Brentwood Gets Spumoni Pizza Action

Phone: 310-207-6700
Status: Opened yesterday
Brentwood seems to certainly attract Italian restaurants along its San Vicente corridor. The newest bambino on the block is Spumoni Cafe and Pizzeria, taking over what was once a Quiznos. This is Spumoni's fifth location, with the other outposts in Calabasas, Sherman Oaks, Stevenson Ranch and Santa Monica. Owner Nando Sylvestri has partnered with long time restaurateur Trace Keasler (The Local Yolk, Manhattan Beach) to open this branch in Brentwood. Featuring classic pizzas, pastas, calzones and panini, two things separate this Italian eatery from a few of its neighbors. One is the gelato, made locally by Ugo Italian Bar in Culver City.

The classic Neapolitan flavors vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry are on offer, as well as stracciatella (chocolate chip), lemon, and mint chocolate chip. The other one-off for this Italian eatery is that it will be open for breakfast, in addition to lunch and dinner. An Italian restaurant open for breakfast? Keasler says it was an idea he shared with Sylvestri, and then realized he had to come up with a breakfast menu that fit the concept. Fortunately, Spumoni Santa Monica bakes bread (and makes the pizza dough) for the other locations, so getting fresh bread for breakfast was easy enough.
Then, the partners got Dolce Forno Bakery of Culver City to supply them with some breakfast pastries. Keasler added Italian-inspired omelets like the Florentine with spinach, mozzarella, tomato, and pesto, and the Polpetta with meatballs, mushrooms, and marinara sauce. One will also find breakfast panini, and pizzadillas (a sort of pizza quesadilla). This weekend locals received door hangers offering free pizzas, and on Sunday lucky pedestrians were treated to a free grand opening day meal. Good news is that those who missed the aforementioned freebies can still hurry over today for a potential meal on the house.
Additional Photos: Eater LA Flickr Page
— Daniela Galarza