Week in Reviews

Keeping with the theme of a big week for Santa Monica's dining scene, Jonathan Gold files his full review from Riva, the Italian joint from Thierry Perez and Jason Travi. Riva has high points (tonno di tonnato) and some clumsy ones (scallops), but overall, the review is a decent one, as summed up by Gold's take on the pizza: "...even in a city saturated with new pizza concepts, Travi’s pies have their niche .... But it’s good pizza, not great — at least in a city that also boasts the wood-oven pizzas at Pizzeria Mozza, Gjelina and Terroni — and is oddly at its best as untopped pizza bread." [LAW]