Fabulous Orto in Santa Monica (new)

Add Orto to the list of fantastic Italian with delicate yet memorable pasta dishes. I had the Bolognese, which was light and tart but smooth. Props to each dish not “salt forward” which is a trend I despise (Uovo).

Here’s the menu and my pasta, along with the scaloppine

The owners/front of house include Andrea from Locanda Portofino and Franco from Viletta. Regulars of either will be happy to see them.

Adding a note that there’s an upstairs that’s ideal for private parties.

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It’s pretty interesting that they’re raising money through a private placement.

Seems that’s how they raised the money, one of the lead investors is a VC.

In any event, the food is outstanding - similar to Vincenti in Brentwood

I’ve read a number of complaints about the salting an Uovo but found it just about perfect for my palate. Even the cacio e pepe.

Regardless, it’s awesome there are so many places to get great pasta. We’re experiencing sort of a pasta moment in LA right now.

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Yeah, I didn’t find any of the food at Uovo to be particularly salty.

For the uninitiated, what does that mean?

@yogachik: Thanks for the info. Went to Vincenti’s once and enjoyed it (but was also there for a business meeting, so wasn’t paying close attention to the food). Looking forward to trying this place out, too.

Basically asking the public for a loan to startup and run their restaurant.

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Why? is a Reg D so unusual for a restaurant? Basically looks like they wanted to sell their own shares, this was an equity stake, not a loan, and it was probably to more than just a few investors.

Private Placements have nothing to do with the public (not like a Reg A+ or Equity Crowdfunding, where anyone can invest). Reg D’s are open only to accredited investors (over $300k/year in income). It’s a way to protect the investor, actually - and all restaurants have many investors - this way, they own shares and the investment is filed with the SEC and FINRA.

Back to the food. I look forward to hearing what others think of this restaurant, I’m going back for lunch today, excited to have it in the neighborhood (and much more reasonably priced than, say Locanda Portofino).

Thank you for recommending this place. I love bottarga, so I’m happy to see that they have pasta with bottarga.