Felix - Venice

felix

felix

#boom
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fiori di zucca - squash blossoms, fior di latte, green garlic
I predict this will be their most popular dish, almost every table ordered this. The squash blossoms were perfectly cooked and had a super light, delicate and greaseless batter, reminded me of the stuffed squash blossoms I had in italy and tempura from japan. Delicious.

spaghetti, bottarga di muggine, xvo, peperoncino
The bottarga really shined, briny and a little bitter. Pasta was perfectly al dente as expected. Pretty good.

tonnarelli cacio e pepe
Text book. Solid.

orecchiette, sausage sugo, rapini, peperoncino, pecorino
My favorite of the night, the rapini really balanced everything out.

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toto
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Overall, everything was really good and surprisingly reasonably priced with generous portions. Not like that republique bullshit. I hope they do some more meat and seafood pastas and don’t pull a cassia and start raising prices. Service was really professional. Bill included a 20% “service charge” with a line for “additional gratuity”.

salt & straw bang bang
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Had a slightly less successful dinner tonight, mainly because nothing reached the high bar set by the squash blossoms and the orecchiette with sausage sugo from my first visit. Highlights were the malloreddus and budinio.

crudo di gamberi - ridgeback prawns, lemon & peperoncino turchese
These were fine but I thought it could have used another component.
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polpette della maestra alessandra - pork meatballs, salsa verde & parmigiano reggiano
Crunchy on the outside and soft and porky on the inside, pretty good, a bit salty.
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pappardelle - ragu bolognese, “vecchia scuola”, parmagiano 48 mo.
Thin soft sheets of pasta, had plenty of meat but not much sauce.
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rigatoni all’amatriciana
This was softer than i was expecting with several pieces that were already broken lengthwise.
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felix

malloreddus - saffron, ragu d’agnello, fiore sardo
this was an Easter special. “Funke”, gamy, lamb with firm chewy pasta.
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felix

budino di nocino - whipped cream, walnut croccante
the budino was fantastic, the slightly bitter walnuts balanced out the budino perfectly. I preferred it to the sweeter Mozza budino.
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Service is still great. they also removed that ridiculous tax on the 20% mandatory service charge.


fiori di zucca - squash blossoms, fior di latte, green garlic
The oil must not have been hot enough, these were greasier than normal but still very good.
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carciofi alla giudia - fried artichokes
Unfortunately the oil still wasn’t at the proper temperature and these chokes had so much grease, john travolta started auditioning for the role.
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felix

burrata, peaches, mint, olive oil, aged balsamic
Highlight of the night, tasted like a delicous savory peaches and cream. perfect balance of flavors and textures, so good. they were going fast and sold out in under an hour.
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diavola - pomodoro, smoked fior di latte, salame napoletano
Loved this pizza, sauce was super fresh and bright and the salame balanced it out with a bit of heat**
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felix

bigoli - duck ragu, piave vecchio
Very good chewy hollow spaghetti with tender duck meat.
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felix

orecchiette - sausage sugo, broccoli di cicco, peperoncino, pecorino
Still my favorite out of the pastas
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felix

gnocchetti riposo - oxtail ragu, smoked fior di latte
Nice and fatty oxtail, solid.
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budino di nocino - whipped cream, walnut croccante
Still great
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burrata pugliese - heirloom tomatoes, basil, balsamico sette anni
Wow, this was fantastic, highlight of the night. The burrata from puglia had a soft, elastic exterior with a creamy milky interior. The tomatoes were perfectly ripe and i could bathe in the olive oil and balsamic, so good. Eaten with the fresh basil it was like a margarita-pizza-summer-explosion in your mouth. It was so summery the white walkers and jon snow called off the war and went on vacation #summeriscoming

This performance by the susan lucci of DOTM will surely win her the nod for August
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sficione - Focaccia siciliana, sea salt & rosemary
This is my high carb day
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tagliatelle - ragu di culatello, parmigano reggiano
Loved the slightly chewy texture of the tagliatelle, sauce was ok.
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spaghetti al nero di seppia - octopus sugo, wild oregano, peperoncino
Excellent pasta again, but the sauce was surprisingly mild and the octopus had a weird spongy texture. I was hoping for more of a seafood-y briny flavor. This would have been great with some bottarga.
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crostata - black mission figs, panna montata
Pretty good, the figs could have been sweeter.
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Had my best meal here the other night which included a couple new must-order seafood pastas and tender and juicy lamb skewers.

