Angeli Caffe in the City of Angels

When I was planning our trip to L.A., one of the restaurants that topped my list of "must visit" locales was Evan Kleiman's Angeli Caffe, the famous West Hollywood purveyor of rustic Italian cuisine. As expected, we had a delightful dinner there. I ordered the classic Pizza Angeli, (smoked mozzarella, tomato-basil sauce, garlic and fresh basil) while my companion sunk his teeth into Linguini alle Vongole (fresh clams, tons of garlic, a touch of chile pepper and hot pasta topped with white wine and herbs). Angeli Caffe was homey yet modern, and I loved the built-in wine rack that lined the top half of one of the walls. I also loved wandering around the restaurant on our way out, perusing framed copies of Evan's articles in glossies like Bon Appetit, as well as her many cookbooks.

I'm usually all for spontaneity when it comes to travel, especially when it comes to finding great restaurants, but I'm really glad I planned ahead for this meal. My only complaint was that I was semi-full already when I arrived, as my companion and I had already snacked on some fabulous lime juice-and-cilantro topped chicken tacos at the Grand Central Market earlier in the afternoon, and they were more sizeable than anticipated. (Sizeable, and still cheaper than if we had consumed the contents of our hotel mini-bar!)