Bucato opening night: Tortellini made by a ‘pasta ninja,’ yes; cellphones, no?
Minimal ambient noise, two stark art fixtures, three unique dining spaces, a pasta-making lair and a Zen-like Evan Funke greeted opening night diners at Bucato, Culver City’s latest addition to the Helms Bakery complex.
Flutes filled with a deep maroon Lambrusco, which sat atop several butcher-block tables, added a pop of color to the neutral-toned, contemporary space. The chef’s commands, diners’ conversations and the staff’s well-versed (borderline theatrical) delivery of the Italian menu provided the only soundtrack and put the focus on the food.
Chef Funke, formerly of Rustic Canyon, created a concise menu featuring shared appetizers, seasonal salads, breads by pastry chef Zairah Molina, hand-made pastas from Kosaku Kawamura (described by one staffer as a “pasta ninja”), and of course, the porchetta he made popular while manning his Porchetta food truck.
Diners filed in through the night (the later it was, the younger they were) and chose from dishes including focaccia dotted with sal secco olives, eggplant caponata topped with slivers of anchovy or creamy burrata with sweet figs and mosto cotto (syrup made from wine grapes).
Pasta dishes included tortellini with brown butter and sage, tagliatelle with traditional ragu, and strascinati: a dumpling-like pasta served with a braised pork shoulder ragu. Tender grilled octopus, raw sea bream crudo and barracuda putanesca were among the seafood options, and there was porchetta (a rolled, stuffed pork loin) and “hunter style” pigeon.
Staff dressed in pale pink shirts and bow ties cleared and changed place settings between each course. But they didn’t noticeably enforce the restaurant’s no-cellphone policy, spelled out at the bottom of each menu: “Cell phones and photography expressly prohibited.”
One diner, who had been talking on her phone, looked up from her glass of Lambrusco and noted, “I waited a year for this” to open.
3280 Helms Ave., Culver City, (310) 876-0286, www.bucatola.com. Dinner: Tuesday through Sunday.
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