Osteria Latini

Yes, more food blogging. I really can't get inspired about anything else. So last night I went to Osteria Latini with my parents (the truth is, my current budget only accommodates Del Taco, so if I want to eat well, gotta go with the parents). It's this small restaurant in Brentwood on San Vicente, not too far from SorTino. (Mmm. Best tiramisu there. And wild boar... but that's for another post.) SO GOOD! I have only been there once before because it's always full. (They have like, 12 tables or something ridiculous like that.) The owner/chef is from Fruili, the region north of the Veneto (where my Dad's from.) Wow. Lots of parenthesis. If my current parenthetical mood bothers you, suck it up.

Anyway, Paolo (chef/owner) starts us off with some mashed potatoes on spoons topped with Sevruga caviar. He set the dish down at our table, and told us it was baby chicken eggs. (Ha!) Apparently this is the correct way to serve certain types of caviar. I, sadly, know jack shit about caviar, except that I like it (although only when I don't have to pay for it). Ohmigod. The potato/caviar combo was soooo good. The salty creamy goodness just melted in my mouth. I savored it for 5 minutes while my parents wolfed theirs down.

Next course was lobster salad with cantaloupe (interesting choice, but it worked) hearts of palm, and arugola, in a balsamic vinaigrette. It was a delightful sweet/sour combo. Plus it had a whole lobster in it. Mmm. This was also served with a delicious cold meat plate, with speck, mortadella (which I didn't eat. It's Italian bologna. Gross) shaved parmesan and goat cheese. The speck was sliced so thin it melted in my mouth. More melty salty goodness.

Then we had these tiny fresh pastas (not quite mini ravioli. I think they are called capucetti or something) with veal in a delicious butter sage sauce. But, I am really a brown butter sage sauce fan. So this non-browned butter sauce was thick. It must have cream in it. While the ravioli/capuwhatevers were deliciously fresh, the sauce just made me fantasize about how good it would be if it was a browed butter sauce. When I told my dad this, he said brown butter is bad for your liver because it's burned, or some other Italian old-wives' tale such bullshit. He's obsessed with the fact that burned food can give you cancer. Too much "carbon." Yet he takes meds for BP, cholesterol etc. Whatever!!

Onto the main course! I had pan seared John Dory (fish) on a bed of course ground polenta (which was good, but lacking in salt) and spinach. It was very tasty, and had a crispy crust which I couldn't quite identify. My dad had venison in a balsamic reduction with cranberries. Really tender for venison. My mom had wild salmon, which I forgot to taste because I'm not a huge salmon fan. All this was accompanied with a Poliziano Rosso di Montalcino (a light alternative to Vino Nobile). We ended the meal with some passably good biscotti. At least they were made with real butter. But ever since I had the biscotti at Pane Vino in Santa Barbara, all others are flavorless.

So, happy reading. And invite me the next time you go someplace fancy shmancy to eat. :-)