Most of the takeout menu items are for home preparation / warmup, with the one exception for immediate satisfaction being the outstanding pressed porchetta sandwich.
Porchetta sandwich… Juicy delicious porchetta, with a decided kick from the jalapeno. The dense bite resulting from pressing give it a familiar cubano flair. Great!
Calabrian spicy sausage & fennel ragu, with Ligurian trofie pasta… WOW! That is one kick-ass ragu! Soulful, complex and comforting. Do not miss this one if it is available.
warrior: i’m very afraid that the area will gentrify, making it more popular and thus more expensive to live in, thereby requiring low-income renters who somehow aren’t protected by rent control to either put tents on the sidewalk or move to a different place. so i’ve decided not to go.
Sadly that ship sailed the second the Expoline opened down the street… I grew up and live in the area nearby. First… I would not call that area necessarily low income. I applaud that they dared cross la brea… but that part of West Adams has long had their tidy neighborhoods. Even the Kardashians frequent some of the shops in the area… Robert a Dorsey Don…
Second, I prefer to wait and see as to how they approach the neighborhood. Will they hire from within. How inviting will they keep their space. We are pretty tightknit community in West Adams… so we keep each other in touch with regards to those who make genuine efforts to be part of our neighborhood.
Finally, the main draw of Cento in DTLA was not only the fresh Pastas… but the price he was able to execute them at. Chef Avner is a lovely guy, I imagine that it’s probably going to be pricer. But still… hopefully not Jon and Vinny level. Which essentially just plopped their full price restaurant in a similar neighborhood instead of making an effort to cater to it.
All that being said… While I enjoyed my meal at Cento… I was not wow’d by it. I prefer both Pasta Sisters and Sunday Gravy for my pasta itch.
