rednikki "Preternaturally Perky" Q.'s Profile

We got there a bit after 7pm. They were closed for the evening, although we could see people in the kitchen. I let out a cry of anguish and immediately the woman behind the counter came to my aid. They were closed in order to churn out some huge catering orders, but she kindly served up some malfatti with marinara sauce for me.

Everyone says the meat sauce is amazing, and it probably is. But don't fret, vegetarians! The marinara sauce is the richest, most succulent marinara I've ever tried. And the malfatti! They were like a delicious cheesy pasta party in my mouth. If I lived in Napa I would get takeout from Clemente's every day, and probably weigh 300 pounds a year. So I guess for my waistline it's good that I live three hours away...but I can't stop dreaming about that marinara sauce!

This should really be two separate reviews - one for the pastry counter and one for the restaurant.

Pastry counter: OMG. The chocolate croissants are DIVINE. Ultra-flaky, not oversweetened, and actually reasonably priced. I get one whenever I'm in town. Sometimes two. The bread is also delectable. I strongly suggest the raisin walnut bread, which is a great breakfast bread. They let the raisins provide the sweetness rather than tossing giant bucketfuls of sugar in. Yum! Also, the counter staff is amazingly patient when I pay for my pastries, then remember I need a coffee for my partner, then remember I need ANOTHER coffee for myself (my flakiness - almost as flaky as their yummy croissants! - is merely a sign of my desperate need for caffeine).

Restaurant: It is 100% hard surfaces, which means the crowd volume is turned up to 11. Don't expect to have any intimate conversations, although on the other hand you could shout about the most personal matters and no one would ever overhear you over the din.

The portobello fries are ALL THAT. Seriously. I do NOT like mushrooms and I loved these and wanted to take them home and keep them. IN MY BELLY! My pasta was similarly delicious. My partner said that his meatball sliders were perfectly done - the sauce brought out the flavor of the meat rather than disguising it. (I swear, I didn't mean for this review to read like a bad porno film...)

Downside: the service. As seems to be common downtown, the server was often nowhere to be found. This became annoying when we were served our appetizers and still had menu in hand because we were waiting to order our entree. It was even more annoying when we had to EAT our appetizer with menu in hand (no room on the table for them). He didn't come back until they were actually CLEARING the appetizer. I got the impression, from what I overheard, that they were seriously shorthanded. (And server folks - if I can overhear you discussing your staffing woes on the floor when the place is THAT noisy, you are talking TOO LOUDLY about your staffing issues!)

Delicious pizza, convenient location, AND they have one of those wild Coca Cola machines where you can customize your beverage. Perfect!

Whatever I need, they always have it - and at a reasonable price. They get me through the line quickly. And when I want to browse, they leave me the heck alone when I say I'm just looking.

It's the last In-n-Out until Salinas! What is there to say that hasn't already been said? As a vegetarian I appreciate that I can get a grilled cheese.

This pizza was mad good. Seriously, some of the best pizza I've ever eaten - and I'm a serious connoisseur of such things. Amazing cheese (we had the four cheese and every one of those cheeses was distinct and flavorful), stellar crust. The bread on the side? Also incredible. Divine, even. Loved the fact that you can actually get wine from a tap.

Downside? The service. In order to get our server's attention we nearly had to tap-dance on the table. When we said things like "Can we get the bread between the appetizer and the meal?" she didn't pay attention and held the bread until the meal. Perhaps we were here on an off night, because I notice no one else has complained about the service - or maybe I've just spent too much time out of LA and have raised my standards.

This gets three stars for wine and five stars for ambiance, which balances out to four. If I still lived in LA, I'd come here all the time with my picnic basket and my friends, buy a bottle of wine and spend a lovely afternoon listening to great live jazz.

What a fantastic show! And I'm not just saying that because I was in the front row and got a very personal visit from the cast. It's like a fusion of a theatrical performance, a fantastic concert, an awesome nightclub event and a party at the house of the coolest person you've ever met.

If you're a Burner, this musical will make you feel like you're right back on the Playa - only without the pesky dust storms and dubstep. If you're not a Burner but are Burner-curious, this show will give you an idea of what the experience is like, and probably make you want to go even more. If you are just into really cool, experimental theater with amazing music and exotically costumed actors, singers and dancers, you'll probably enjoy this and may end the evening making plans to go to Burning Man.

The singers were top-notch, and most of them were multi-instrumentalists as well. Also, the entire cast is VERY easy on the eyes. Seriously, a very fun way to spend the evening.

I had their cappuccino on my last day of SXSW and it seriously changed my life. It was the best cappuccino I've ever drunk. The beans were perfect and the crema had a richness I've never quite tasted before.

Since then I've wandered the streets of California searching for anything that compares, but nothing ever does. I've had cappuccino at some alarmingly pricy restaurants and at the top-rated coffee venues in the state, but nothing has been as good. I am considering a trip to Austin just so I can drink that cappuccino again, which tells you everything.

I asked my other half to pick the place for my special 40th birthday dinner. He picked Buona Tavola. It did not disappoint! I cannot imagine a better meal for my 40th birthday.

It was a Thursday and pouring rain outside, so the restaurant was fairly empty - an unusual circumstance, from the reviews I've seen here. The greeter was really nice and especially warm when she found out it was my 40th birthday.

We started our meal with Mozzarella con trittico di vegetali, which he was kind enough to put on two separate plates for us. Eeally good mozzarella makes a dish like this sing - and this was really good mozzarella. Really good. I haven't had mozzarella this good since I was in New York. The grilled vegetables were tasty, too.

For our entrees, my partner selected the steak special with roasted garlic, carrots and spinach while I had the Tortelloni bufalina. He raved about his. My tortelloni were amazing. There was this especially slippery quality to the pasta which I've only ever experienced in Asian potstickers. I could eat this every night, happily.

We'd planned to have dessert, but we were way too full to eat it. As a post-dinner treat, the waiter brought us each a small glass of house-made limoncello - on the house. It was delicious, a perfect way to finish the meal. (And I don't normally even LIKE limoncello!)

I will be back to Buona Tavola, over and over and over again.