Restaurant: Angelini Osteria
Location: 7313 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036. (323) 297-0070
Date: July 12, 2019
Cuisine: Italian
Rating: An LA classic
It’s been years, maybe even 10 years, since I was at LA classic Italian Angelini Osteria. Foodie Club member Larry goes all the time so he organized this dinner.
The frontage is located on busy Beverly Blvd in West Hollywood.
The menu.
Erick brought: 1985 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. JG 96. The 1985 Dom Pérignon is still several years away from its peak of drinkability, and while it is certainly quite approachable at this stage in its evolution, this wine will continue to improve with further bottle age. The bouquet is deep, complex and still a tad adolescent, as it offers up scents of tart apples, pink grapefruit, gentle herbal tones, a touch of limepeel, stony minerality and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and still quite young, with a rock solid core of fruit, bright acids, fine focus and balance, tiny bubbles and superb length and grip on the racy finish. While some tasters around the table thought this wine was drinking beautifully, for my palate it remains still a bit bound up in its minerally adolescence and will offer up significantly more opulence and toasty charm with another five to ten years of bottle age. It should prove to be an absolutely classic vintage of Dom Pérignon.
Pizza bread.
A kind of free amuse in the form of some kind of grain and veggies.
Salumi Board. Prosciutto di Parma, mortadella, salmi, fresh burrata, mixed baby greens. I wouldn’t really call this a board, as it’s a pile of meat and cheese on a bit of salad — but it was delicious.
From my cellar: 2012 Azienda Agricola Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. VM 93+. Light orange-yellow. Forward but racy aromas of tangerine, ginger, white flowers, sweet spices and medicinal herbs on the complex nose. Rich and round, but with lovely acid lift and energy to the concentrated flavors of apricot, pear and botanical herbs. Finishes long and pure. Not the most concentrated young Trebbiano d’Abruzzo from Valentini, but has a rich, ripe seamless personality that is hard to resist. Good to go right now but ought to age for 15 years at least. Really lovely wine.
Maryland Soft Shell Crab, rice flour deep fried, arugula, capers, lemon cream sauce.
White Marinated Anchovies, red beets, mixed baby greens, red onions, balsamic. I love white marinated anchovies. I touch odd paired with beets though.
Polipo, Warm Mediterranean Octopus. Arugula, cherry tomatoes.
From my cellar: 2004 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Madonna del Piano. VM 95+. The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Madonna del Piano is powerful, deeply colored and still carrying a considerable amount of tannic heft for a twelve year old wine. Dark cherry, plum, smoke, tobacco, scorched earth and licorice give the wine much of its distinctive virile personality. The Madonna del Piano is one of the bigger, brawnier 2004s readers will come across. As such, it needs to be served alongside similarly rich, hearty cuisines.
Pizza Margherita, ‘nduja, cherry tomatoes, olives, burrata. Sligtly odd pairing of meaty Margherita with the olives. Maybe I just don’t like black olives on my pizza.
Tagliatelle, duck ragout. Solid duck pasta, much like the classic with pheasant.
Homemade Spaghetti Chitarra alla Norcina, summer black truffles, sausage, parmigiana reggiano. Pasta Norcina is one of my utter favorite pastas, but this didn’t feel like a classic Italian Norcina. Now it was good, and very truffled, but the sausage (and cheese) were a bit subdued.
Veal Shank Agnolotti, parmigiana reggiano sauce. Awesome meat agnolotti. Sumptuous, soft, delicious.
Linguine, Santa Barbara Sea Urchin, garlic, chives. Very solid uni pasta. Not the best I’ve ever had, but very good.
Trish brought: 2004 Gaja Langhe Nebbiolo Sperss. VM 97. The 2004 Sperss is one of the most finessed wines I have tasted from Angelo Gaja’s property in Serralunga. The darkness and gravitas of Serralunga are tempered by the supreme elegance of the year. Dark red and black cherries, smoke, tobacco, menthol and licorice flow through on the deep, resonant finish. This is another powerhouse wine that has been given an extra level of refinement in 2004.
Risotto al Frutti di Mare. Risotto Acquerello, cuttlefish, lobster, calamari, shrimp, mussels, clams. Excellent seafood risotto.
Whole Mediterranean Branzino roasted in sea salt, aromatic herbs, sautéed mixed vegetables.
Comes with these classic vegetables.
They do the filleting fortunately.
The finished plate. Very moist delicate white fish.
Larry brought: 2004 Tua Rita Redigaffi Toscana IGT. VM 93. The inky-colored 2004 Redigaffi, 100% Merlot aged for 16 months in new oak, offers expressive, nuanced aromatics along with sensations of richly-textured blue and black jammy fruit, minerals, mint, chocolate, spices and sweet toasted oak on big, powerful frame with notable underlying structure and a warm, resonating finish. Although it has enough structure and acidity to drink well for another decade or so, I enjoy Redigaffi most in its youth.
Lamb Chops Scottadito. Grilled Colorado lamb chops, arugula.
Mixed Italian Cheeses.
The dessert menu.
Cassata Italiana. Semifreddo, carmelized hazelnuts, pistachios. Half frozen ice cream with Italian nuts.
Panna Cotta, vaniglia bean, raspberry sauce.
Budino di Cioccolato, vaniglia gelato, chocolate sauce.
Chocolate Peanut Pretzel Gelato — testing a new 80% chocolate fondant base made with Valrhona and Callebaut Chocolates — then layered that with a house made salty peanut pretzel ganache — you can’t see the base, it’s under the ganache — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #peanut #chocolate #valrhona #Callebaut #ganache #pretzel
Bellini Sorbetto! — French White Peaches and Prosecco — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — I love the Pozzetti (round tubs), but I do need to figure out how to decorate the small batches in an attractive way — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #Bellini #peach #Prosecco
Overall, a very nice meal. Angelini Osteria hasn’t slipped at all and remains a great example of 90s/00s LA Italian. The kitchen is still very on point and the dishes are a mix of old 90s favorites, LA favorites (lots of burrata), and pretty solid contemporary Italian dishes not too different than you might find in Italy. Execution is spot on and service excellent.
