The New Farfalla: A Square Meal at a Round Table

“Would you like a round table or a square table?” asks the maitre d’ at the new Farfalla. The surprising thing is to be offered any choice at all. When you go to the original Farfalla in Los Feliz you usually have to wait at least 20 minutes for a table and you take whatever turns up.

This new Farfalla, in the minaret-topped building on La Brea that until recently was a sports bar, is huge in comparison to the original. There is an upstairs area, called Retroscena, that seems to function as a VIP room. There is a front area by the building’s arched windows where smokers sit--in this restaurant, smoking is still cool. And there is a back dining room that seems at least three times larger than the entire dining room at the original Farfalla.

The menu is slightly larger than the Los Feliz branch, the crowd slightly hipper, but the food itself is about the same. Pizzas are thin-crusted and good, the salads fresh-tasting. Pasta is served in several variations--rigatoni with three kinds of mushrooms, farfalle with smoked salmon and peas and a splash of vodka, eggplant-filled ravioli topped with ricotta salata. Osso buco , offered on special, is tender and delicious. The service is brusque but charming.

Farfalla, even in its new fancy surroundings, is still a fine neighborhood restaurant.