Restaurant: Colapasta.
Location: 1241 5th St, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 310-8336
Date: September 18, 2019
Cuisine: Italian / Just pasta
Rating: Simple menu, but good pasta, very casual
There seems to be a bit of a trend to opening pasta restaurants in Santa Monica.
Colapasta is a super casual small menu artisanal pasta place by Stefano De Lorenzo the main chef from La Botte years ago. The place is brand new and the concept is very similar to Uovo on the other side of the Promenade. They both have very short lists of classic pasta and little else on the menu.
The decor is simple and the space is modest — not too unlike Ramen Roll. haha.
The menu. You can basically see that it’s mostly pasta. A salad or two as well. No liquor license yet but they have applied for a 41 (beer and wine).
Zuppa di Granoturco. Sweet Summer Corn Soup.
Bresola Arugula e Burrata. Sliced paper-thin Aged Beef, arugula, Burrata. This is pretty much a perfect “salad” for me as I love Burrata (and this is a good one, either from Italy or more likely from Stefano locally, but in the Italian style and very good). The burrata and cured meat combo is one of my favorites. Arugula helps push it down.
Bigoli Aglio Olio e Acciughe (Campania). Bigoli Pasta with Garlic, Oil, Anchoives. This is a simple pasta, but with that anchovy pasta it has a delightful garlicky umami.
Casunziei (Dolomiti). Half Moon shaped Red Beet Ravioli, Brown Butter, Poppy Seeds. This is one of the chef’s signatures. It’s very Po River Valley (Mantua, Verona etc). Sweet and rich, quite delicious.
Lasagna Classica al Ragu (Emilia). Classic Beef Ragu Lasagna. The basta was delicate and the ragu had great flavor. It just needed a Béchamel sauce to be perfect.
Pasta lurks in the fridge.
Overall, this was a pleasant and VERY quick little meal. The pasta is good. It’s not radical or terribly LA in style like Felix or anything — it’s very homestyle (Italy) Italian. Very simple. They are, however, inexpensive, and well executed. So if you have a need for a noodle fix and don’t want to break the bank, you could do well here. Probably slightly more my taste than Uovo. Not nearly as good or as much variety as Heroic Wine Bar down the street.