Restaurant: Antico

Location: 4653 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90004. (323) 510-3093

Date: January 8, 2020

Cuisine: Italian(ish)

Rating: Very good pastas

Our Foodie Club (+ Yarom) has been trying to get to Antico — the new solo place by Chi Spacca chef Chad Colby for several months and finally we did.

The frontage looks normal enough but when you…

Zoom out: Antico is located, oddly, in a run-of-the-mill KTown strip mall.

The inside is all contemporary upscale dining.

The menu.

Erick brought: 2008 Philipponnat Champagne Extra Brut Clos des Goisses. VM 98. The 2008 Clos des Goisses is just as impressive today as it has always been. Rich, dense and explosive, the 2008 exists in three dimensions, with remarkable textural depth and vertical intensity to burn. Clos des Goisses is notoriously slow to develop. Readers who can be patient will be treated to a spectacular Champagne. The blend is 55% Chardonnay and 45% Pinot Noir, which makes the 2008 a rare Clos des Goisses that favors Chardonnay. About 75% of the lots were fermented in oak. Disgorged April 2017. Dosage is 4.25 grams per liter. (Drink between 2023-2058)

Part of the “Chef’s Pantry”. Ricotta on toast. Good cheese.

Salami.

Squash. Quite good, actually.

Grapefruit with pepper. Odd, like one of my gelati.

Sardines. Very crispy.

Puntarelle – pea tendrils, meyer lemon, Cetara anchovy. Very nice savory dressing.

Burrata — autumn squash, pumpkin seeds. Burrata is always good.

From my cellar: 2003 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Madonna del Piano. VM 93. The 2003 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Madonna del Piano is a super-ripe, opulent wine that resembles the 1997 in its generous, full-bodied personality. The tannins are surprisingly well-balanced within the context of this challenging vintage. The 2003 should drink well relatively early for this Riserva. All things considered, this is a superb effort. Production was down sharply in 2003. The estate bottled just 13,000 bottles of this wine compared to the typical 23,000 bottles. (Drink between 2013-2023)

Capelinni — “al limone” Cetara anchovy, colatura. Very nice bright pasta.

Cavateappi — lamb, gaeta olive, pecorino. Good tomato and acidic flavors. Great texture.

Bread for mopping up sauce.

1996 Tua Rita Redigaffi Toscana IGT. 94 points. This just kept getting better and better with time in the glass. Dark blackberry fruit and licorice with some nice spicy notes on the finish. Awesome complexity. Good structure. This will last another 10 years.

Tajarin — porcini. Yum.

Fazzoletti — beef check & veal tongue bolognese. Fabulous bolognese. Very rich.

A “carb free” (aka no pasta) version of above.

Left over from Roccos.

Chicken — focaccia crostone. It’s chicken.

Swordfish belly — olive, lemon, caper. This was rich and flavorful.

Larry brought: 1997 Masi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Costasera. 93 points. Deep red coulour with a typical nose of Amarone showing raisings, wet leafs and a hint of vanilla fudge. Palate shows a lovely acidity that is just perfect together with the sweet cherry and raisin fruitiness and is in perfect maturity right now.

Lamb shoulder chop – pistachio, mint. Nice texture and flavor.

Antico steak — salsa verde. I liked the brightness of the “salsa.”

Mashed potatoes with olive oil.

Polenta.

The dessert menus.

Chocolate budino.

Antico is supposed to be known for their ice cream. Like me, they make it with a Carpigiani. It’s basically gelato. Perhaps a touch more custardy than a traditional gelato, and they either serve it right out of the batch freezer (tricky) or make it right before shift and keep it in a warm freezer (or just warm it up). Maybe even at 10-12F. It’s very soft then, like softserve, and given that gelato is always best right out of the batch freezer, before any crystallization has set in, it’s pretty darn good.

Chocolate ice cream. This one had intense chocolaty flavors. They mix up the texture nicely with the chunks.

Meyer lemon ice cream. The meyer lemon curd made it, but the ice cream (gelato) was nice too.

Honeycomb ice cream. Pretty much fior di latte with honeycomb, but given the textural quality of the base, very good.

Overall, I liked Antico a lot. Everything was good, but I particularly liked the pastas — I always do. They aren’t as good as Felix pastas perhaps, but they are very good. It’s not a big or varied menu though, nor super unique, but it is extremely well executed. Service was great too and they really treated us right.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.Chad Colby