Angelini Osteria - Los Angeles

It's a small dining room, and it's packed every night. Impossible to get a reservation at a decent hour, and I've been trying to months. 

It's still light out at 6:30 PM when we sit down, but I'm just happy it's not 9 PM. We munch on crisps over some complimentary starters: a briny cold salmon with pickled red onions and soft raisins and a neutral, hearty farro with peas. 

The Polipo is amazing. The octopus is tender with gooey, grill-curled edges, cocooned in crisp arugula to add a peppery spice.   

The Roasted Veal Bone Marrow is possibly the best thing I've had this year. I don't know if it's how they make it or if the veal marrow simply concentrates the savor, but this buttery trough of fatty decadence packs so much flavor. There's a pillow of asparagus and saffron gnocchetti beneath, like gnocchi ripped to shreds, a bed of textured, saucy bits in aged balsamic.

The appetizers are blow-you-away quality, but the pastas leave me rather meh. We're spoiled by the effortless al dentes of Pasta Sisters and casual counters of Jon & Vinny's, and Felix Trattoria rules them all. It says something about the depth of noodle-making in LA when I can take a bite of Linguine with Santa Barbara sea urchin with a shrug. The pasta is flawless, but the sauce is a bit more harsh brine than I like, and that's saying something. The garlic roughs up the edges instead of smoothing them out, and the seafoam sting finishes rather harshly. 

The problem with all Potato Gnocchi is that although they are delicious little pillows, I've never had a gnocchi reach the depth of other pastas, like chewy ribbons of pappardelle or sauce-clinging spirals of fusili. Their gnocchi is great, and I do love lobster, but the sauce is just a basic tomato, and it overshadows the more delicate flavors of lobster. 

We skipped dessert in favor of Milk, which sits conveniently across the street, and that says something about our experience at Angelini. The apps are great, but at this price and with this much hype, I expected a whole lot more. Nothing bad, and service is impeccable, but there are too many favorites to return to and too many newer, better places to try.