fiori di zucca - squash blossoms, sheep’s milk ricotta, fior di latte
Light and perfectly fried
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sficione - Focaccia siciliana, sea salt & rosemary
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arrosticini - grilled lamb skewers, green garlic salsa verde
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orecchiette - sausage sugo, broccoli di cicco, peperoncino, canestrato
Excellent as usual
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gnocchi di patate - black trumpet, chanterelle, crescenza fonduta, black truffle
Softer than a marshmallow sandwich on a mcdonald’s bun.
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busiati alla vongole - manila clams, aglio, olio, peperoncino
Another winner, the twisted pasta was perfect for hanging onto the buttery, garlicky, briny sauce.
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spaghettone so ricci di mare - Santa barbara uni, peperoncino, parsley
Loved this, had a kick of acid to cut through the richness and the cold fresh uni was excellent.
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budino
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tiramisu
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Came with my pasta pants on. I’m glad funke is featuring more seafood pasta which have been by far my favorites.

polipo - charred octopus, nduja, sedano di montagna & ceci zuppa
Nicely tender octopus, not much char, sauce had a slight bit of heat.

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spaghettone - maine lobster, green garlic, pomodoro & basil
New menu item and Funke hit this so far out of the park the lobster ended back up in maine. This and their uni pasta are now my favorite pastas in the city. Thick chewy pasta, huge plentiful chunks of perfectly cooked sweet springy lobster, and the sauce was slightly creamy and buttery but not too heavy.

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anolini in brodo - pangrattato, brodo di carne & parmigiano reggiano
Another new item, the soft pasta was filled with breadcrumbs and parsley, broth was clear and light, and the parmigiano reggiano served on the side was gave a nice punch of umami.

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busiati alle vongole - little neck & manilla clams, vino bianco & parsley
Thick chewy pasta, tender clams and a buttery, garlicky, and briny sauce.
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that time you go to Felix for the lobster spaghettone, uni pasta, clam busiati, and black truffle gnocchi but none of them are on the menu

sficione - focaccia siciliana, sea salt & rosemary
tremendous as always
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not pasta
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arrosticini - grilled lamb shoulder skewers, green garlic salsa verde
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mezze maniche alla carbonara - guanciale, black pepper, egg, pecorino romano dop
way too salty and rich, my friend and i couldn’t even finish half the plate.
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spaghetti al sugo do polipo - octopus, pomodoro, peperoncino
highlight of the night, tender chunks of smoky octopus in a light but creamy sauce.
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lorighittas ai frutti di mare
off menu special. the server explains it takes two cooks some long amount of time to make a plate of these sardinian rings of braided pasta. unfortunately the pasta was too thick and under-cooked/raw in the middle.
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sfincione - focaccia siciliana, rosemary, sea salt, olive oil
fabulous, fantastic, focaccia

panzanella - market vegetables, burrata pugliese, pane fritto
highlight of the night. perfect balance of salt, fat, and acid.

casulli ai ricci di mare - sea urchin, garlic, peperoncino, parsley
pasta was good, but the uni was pretty pitiful.

gnocchi di patate - oxtail ragu, pecorino romano
As @Chowseeker1999 experienced this was sadly saltier than @linus after returning from 12 months at sea. And yes Sergio was in the house.

gelato al pistacchio - bronte pistachio gelato
The gelato was extremely thick and nutty, like a pistacchio caulk. I actually would have preferred it to be a bit sweeter.

sergio


suppli alla romana - rice croquettes, fior di latte, guanciale, pomodoro
like a rice-y mozzarella stick

black truffles flown in from france
First you get the truffles, then you get the power…

(special) tonnarelli alla norcina - sausage, black truffle
Fantastic dish, so rich and black a kardashian wanted to marry it. The pasta was earthy, rich, creamy, porky, not too salty, and with enough truffles to last until the last bite.

(new) frutti di mare all’acqua pazza - diver scallops, blue prawns, striped bass, calamari, manila clams
Each component of this dish was cooked separately and you could tell, each item was the perfect doneness. Even the striped bass had beautifully crisped skin. The broth was flavorful but a bit salty.


This was absolutely delicious. And even better than some of the pastas I’ve had dining in. Even reheated, the focaccia is still my favorite in the city.

casarecce, sausage sugo, broccolini,
peperoncino & pecorino romano

Excellent with a bit more heat from the peperoncino than anything I remember having dining in.

sfincione - focaccia siciliana, rosemary, sea salt & olive oil
Finished this with some evoo, next time I’ll add some more fleur de sel.

Felix
1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd
Venice, CA 90291
(424) 387-8622
http://felixla.com/

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Opening friday, see you bastards there, code word “sergio”.

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I’ll see you in 3 months when the crowds die down a little (I hope)… :wink:

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might be worse! get in early! before the heathen masses realize he is open. I new it was close the room and kitchen looked pretty ready when I walked by a few weeks ago.

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I know, I was thinking that, given how, like, all other good restaurants become harder to get into as time goes on. :frowning: But I am also in budget conservation mode. But maybe I’ll just order one plate of pasta and then hit McD’s afterward. Most random bang-bang ever? :frowning:

Uh no. That bangbang is so commonplace, it even has a name: The @kevin special.

