Jonathan Gold Reviews RivaBella in West Hollywood

Jonathan Gold is a big fan of chef Gino Angelini, and while he feels that there are "occasional flashes of brilliance" at RivaBella, the new mashup IDG + Angelini hotspot on W. Sunset, he determines that the restaurant is playing its menu safe to appeal to the scenesters:

RivaBella features not quite the personal alta cucina of Rex, the serenely businesslike cooking of Vincenti or the elevated trattoria cooking of Osteria Angelini, but a kind of Italian cuisine in a streamlined international style. The food is slick and professional — you're not going to be making many of these dishes at home — but also reproducible, a little too engineered, as if Angelini were already looking toward opening RivaBellas in Las Vegas, Scottsdale, Ariz., and Newport Beach.

Angelini's pastas in cream sauce are "light and almost refreshing" and his eggplant park is "luscious." Pizzas are light and thin-crusted with a variety of toppings. Ultimately, this is "regular-guy Italian food." [LAT]

[Photo: Elizabeth Daniels]

B-Rod give two stars to Corazon y Miel citing, "Corazon y Miel is looking to fit into the neighborhood, with dishes that are mainly Latin-influenced at an incredibly reasonable price point. Some of that food is delightful, and some of it could use some work. But there's no doubt that the restaurant's heart is in the right place." [LAW]

The Elsewhere: Caroline on Crack drinks at Comma Ca, Darin Dines at Chego!, Eat: Los Angeles tries Sonny's Hideaway, Gastronomy likes the rice pudding at Lazy Ox Canteen, and Midtown Lunch files on a new sandwich at ink.sack.

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Corazon Y Miel

6626 Atlantic Avenue, Bell, CA 90201 323-560-1776