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Another Italian Contender Stirs Up the Westside’s Pasta Scene Next Week

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Forma’s second outlet lands in Venice with ample patio seating for all

Two hands pull up pasta from the center of a cheese wheel.
Forma
Forma
Farley Elliott is the Senior Editor at Eater LA and the author of Los Angeles Street Food: A History From Tamaleros to Taco Trucks. He covers restaurants in every form, from breaking news to the culture, people, and history that surrounds LA's dining landscape.

While every neighborhood, and just about every restaurant, has been struggling under the current strain of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it seems that Venice has emerged as a continually-hot place to not only dine, but to open new restaurants. The next newcomer is Forma, opening in the former Chaya space at the corner of Main and Navy on Monday.

Westsiders will know Forma as a cheese and pasta-focused Italian destination, with a popular original location on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica. The five-year-old restaurant loves to make cacio e pepe out of a scooped-out wheel of pecorino, plus dishes like wild boar ragout and grilled Spanish octopus. There are standalone cheese and charcuterie boards to start, and lots of wine and cocktails of course.

Given the lack of indoor dining at the moment around Los Angeles County, this new Venice Forma will focus on all things al fresco, with a massive front patio that comprises almost half of all the available seating inside the 5,000-square-foot space. Roll up doors add even more airflow, meaning the cheese bar inside will still be in full view of the dining public.

The new Forma opens for service on Monday night at 110 Navy Street, keeping evening hours only to start from 4 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily. The restaurant joins other Venice newcomers including the similarly pasta-focused Ospi down the street on Pacific Avenue, and Vartan Abgaryan’s new Post Script parking lot restaurant over on Abbot Kinney.

A wood-lined restaurant interior, complete with bar-top tables and low lights. Andrea D’Agosto
Cheese wheels at the ready for service in a restaurant. Andrea D’Agosto
Multi-colored pillows on an outdoor bench at a new restaurant during the day. Andrea D’Agosto
A mossy exterior of a restaurant’s patio seating, complete with benches and small tables. Andrea D’Agosto

Forma Venice

110 Navy St., Venice, CA 90291 Visit Website