Table Crashing: La Botte in Santa Monica

March 18, 2008 at 4:20 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

Only three restaurants in Los Angeles were awarded two Michelin Stars in the 2008 guide for the city and several were awarded one-star, including another Table Crashing fave, CUT.

So we decided to test out the one nearest to our abode--La Botte in Santa Monica which earned a one-star. The restaurant's location is a few blocks from the touristy Third Street Promenade, thankfully, as anything on the Promenade should be avoided.

Yet it's in the ground level of a modern-looking apartment/office building. This is both good and bad--good because you get a sort of tucked-away feeling but bad because who eats in the ground floor of an apartment/office building?

Nevertheless, La Botte has a cozy atmosphere once you step inside. Indeed the Michelin guide agreed:

It is difficult to imagine a warmer interior than in the homey yet fashionable place, which pays homage to Italian wine with its hardwood floors and walls crafted from the staves of oak wine barrels (a nod to the name, Italian for "wine barrel").

We sampled the Prosciutto di Parma e Burrata ($18) which was probably the best tasting prosciutto we've had on the west coast. We also ordered a special appetizer--ravioli stuffed with burrata and spinach and sprinkled with cooked prosciutto. If that's on the specials list for the night, order it.

For our main course, we tried the Cavatelli di Ricotta Alla Lina ($18). This was a tad disappointing since it was overpowered by the garlic and we like to judge an Italian place on their pasta. As you can imagine, we needed a lot of breath mints after this dinner.

The service that night was slow. Our waiter seemed to forget about us and then was a little pushy when we were debating which wine to choose. And we couldn't stop staring at the rest of the waiters' unbelievably stunted ties. This is a popular look where?

Yet the wine selection was extensive, if expensive and the place didn't mind that we were the last table to leave. We sampled our friends' pasta dishes which were way better than ours, so maybe it was just an off night.

As far as Italian restaurants go in Santa Monica, this is the best and besides, anything beats whatever is in the immediate vicinity of the Promenade.

[Photo: OpenTable]

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