Welcome to Italy - The Handmade Pastas of Chef Evan Funke - Felix (Thoughts / Pics)

Americas - USA West Los Angeles
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Thanks for the recommendation; I’ll give that a try. :slight_smile:

Oh and one slightly frustrating thing I forgot to mention was that Felix delivers their pies uncut. :unamused:

But unlike Bestia’s dull-bladed knife they provide (which makes a mess when cutting), Felix provides a pretty neat-looking knife that’s extremely sharp. We were able to cut up the pies quickly and with minimal mess.

It’s still a bit frustrating that they don’t cut the Pizza for you. I mean Bread could be served in whole loaves to the table, but with innovation we now have sliced Bread / Rolls, etc. :slight_smile:

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I don’t understand this exactly, do you just personally hate BBQ sauce? If not, American BBQ doesn’t have a monopoly on tangy, smoky, sweet flavors, so I am confused about why you hated the pasta I guess. BBQ pasta sounds pretty awesome to me.

I hope they only go larger. Proper steaks prepared in the Florence tradition really should be at least that large, or larger. In Florence they come by the KILO (approx 36oz), and often cut around 2-3 kilos to serve, so these steaks are already on the small side (it’s a costata rather than a bistecca, though). The measurements usually include bone, though. A 40oz streak probably has around 10-12oz of bone leaving 28-30oz of meat, and it’s pretty common for places to serve single servings of steak (NY strip or ribeye) in 12-14oz portions. Split by 2 people the 40oz costata would be two people having 14-15oz of meat. Yeah, it’s large, but completely manageable by a party of 2 if they want, although it would be better for a party of 3-4 to try more pastas and things as well.

Just figured I would add some perspective. The possibility of having authentic bistecca alla fiorentina is a huge draw for at least some people. Plenty of places to get steaks not in that tradition in LA, only really one other place even offering such a steak in LA currently).

I am more curious to learn about how they actually prep the Florence steaks. If they do them as authentically as the pastas they might really be incredible and contend with Chi Spacca’s. On that point, how much are they charging for the steaks? Is it per ounce?

Sorry if this is offensive, it’s not intended to be, but have you traveled through Italy extensively? Funke’s pastas taste far closer to what I’ve actually eaten in Italy than anywhere else I’ve tried in LA, or anywhere in the US for that matter. Especially with these types of very simple sauces. I think a lot of places modify them to fit American palates when they are focused on being more elemental, simple, and delicate in Italy (from what I’ve tried there anyway).

I’m a fan of American takes on Italian food obviously, but the tremendous value of Felix to me is that what is on offer is a set of things that are done almost exactly how they are in Italy right here in LA.

Personally, I hope they don’t change these classics to conform to American tastes. Other people may find this too “unexciting” I guess, but just thought I would offer a different view to consider.

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This is how nearly everywhere in Italy serves pizza…and Felix is trying to adhere extremely closely to Italian traditions.

I really don’t think they deserve criticism for being precisely what they set out to be…it is something that I, and I hope some others, value them for.

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Authentic and frustrating is not mutually exclusive

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Hi @Aesthete,

BBQ? No? But I (nor any of my friends (some who’ve been to Italy)) have experienced “BBQ Sauce Pasta” before. I’m glad you like that flavor, but all of us at the table found it offputting / strange. It’s not “gross” of course, but it’s like eating, say, American BBQ Sauce Chow Mein or something. Do some people find it exciting and different? Perhaps? It’s just not for me.

It was strange because the other sauces all tasted and connoted flavors we’ve run across at many Italian places (and purer in some ways), but not that one.

Well their Costata Alla Fiorentina was explicitly stated by our server as “way too much” food. It was recommended to share with “at least 4 - 5 people” is what she said. She never gave us the breakdown of how heavy the bone was (or if it was bone-in). So I’m just going by what our server recommended to us. Price? I was going to ask, but since it was a non-starter, I didn’t follow-up.

No, I haven’t been to Italy, but our guest had. I’ve tried a variety of Cacio e Pepe from various recommended Italian eateries around the U.S. and Canada. I never said their Cacio e Pepe was “inauthentic” nor did I imply that. I said it felt “tame” which my friend who has been to Italy agreed (just getting their impressions), and my own from a variety of places I’ve tried over the years.

And note that the Pesto examples I brought up are from actual Italian natives, from Italy (not like Chef Funke who’s only traveled there and studied a bit, not his whole life)? Leo Bulagarini’s Pesto is far more vibrant, pure, and interesting than Felix’s version. Same for the Pesto I had at Pasta Sisters from Paola Da Re and her family. Their Pesto was also just more interesting to me, but your mileage may vary. :slight_smile:

Lastly, for the Pizza, that’s good to know. When Attilio Bachetti from Pizzeria Da Attilio in Naples, Italy was doing his pop-up at DeSano, all of his pies were served cut. He seemed pretty authentic to me, and maybe he conformed to a recommendation from the DeSano staff, but he had no issues doing it for his masterpieces (and they were that wonderful), and it didn’t take away from the pies.

