Food That Comforts at Da Pasquale

No picture this week, because there’s not a lot to look at. The best cheap restaurant in Beverly Hills is just a coffee shop with a counter and two of the most uncomfortable tables it will ever be your misfortune to sit at. But if food interests you more than ambience, you’ll want to know about Da Pasquale, 9749 Santa Monica Blvd., (213) 859-3884.

“If we make some money,” says Pasquale, the former pizza chef at Angeli, “we’ll take out the counter and put in some tables.” Meanwhile his guests sit on stools eating baskets of his wonderful bread, burning their tongues on his calzoni and devouring the panini. The pasta dishes are mostly in the $6 range, and the most expensive item on the menu, osso buco, is $9.50.

If you’re not in the mood for breakfast,lunch or dinner (they serve all three), you might just want to have a cappucino and some of the best tiramisu in town. “The recipe’s my mother’s,” says Pasquale, “perhaps you’ve tasted it at my parents’ restaurant, Trattoria Nanni?”