Scarpetta Scores 2.5 Stars; Meat Mecca at Salt's Cure

1) Beverly Hills: SIV returns to reviews this week selecting Scott Conant's Scarpetta in the Montage. For the most part she enjoys the restaurant, some dishes don't hold up, but she does love the pasta at which the kitchen "excels." Sher describes the pasta dishes as "elegant, citified takes on regional classics," however most unfortunately she isn't the biggest fan of Conant's signature, The Spaghetti: "Not everything works as well. One of Conant's signature dishes is the $24 spaghetti. Spaghetti never looked quite so elegant, presented in a tall swirl, each strand of noodle perfectly cloaked in fresh tomato and basil sauce kicked up with basil-infused olive oil and a smidgen of pepperoncino. The execution is dead on, the taste subtle, like tomato sauce that's gone to finishing school. What's missing, though, is the tooth of best-quality dried durum wheat pasta, which is what spaghetti is, after all. This pasta, probably fresh, is softer. In elevating the simple spaghetti, he's lost some of its soul." In finality, SIV hands out two and a half stars for Conant's Italian fare "that has a polish and elegance...The question is whether Scarpetta Beverly Hills will evolve into something with its own vivid personality or remain merely a very good rendition of the original." [LAT]

2) WeHo: Shortly after SIV's review, J.Gold files his full report on Salt's Cure. "The charcuterie really is at the center of the place...But there is cooking here beyond the charcuterie plate- simple food, butchers' food, strong food, but real food nonetheless, maybe half a dozen dishes listed on a smeary blackboard high above one end of the dining room. And as you might imagine, apart from a rustic, spicy preparation of steamed mussels with seared tomatoes, and the requisite plate of fish, what you get here is meat: a superior, grass-fed, profoundly aged New York strip steak, deeply charred yet wet, blood-sour inside, with a splash of reduced wine." [LAW]

The Elsewhere: The Find hits Little London Cafe, Midtown Lunch lunches at Mayura, Eastside Food Bites picks Shojin, Diana Takes A Bite at WP24, Eat:LA refuels at Pizzeria Mozza, Refined Palate goes all out at Urasawa.