To be expected, it's a very light Week in Reviews. The bloggers, perhaps, are on hiatus, and Miss Irene eeks out some stars for Il Carpaccio. Hopefully we'll have post-holiday leftovers to pick through next week.
Alen Lin, 9/28/07
S. Irene Virbila finalizes her review for Il Carpaccio, chef/owner Antonio Mure's casual Italian spot in Pacific Palisades. The decor isn't stunning and the room is loud ("But then, so is just about everywhere I go."), but Miss Irene has a soft spot for Mure's homemade pastas. She always did: He broke off a partnership with Piccolo and La Botte, two places she liked, to open this solo project. It's truffle season, however, and you know what that means:
It's because the waiter fails to mention that instead of costing less than $20 like the menu's other pasta dishes, that special agnolotti (Piedmont-style ravioli) stuffed with fonduta and showered with truffles is a whopping $70.She has a point. What's worse, the truffles weren't worth the tableside flourish or the money; in fact she calls them "pitiful." The pasta, however, still great. Il Carpaccio gets one-and-a-half stars. Today the "S." doesn't stand for "simpatico."I don't understand the policy. Customers knowledgeable about truffles are going to ask the price. But what about the less informed customer who thinks it might be fun to try some, without an inkling of the cost?
· Il Carpaccio: a little pasta, a lot of whirl [LAT]
