Jon & Vinny's Slauson - Los Angeles

I've been watching a lot of Top Chef lately. I don't know if it's increased my knowledge, but it's definitely increased my snobbery. 

So I don't know if that's why my review of the Slauson Jon & Vinny's is so lukewarm or if it's an issue with the location because I remember liking the one at Fairfax. Or maybe it was the Doordash, but something about Slauson just didn't sync. 

Starting with their menu, I don't remember it being so massive. It's a bit of a mess as you slog through the mire  - they seem to make every pizza, every pasta, with every imaginable combination of toppings and sauce. When you try to please everyone, you often please no one.

I love bruschetta, and I love ricotta on toast, but this Ricotta & Orange Blossom Honey Bruschetta is so very one-note. Loose cheese and sweetness, sugar and cream in desperate need of an acid.

The pizzas have a pretty good crust, chewy and airy. The White Bronco is a cheese-pool of caciocavallo, mozzarella, and ricotta. A lovely lake of textures ranging from stringy to chewy to creamy-smooth. With garlic and a a good oil, what's not to like?

Sadly, there's nothing super about Sarah & Shiri's Super Shroom. It's as generic a mushroom pizza as I'll ever get. The mushrooms are fresh, but I've had even fresher from the farmer's market. 

I think this will be the last time I order agnolotti. I have honestly never found one I liked, not at any fine dining establishment, not even at Otium. This Corn Agnolotti languishes in a lake of oil, and the supposed sage parmesan is overpowered by a tidal wave of butter. I'd call it one-note but it's more like no-note. 

The Wood Grilled Broccolini has stayed on their menu all these years, and it just might be the best thing they make. The char enhances the flavor of the best green veg ever grown. Raisins add sweet and goo, lemon brings the acid, and a chili vinaigrette turns on the heat. 

Oh man, I used to love those guys, but their remaining establishment is a far cry from the icon that was Animal. Even Son of a Gun had a stronger showing for seafood, and I feel like Jon & Vinny's just isn't what it used to be. I know some quality gets lost in transportation with the distance of Doordash, but I don't think it'd lose that much. What I got was a sad representation of the dashing duo that helped shape the dining scene in LA.