By Dustin Brown
Santa Monica, CA (The Hollywood Times) 3/11/21 – Chef Antonio has a new place on the Westside. Previously over in Venice with Piccolo Venice, the new restaurant is right on Lincoln Boulevard in Santa Monica. Piccolo Santa Monica is the new foodie hot spot in Los Angeles. This location is sure to be packed as restrictions are lifted. They are accepting reservations for outdoor dining and they are doing a brisk takeout service during the pandemic. The Experience Magazine stopped by to check out the menu and see what their dineLA offering looked like. It was a real treat. The food and the service here are absolutely amazing.
We met up with manager Tony and he was delighted to seat us in an outdoor area that had barriers between the tables. The entire staff was doing their best to wear masks and stay as distant as possible. Chef Antonio Mure does house-made pasta that is out of this world. He uses fresh ingredients and the mix of flavors just pop.
Piccolo Santa Monica had a $45 dineLA menu. You could choose an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. Tony recommended a red wine that paired so well with dinner. It was from Tuscany a Poggio ala Guardia. A really delicious wine.
Italian food is served in a particular order with Antipasti served first followed by a Secondi or second serving. Antipasti is what Americans call an appetizer. The appetizer we tried was the Calamari Alla Grigila. That’s grilled calamari served on a bed of Swiss Chard. I really loved this dish. I think people are used to fried calamari and the grilled calamari allows you to taste the cuttlefish. For the Second, we tried the Linguine Mare e Monti. Wow! Such amazing flavor. The squid ink pasta presentation is always eye-catching, and this dish tasted like a million bucks. The black ink linguine are homemade and the shrimp combined with the porcini mushrooms to make a super delicious dish. Another dish that wasn’t from the dineLA menu was the portobello salad with fried arugula. This was really a work of art. A vegetarian appetizer that was full of flavor, crispy, and delicious. Another entree that was from the main menu was the Pink Ocean Trout. Wow! Amazingly fresh and expertly prepared. Such a delicious entree. Santa Monica is lucky to have Piccolo in a cool building and in the heart of Santa Monica. This place is already a must-try destination. Every table was occupied when we were there.
Dessert in Italian is Dolci which means sweet. We got to try the Tronchetto from the dineLA menu. It’s a Hazelnut crunchy wafer with dark chocolate mousse. It was a perfect size and so tasty. It was the perfect end to our amazing evening at Piccolo Santa Monica.
