, Antonio is the master of delivering angels that can sing the blues.

The ravioli were so delicate, like those adorable cream white furry puppies, that look at you and seem to be telling you the cutest smartest things, while goofing in style.

And yet with the depth and substance of a van gogh.

As if you were carrying a sleeping child to his room, trying not to wake him up, with the same love and care, you bite your ravioli.

My dessert, rocked hard, damn it.

It's a vanilla cream with black truffle (and a few flowers hanging on top, because why not...).

Sweet, passionate but delicate. A waltz in the clouds, a jump in a slightly warm pool.

Like your own private beach, like a girl smiling, like a world without taxes.

It's a dessert that makes you feel safe, it's like an award, or a visa.

You're there, lying down on the sand on your private island already, and then the Passito wine that is served with it, arrives like a mischievous miniskirt, bouncing on two infinite bronzed legs, bringing infamous possibilities to your daydreams.

The ladies can think of Bill Clinton on a white horse or Brad Pitt and Jonny Depp hanging greasy on a galleon.

In other words chaps, I strongly recommend it.

G"

• Pros: food, service, parking, winelist
• Cons: strip mall

06/13/08

Not Good

by ryan90046

Salty and very overpriced. Nice setting, but that's all that they have going for them. I didn't enjoy it.

• Pros: setting
• Cons: price and food quality

01/22/08

Best Tagliolini

by lakiki

The ingredients are fresh, simple, and delicious. I ordered the Tagliolini Neri con Aragosta, Cipolle Brasate e Rucola. It's ok if you can't pronounce the dish; what?s more important is getting your mouth around the succulent Tagliolini themselves. They are so fresh and need I say al dente? This is such an amazing dish, the homemade pasta, the fresh and perfectly cooked lobster, served in a savory tomato sauce. My friend ordered the Tortelli di Patate con Salsa ai Porcini al Burro Versato, a heartier pasta dish with a potato filling and porcini mushrooms drizzled with browned butter. The red wine that was recommended by my server was a great match with my meal. And to finish, I had the best Pasqualina I've had in my life (even with all my trips to Italy surprisingly enough.) I'm not sure if this dessert is always on the menu, but if you love creamy, milky desserts whose consistencies offer surprise and delight and whose temperature is the perfect coolness, you should definitely order it. It was wonderful!

• Pros: Sexxxy accents

09/18/07

it is no more

by jpearce

CLOSED! so unfortunate. great food, but i walked there not too long ago from my house, to find out they had just disappeared !! =/

05/31/07

Italian Food At Its Best

by bear1986

If you want to eat Italian food that is authentic and innovative this is the place. Im really picky when it comes to where to eat. I honestly do alot of research especially when I took my soon-to-be girlfriend to this restaurant. The decor was amazing you walk in and its almost being inside an Italian villa that you ooh and ahh all the way to your table. The drive to the place was scenic alone. I cannot think of anything that was bad about the place. The service was attentive even though there was a different waiter showing up to refill our drinks and ask about the food. Eating at this restaurant was both relaxing and entertaining. I will not recommend this to anyone for I want to keep this place all to myself.

11/11/06

Best calzone I've had in LA

by rudette

Been there twice, got different calzones each time - both were great. Maybe better than any calzone I've had in NY, too. And as you can see from reading the other reviews, their pizza is wonderful, too. Both visits my husband did the make-your-own pizza thing and was very, very happy. Thin crust pizza cooked perfectly, very nice gourmet selection of toppings.

11/05/06

Relaxing, sophisticated, and romantic atmosphere, great food

by summertime18

Lucia's is one of my favorite Italian restaurants. It is somewhat hidden away, but very worth the trip. The food, service, and atmosphere rival any of the more well known restaurants that line the SM/Malibu areas. Service is very well informed and the menu is inventive, confident, and varied. The roasted vegetable salad is outstanding. Pefect place for a date, anniversary, or special occasion.

• Pros: Atmosphere, appetizers, food

11/02/06

Some of the best pizza I've had in SoCal

by dmenkes

Located in a stripmall, there's nothing that tells you you're about to have something extraordinary. The decor is cute with dim lighting and white string lights. The staff is attentive and friendly. The pizza was thin-crust and we ordered ours simply with canadian bacon, which worked well. I almost wish we'd ordered more as the medium left us almost-satiated, but not full. I still say the best pizza in California is up north, in Berkeley--Zachary's.

• Pros: excellent pizza

08/29/06

I agree - best pizza I've had so far in L.A.

by jscrapple

Read about the pizza, so that's all we tried - and it was great! Their choices of toppings are awesome...

• Pros: great pizza and bread, friendly

07/10/06

Best pizza anywhere

by pp2119

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