My friend Ashley had been touting the lasagna at Angelini Osteria for a good year now, so I made it my first meal on my trip back to LA.  It was still a bit chilly (mid-60s?) when I first got in (I know, I know, such are the trials and tribulations of Southern California…), but warm enough for me to sit outside.  I’d just flown in from snowy, pollution-wracked Beijing, so my definition of al fresco weather was definitely broader than most Angelenos’.

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At first glance, this seemed like a tenable situation for anybody.  Anyway, I nibbled on some crispy flatbread and a nice bowl of cold pasta salad (I can’t for the life of me figure out what it’s called though) while I waited for the lasagna.DSC_0003-001 DSC_0004Not that I really knew what to expect, but the scattering of fried spinach was a surprising presentation, if only in that it scrambled whatever initial memories or ideas I had of what this lasagna might taste like.  The spinach did add that minerally mouth-feel (as spinach does), contrasting with the luxuriously creamy and savory (beef and veal) ragu, and the tender spinach pasta layers.  Eat your heart out, Maggiano’s.

DSC_0011-001 DSC_0006-001My secondi was a fat (and tender and crispy) slab of pork chop alla Milanese, with a side of fried squash and eggplant.  It was a good welcome back to the City of Angels.

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