Does the @kevin special require the filet-o-fish and the hash brown? Or is that the @ipsedixit special? I told my partner about that when we walking by McD’s recently, and he was like, “What the hell???” He was also sitting next to me when I started noticing that the post titles had been changed and was wondering why I was laughing so hard that I was crying. :joy:

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The Filet O’Fihash hack (say that fast 3 times) is preferred, but not compulsory (@kevin constantly lives within the imminent spectre of “BK”, after all). And credit goes to @ipsedixit for grandfathering the Filet O’Fihash into our discussions.

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Woohoo! Maybe I’ll try to sneak in early on a weeknight. I wonder if they’ll add lunch eventually.

Wow they released the menu as well. Great hours to keep, too.

Holyyyyy cow. I can’t seem to get into their Resy page so they may be booked up already, but maybe I’ll go at like 11 pm when the crowds most likely will have died down a bit.

There are SO MANY pastas! =D

Their cocktails are real Venice-priced (which is appropriate in some ways since idk who would just be drinking cocktails there) lol But the wine list is expansive and has tons of really reasonably priced bottles which is really awesome.

I wonder how their bistecca fiorentia will be…

you weren’t kidding about those cocktail prices

They seemed intended to steer people towards wine haha

I fear this is going to be a very expensive place to dine. It may be difficult to do like 5 pasta tastings as I would do at Bucato…

one bottle of red under fifty bucks. 17 for a negroni.

may the backwaters of the river ganges run up their sisters pantyhose.

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These prices are making NYC joints uncomfortable. They thought they had the market cornered on 18 dollar cocktails…

I’m not super sure what you’re saying, are you upset by the cocktails or the wine? On the version of their wine list I see there are a bunch of bottles of red in the $45-$60 price range. That’s about as reasonable as you will ever find bottles priced in an LA restaurant of a high caliber.

The cocktail prices are there because I don’t believe they want people to drink cocktails with the food, but knowing the Venice crowd, they would get a million complaints if they didn’t have any. And that crowd won’t give a shit, they’re the same crowd that resulted in Scopa developing their $375 and up cocktail menu http://www.lamag.com/liquidlablog/rich-people-drink-scopa-italian-roots/

I am not sure people fully comprehend the amount of wealth concentrated in Venice… so far I haven’t heard of a place in NYC serving ~$400 cocktails, which appears to be somewhat routine to a prominent segment of drinkers in Venice lol

I comprehend the wealth in Venice, but c’mon man at some point do absurd prices begin to take away from your enjoyment of the place? For me, they do. Ryan Sutton over at EaterNY wrote an interesting article about this, in regards to Cosme.

Some nights you want cocktails. And I guarantee that some people in Italy drink cocktails with their food too. Of course the wine tradition is most prominent there; I’ve been laughed at for drinking a Coke with an Italian lunch, but still…

Where are $400 cocktails? Oh didn’t see the above link about Scopa… Damn these Silicon Beach people and their tech money. I don’t want us to be the new SF :frowning:

5 pastas at Bucato would’ve run you about ~$120 after tax and tip. Although there are no prices listed, you really think it’s going to be way more? I guess there is the possibility that they will price them at those Republique levels so they average like $30-$40 instead of $18-$22 (like at Bucato) so it would end up being around $150-$200 for 5 pastas, which would suck, but surely you are splitting 5 pastas with someone? I would still happily pay $100/person for Funke’s pasta.

It is true that Bucato was once an extraordinary place where, as a solo diner, I would often go and get out with two pastas, and that miraculous bread plus wine for like $65, which always felt like an incredible steal to me, and now that probably won’t be possible…but Felix is parked in real estate that must be several times more expensive to rent out than the Helms space sadly, so that seems predictable =(

Well, for the people who want to drink cocktails, they are there. I would imagine the spirits used are a touch more upscale due to Venice preferences, necessitating the higher prices for cocktails. Bucato did not even offer cocktails, so if you’re into cocktails you ought to be rather happy!

Venice already feels like the new SF in many ways… now if only we could get a version of Saison in there…

Oh it’s certainly predictable, and if the prime real estate will allow Felix and Funke to thrive, I’m all on board. But yes, there were few things better than sneaking into Bucato late night, not waiting, and indulging in those magnificent pastas for what seemed to be very good value.

I guess, for selfish reasons, I don’t want this to be Cassia part two, in which a wonderful neighborhood restaurant relocates to a fancier part of town and transforms into a finely tuned behemoth where you admit that the food is wonderful but can’t quite figure out how you just spent three hundred dollars.

But why should I complain? Funke’s cooking pasta again in Los Angeles, California. I’m elated.