Welcome to The Gatekeepers, a monthly feature in which Eater roams the city meeting the fine ladies and gentlemen that stand between you and some of your favorite tough-to-get tables.
Elizabeth Daniels 9/12
Superba Snack Bar is the Venice darling, just two months young but white hot as ever since its first day of service. This modern pastaria, hipstered out with a colored retro look from Design, Bitches, is an effort from Pitfire Pizza co-founder Paul Hibler and chef Jason Neroni. In a city already jam-packed with Italian restaurants, it's a challenge to enter the Italian arena yet introduce something new, but with its smoked pastas and dehydrated olives, Superba delivers. Fitting seemlessly onto Rose Avenue, in good company with Venice Beach Wines and Oscar's Cerveteca, it's already hard to imagine this strip without a snack bar. Here now hostess Elizabeth Silverston on long long waits and working the room.
1) It's 8 p.m. on Saturday night. What's the wait for two? It can be from thirty minutes to two hours depending how long our wait list is but things change all the time and we try to accommodate everybody as quick as we can.
2) Is Saturday your busiest night? I would have to say yes, yet every night seems like our busiest night.
3) What is the longest wait you have experienced since opening? Two and half hours.
4) Is there anything I can do to make my wait shorter? We are here to accommodate you, even though it might be some wait, we try to make that go by as fast as possible
5) What's the strangest request that you've accommodated? Since we have opened there hasn't been anything out of the normal, but we are new and you never know.
6) How has the neighborhood responded to Superba? Venice has responded very well! We have tons of neighborhood locals as well as those from the greater LA area. We are community based but welcoming to all who show.
7) What's the best thing to eat here? Our pastas. All of our pastas are homemade here and mixed with amazing flavors. My favorite is the crested macaroni with mussels, chorizo and pequillo pepper salsa; match it with a glass of red wine and I am in heaven.
8) Are you all expecting to be reviewed by the LA Times? I am surprised we haven't yet, but we would be honored if we were.
9) What's your most important tool for working in this dining room?
The team. We all work closely together to anticipate and accommodate all guest needs. In this digital age the iPad is my friend and resource in planning the room.
10) Where do you like to eat when you're not at this restaurant? I enjoy eating at home with friends and family. But, whenever I go out I cannot help but change dining plans to go to Superba!
11) When somebody asks, "Okay, what kind of food do you server here?" What do you tell them? I tell them how Superba is a modern take on classic pastaria. That our pasta is one of our main focuses, all of our pastas are house-made and that we can we have a number of other options, including gluten free, to make any and all feel welcome. We are a the snack bar after all, wether its a glass wine and a salumi or taste from all the sections, Superba delivers on all fronts.
12) Do you think that Rose is the next Abbot Kinney? Abbot Kinney is Abbot Kinney, great street with so much still to come. We are just happy to be in good company on Rose and looking at becoming a part of the community, Rose is growing into its own and we are excited to be here and looking forward to the future of this great street.
·All The Gatekeepers Coverage [~ELA~]
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