Sugarfish Co-Founder Opens New Casual Pasta Bar in Santa Monica

Matthew Kang is the Lead Editor of Eater LA. He has covered dining, restaurants, food culture, and nightlife in Los Angeles since 2008. He's the host of K-Town, a YouTube series covering Korean food in America, and has been featured in Netflix's Street Food show.

There’s a new fresh pasta contender in the LA area and it’s coming to Santa Monica. Named Uovo (which means egg in Italian), it’s opening in a small slot next to Hi-Ho Cheeseburger along 2nd Street in Downtown Santa Monica. Uovo officially opens tomorrow, August 22, after weeks of previews.

Sugarfish co-founder Lele Massimini conceived the idea, wherein the kitchen uses fresh pasta that’s hand-made and hand-cut in Bologna, Italy. It’s made with special red egg yolks that can only be sourced there. Then it’s shipped to the U.S. within a few days. Upon arrival, cooks turn the pasta into classic dishes like cacio e pepe, all’amatriciana, tortellini in brodo, and lasagna.

Using a model similar to Sugarfish’s affordable sushi, the pasta dishes provide value for their prices, which hover between $14 and $16. Orders are not coursed, but instead each dish comes out of the kitchen as soon as the kitchen is finished preparing it. The space comprises almost all bar seating, with a smattering of tables in the front and rear of the restaurant and a gigantic open kitchen taking over the middle of the place.

Based on early tastings, the pastas are different than what one finds at places like Rossoblu, Felix, and more. That is to say that they’re stark, catering to a purist Italian mentality. While the sauces and preparations look minimal, the flavors are tweaked to the point of obsession, dialed in to mimic some of the best pasta restaurants in Italy.

Uovo was created by brothers Lele and Carlo Massimini, Jerry Greenberg, and Lowell Sharon, with design from Marmol Radziner. Hours run 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Take a look around the interior and at some of the dishes below.

Uovo. 1320 2nd St. Santa Monica, CA