Pasta Sisters - Culver City

We are living in dangerous times. In a world where Silicon Valley pays $60 per gallon for sewage, and man-buns freely walk the streets, nothing is certain anymore. 

Aside from dodging the occasional hipster and pretending a 2 year-old with a cell phone is the norm, I get by pretty well. But a new danger has descended upon me, one I was not prepared to face. Pasta Sisters has opened a Culver City location, and I am lost. There is no cure for this addiction affliction, now that some of LA's best pasta is a reasonable drive away. 

I wanted to try some new dishes here, but I can't. The Gnocchi with Pesto is a plate of potato pillows, and nothing suits it better than basil puree. The pesto is colorful, and a plethora of extras round out the flavor. The pine nuts add a little sweet, pecorino is the cream, parmigiano is the salt, and garlic gives it a gentle kick.

Ribbons of Pappardelle are the lap of luxury for the off-menu Black Truffle Sauce. The robust and creamy finish folds itself into the pasta, an assertive decadence that never gets old. 

And what better way to wash it all down than with Italian soda? The Chinotto is a dark sugarcane and has a bitter finish. I prefer the Gazzosa, which is a better club soda with a splash of sugar and lemon. 

The favorites are still my favorites, but this time, the Spaghetti with Bottarga joins their ranks. Flakes of dry Sardinian mullet roe in olive oil cling to columns of spaghetti. There is a salty, fishy finish, absolutely irresistible for lovers of the sea.

There will be a next time for the bottarga, and between that and the truffle sauce, I'll be back for more. I can't get over the quality and affordability of the pasta here, and the convenient location is only more motivation to go. I once said that Pasta Sisters makes the best pasta in LA, but that has changed. They now make the best pasta in LA AND the greater LA area!

Pasta Sisters - Los Angeles

A hot summer day, a day in LA. It's too hot for a hike, but it's never too hot for a steaming plate of housemade pasta with awesome sauce. We try two. And both are awesome-sauce.

There's nothing like fluffy pillows of Gnocchi swimming in pesto cream. The gnocchi are dense but airy, so light they almost melt. 

"Is it black truffle or truffle oil?" I ask, raising a skeptical eyebrow. 

"Honey, please! We use real truffle!" she exclaims. Don't insult me, her friendly, furrowed eyebrows say. The truffles are real. They blanket the Tagliatelle with a warm savor-explosion that continues long after the flawless al dente pasta is gone. 

Sfogliatelli for dessert because you can never have enough carbs. It's called a lobster tail because it's the lobster of pastries. Paper-thin, half-soft-half-chewy, crisp pastry layers blanket soft ricotta. The sharp sweetness of candied orange peel accents the delicate delight.

I am so in love with this hole in the wall; even Barrique doesn't come close. There is something so pure and untouched here, a family-run restaurant by a master-chef mom, her daughters, and a token son. You can see them making pasta as you feel the entire kitchen resonating with happiness and love. Just looking at these people will make you smile, and it's impossible not to grin from from ear to ear after you have their pasta.