chi SPACCA Cures All Ills Tonight

Phone: 323-297-1133
Status: Opens tonight
Chad Colby, a mild-mannered cook from Manhattan Beach, is about to be projected onto the national stage when he takes his place as chef of chi SPACCA, opening tonight next door to Osteria Mozza in Hancock Park. Check out the menu! Colby, who had been chef of Nancy Silverton, Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich's Scuola di Pizza, started curing his own meats a while back as a sort of hobby. But when he won Cochon 555 a few years ago, the cooking and curing got a lot more serious. He eventually started Salumi Nights at the scuola, and quite quickly had to increase production of his home-cured meats to keep up with the demand. Silverton & company noticed the success of the salumi, and are today giving Colby a real restaurant to run. The interior of the space is exactly as it was during Colby's limited Salumi Nights. Wine bottles line the walls and square wooden tables sit in front of the open cooking stage.

Instead of an awning that says "scuola," the facade is now dark grey. A silhouette of a cleaver (spacca, in Italian) hangs near the entrance. As expected, Colby's menu places a heavy influence on meat, whether cured, cooked or raw. A small menu of 10 wines will be on offer nightly as well. chi SPACCA opens tonight for dinner, and will serve guests Monday through Friday starting at 6 p.m.
Additional reading: Breaking, 1/13; Vital Updates, 1/09; Eater Tracking, 1/21