Jonathan Gold reviews Valentino
Carpaccio purses, truffle cheese rucola and celery with a topping of fresh white truffle.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)Lamb tortelli, pecorino sardo, butter and sage.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)Tartar di tonno con orange flavored burrata.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)Poached pear al mascarpone with marsala and pistachio.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)Duck sausage ravioli with sausage sauce and pecorino.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times )Cappellacci pasta with winter pumpkin, sheep ricotta and Reggiano cheese.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)Rabbit loin in a bed of polenta modica chocolate sauce.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)Affogato al caffe’ and biscotti.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)Piero Selvaggio, owner of Valentino restaurant in Santa Monica, places a bottle of wine into a slot inside the wine cellar, which contains about 4,400 bottles.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)Waiter Paul Sherman, second from right, pours a glass of Champagne for a patron seated at a table inside the wine cellar.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)Piero Selvaggio, owner of Valentino in Santa Monica. is seen at the restaurant’s bar. Valentino is now 45 years old.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)Customers make their way into Valentino restaurant on Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)