Sometimes it’s nice to incorporate innovations or changes that make the dining experience more enjoyable. In this case, it feels like the pies wouldn’t have suffered having them pre-cut; it just adds to the frustration when it’s uncut IMHO. But I did note that it’s far better than what other places do, and that’s provide an actual extremely sharp knife to cut the pie with.

Thanks.

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I guess I would say they sort of are…well for me at least; if I value the authenticity, then the frustration doesn’t exist. Or maybe that’s just me. I find it exciting to get to cut into a fresh pizza with a sharp knife lol

Well, as usual, I doubt anyone agrees with me, so you can take it or leave it. But I feel like criticism of restaurants should be based on what the restaurant is aiming for, otherwise it seems…unfair?

It seems different to say “I hate uncut pizzas!” versus “this restaurant sucks because they serve uncut pizzas!” or am I the only one who sees a difference in those sentiments?

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Where did someone say that?

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Well, I assume that it is implied when people use the emoticons that show disgust lol

Maybe reading too much into emoticons? idk

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Possibly :rooster:

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You may need some more of this to help your argument

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well, i respectfully disagree with this. i think criticism should be based on what the food is, not what it attempts to be.

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So you would find it valid to criticize McDonald’s for not serving pizza?..

It just seems really weird to do that to me.

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Why?

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Well fair enough. It’s true that it is unusual to find such sauces in restaurants, even in Italy. I have had something similar to what you’re describing as a guest in a home in Italy in a small town. From reading about how Chef Funke spends his time in Italy, it seems like he is trying to serve some of these “small town/village” type sauces at Felix. I will admit, when I first tried it I also thought it was unusual in the sense that I had just never imagined such flavors being in pasta/sauce outside of America; but contemplating it I’ve felt like it’s too American-centric for me to think about American cuisine having a monopoly on some set of flavors.

It’s rather daring of them to serve stuff like this because it deviates so significantly from what a restaurant “should” be serving. I can see how it might be off-putting to many people given that. Just thought I would offer up some kind of context/a different perspective that other people might use to make a decision about checking out or avoiding Felix to read. And I was just curious.

Well, ok… seems weird to me, but then again they are in Venice. I suppose appetites for that kind of thing will be smaller than in Florence hah. I just find it sort of funny because the waiters at places like Ink, or Republique or Bestia never say “Oh the steak is WAY TOO MUCH FOOD” when you want to order a 12-14oz one, but that’s about what you’d end up eating if you got the costata alla fiorentina and split it between 2 people. The bone thing is based off of the fact that both places in LA serving comparable steaks I’ve been to (Animal and Chi Spacca) have those bone oz’s. If Felix is actually quoting oz of meat after they remove the bone, then the server’s comment makes a lot more sense.

I guess that’s fair. They maybe also messed it up when you had it, idk. Your complaint was not enough pepper basically, right? I wonder if you could just specify extra pepper?

Yeah, that’s a fair point I guess. I don’t know, maybe if enough people complain Felix will start cutting them. I kind of like the feeling of actually eating in Italy that the whole theater and small details like that lend to the place personally, but I’m also not really there for the pizza mainly so it wouldn’t affect me terribly, however, I do actually enjoy being able to properly cut a pizza with a nice sharp knife like you said they offer. The places I ate in Italy always provided excellent knives with their pizzas, whereas that is definitely not always true of places in LA that do it haha

I am not personally THAT into pesto, so yeah, I think “your mileage may vary” is a good sentiment with pesto as far as all of the different ones I’ve tried lol

Thanks for the discussion! :smiley:

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[quote=“Chowseeker1999, post:20, topic:5413”]
And that’s actually a bit of a cool thing - to have your own hyper-local style of food being developed here - it reminded me of reading @robert’s comments about Cotogna’s Pizza style, how it was representative of a local style in that neighborhood.
[/quote]Excellent point. We do do some complaining about Mozza’s crust. But you hit on something. It’s a signature crust the restaurant was built on. That’s kinda’ brilliant and not easy to do in L.A. - no matter the pedigree of the owner/chefs. At least that’s what I think you guys are talking about.

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There aren’t many pizza styles I don’t like, but I tend to prefer a Neopolitan-style Margherita above everything. Unless it’s Mozza. That’s just my favorite. Love everything about that unique crust. Still prefer a Margherita 9 out of 10 times, though, even when at Mozza.

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To those familiar with Bucato, are the squash blossoms at Felix better or worse than the ones at Bucato?

I did not find the squash blossoms at Bucato all that great.

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In Italy, each person gets their own pizza, they’re served uncut, and eaten with knife and fork. Slicing a round pie into wedges is an American thing.

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Chowseeker, i like your comparison to uncut bread loaves…the point in not cutting the pie? to slavishly follow the typical but not universal Italian way? i’ll remember that and bring my own pizza cutter with me! hope they dont have metal detectors!

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What areas of Italy have you traveled extensively in?