Magazine highlights Angelini Ristorante
By Dolores Quintana
Angelini Ristorante’s second location in Pacific Palisades in the Palisades Village Shopping Center has scored a new article at the Hollywood Reporter. The industry trade paper doesn’t generally cover restaurant openings, so it’s clear that Angelini Ristoranti is something special to people in the entertainment industry.
The article describes Angelini as a “longtime power lunch favorite” and names some of the restaurant’s fans in the Palisades area like actor Chris Pine and quotes him saying, “Unfortunately, I can’t build an Angelini at my house, but thank god there is one down the street. No pretension, all smiles, the best Italian this side of the Atlantic, and Gino shaking your hand and making you feel like you are family.”
The Hollywood Reporter has actually named chef Gino Angelini as one of the most influential chefs in Los Angeles and fans of the 21 year old original restaurant include Phil Rosenthal, of the television show, “Somebody Feed Phil” who says, “Gino Angelini is brilliant. I love everything he makes, including the best octopus salad in Los Angeles, all his pastas and, well, the whole menu.” and director Roger Kumble, “Cruel Intentions”, “After We Collided”, says “My wife and I have been going to Angelini Osteria since it first opened in 2001, before we had kids and before it was the place. I can definitely say, we knew them when! We’ve had so many amazing dinners with friends and family. It’s an L.A. institution.” as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.
The new trattoria in the Palisades does have some new dishes along with the old favorites that were inspired by chef Angelini’s home in Emiglia-Romagna. There’s the tagliolini al limone and the “Nonna Elvira ” lasagne verde with a pork ragu and spinach pasta as the classic Angelini Ristoranti dishes. Executive chef Matt Weinberg, formerly of Angelini Osteria, of the Palisades location, has created a vegetarian zucchini and basil pasta dish called spaghetti alla nerano.
On the design of the new restaurant, The Hollywood Reporter says, “The slightly curved restaurant space of Angelini Ristorante & Bar is arranged organically, like a wave; large open doors around the perimeter of the space create an indoor-outdoor feel, allowing for guests seated on the patio (which seats roughly 60 guests) and within its doors (which seats about 40) to experience the Pacific Palisades breeze throughout their meal.” The Reporter adds that “The bright and sophisticated new destination was opened by Angelini Restaurant Group in tandem with Angelini’s friend and fellow restaurateur Tancredi Deluca of Amici, Ombra Wine Bar, and Deluca’s Deli.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the reason why so many in the entertainment industry are fans of Angelini Ristorante is because of a publicist named David Horowitz who was the head of Warner Brothers Publicity in the 1970s. Horowitz was also an Oscar consultant and had a roster of A-list clients that included Barbra Streisand, Bette Davis, Woody Allen, Kirk Douglas, and Steven Spielberg. Elizabeth Angelini, Gino’s wife and business partner, says that Horowitz brought many of his clients and other industry figures to the restaurant for meetings since he was such a great fan of the restaurant’s food and the Angelini family. This led to the restaurant becoming the industry favorite that it is today. Industry fans of the restaurant will now have the option of dining in Palisades Village and partaking of the “the most notable and elevated Italian food in L.A.” according to Blair Rich, brand and marketing advisor at Virgin, as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.
