Palmeri RIstorante

My friend Sandi and I just got out of a 3-1/2 hour play at the Wallis Theater in Santa Monica. We saw the play entitled Long Day's Journey Into Night starring the great Jeremy Irons which by the way was an excellent play.

Sandi has never been to Palmeri so I thought this was a good time to go. We called them to see if they could take us and we were happy they said yes. It's been 4 years since I last visited this restaurant. I was happy to see the Chef/Owner, Ottavio Palmeri. It's always a good sign when the Chef/Owner is around to make sure everything runs smoothly.

They still serve the goat cheese with marinara sauce to go with a selection of bread which was as good as I could remember. For an appetizer, they had a special; Zucchini  Blossoms fried in a tempura batter stuffed with ricotta and served on a Parmesan basket. It was as delicious as it sounded and looked.

For our entrée, we decided to split an order fo Tagliatelle Bolognese and the Branzino. Both enrées I have had previously. Their pasta is homemade and is always cooked aldente. The Mediterranean Sea Bass is baked in a Sicilian sea-salt crust and served with spinach. I asked our charming and enthusiastic server, Vincenzo, if he could show the fish encrusted and prepare it by our table since they normally do this in the kitchen. I wanted Sandi to experience what I did the first time I had this served to me in Sorrento, Italy. Vicenzo brought the platter to show us how the fish is cooked inside this cave. He cracked it open in the kitchen in order not to make a mess. He then proceeded to fillet the fish ever so carefully with precision in front of us.

The fish was so fresh and delicate. All we had to do was squeeze lemon on it and it brought the flavor of the fish to life. The bolognese was perfect and it went well with the sea bass. We ordered the Crostata di Limone for dessert. It was a nice lemon tart with lemon sorbetto. It was a perfect way to end our wonderful meal.

Grazie Mille to Vincenzo and of course to Chef Ottavio Palmeri. I am happy to report that Palmeri Ristorante after all these years is still very good. They are located at 11650 San Vicente Blvd. in Los Angeles, California.