Skip to main contentThis 15-year-old Hawthorne-neighborhood restaurant doesn't miss a beat, from its talented staff, many of whom have been there for years, to the fresh, mostly Mediterranean menu. The top-selling and always delicious house pasta is the tortiglione in a slowly simmered, spicy vodka-spiked red sauce with sweet Italian sausage. Although entrees and pastas are substantial here, don't forgo salads and starters. The bibb lettuce salad with chives, bacon and a creamy garlic aioli dressing is worth a trip alone, and the potato gnocchi with just-sliced, creamed corn and pickled peppers with a glass of rosé is summer incarnate.
Order this: Pan roasted chicken with smoky bacon, chanterelle-studded creamed corn and a pile of just-picked cherry tomatoes.
Best deal: Starters, including half-shell oysters, seared scallops, truffle potatoes and brothy clams.
I'll pass: The complimentary white bean spread with bread is so thick with rosemary it tastes perfumed.
WWeek 2015