Bottega Louie
700 S Grand Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90017
(866) 418-9162
I almost consider Bottega Louie as much a service to DTLA as a restaurant. With a deli, a bar, a cafe area and a proper restaurant, Bottega Louie gives Angelenos a destination for several levels of food service, similar to what one might see in Manhattan. Think the lovechild of The Odeon and a Dean & Deluca with a dash of Balthazar thrown in for good measure. Not really quite as good as any of those offerings in and of themselves, but DTLA ain't Manhattan. I'll take what I can get and don't call me Sally.
Having eaten at BL several times since they opened and not once been super thrilled, I was super thrilled last night when we stopped by for a nosh after the Table20 L.A.'s Best Bartender Party at Takami down the street.
After a little stroll in the pouring rain, our foursome slid ourselves into chairs at a couple adjoining cafe tables and waited just a hair too long for service. Once our server got us rolling, he was great.
Something I have always liked about BL is the sheer number of small plates on the menu and how many of them are veggies. Everything appealed to me this time, I had a hard time narrowing down my choices. D started with the beautifully roasted Brussels sprouts.
I ate an entire serving of grilled asparagus with a fried egg (yummy slightly runny yolk).
Claudia nommed on a dish of mixed squashes with rosemary, mostly pumpkin, and the spinach below.
We all drank more wine than necessary for a Monday, but it was Monday and we needed to get this week off to a good start even if I felt a little less than 100% this morning. WTF. Sometimes ya gotta say it.
Michael dove into the meatball Parmesan sandwiches.
LOOK AT HOW HUGE HIS HANDS ARE! HE IS A GIANT!
Slider trio.
The kitchen sent us out a basket of portobello fries and I gotta say they were deeelishious! Lightly breaded, deep fried. I would order these on my next visit.
We sidled up to the bar for a change of scenery after we were done eating. No more than 30 seconds after we planted ourselves onto barstools did the bartender have D tasting a few different kinds of bourbon. Quel surprise.
We had a great time. BL was hopping in the main dining room well after 10PM on a Monday, the service was great, and the food was filling, reasonably priced and tasty. I should be hitting this more often.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
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5 comments:
Not everybody does, but I heart Bottega Louie. Bottega Louie makes me happy, din and all.
Glad to hear you had a good experience. Last time I went there it was a disaster. Food was good, even though it wasn't what we ordered but the service was beyond hopeless. And this was only about a month ago. It will take a lot of convincing to get me there again.
this is good, my dear weezer.
t: suck. first time i have been that i was thrilled by everything we ate and by the service which is a shame for such an ambitious project so close to home...and with so many other compelling options close by.
I agree with tgirl that service can definitely be spotty, but BL is such a great place. I love a place that creates an experience.
Congrats Congrats going onto challenge #4!!! Must be exciting for you! Good luck and all the best. Happy Thanksgiving to you! You'll be getting the next vote from me :) Your awesome!
Have a happy thanksgiving!
jen @ www.passion4food.ca
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