Unanswered Questions About Bice

There are lots of questions about Bice, 301 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, (213) 272-2423. Will the waiters ever learn to speak English? (At the moment, they seem unable to understand your order unless you place it in Italian.) Who in Beverly Hills is going to be willing to pay this sort of money (entrees at dinner are $15-$22) to sit in the Siberia of the little alley off the main dining room? And why does this restaurant have to be so loud?

Some things aren’t questionable at all. One is the quality of the food, which is as authentically Italian as you’d expect from the offspring of a restaurant that has been celebrated in Milan since 1926. I recommend the rosemary-kissed grilled porcini mushrooms and the quite perfect risottos (if you’re feeling very indulgent, you’ll be happy if you splurge on the one with white truffles). As for the room itself, it is unquestionably different than any other in town: The foodies who are already flocking in the door to sit beneath that soaring ceiling, reveling in the sophistication of the setting.