by Richard Foss
At the end of the A La Carte columns that I write for this Easy Reader, I ask readers for tips about great, local restaurants. One suggestion keeps recurring, but I have been ignoring it for 15 years because their specialty is well represented in our area, and I usually cover places outside the Beach Cities only when you can’t get that cuisine locally. It’s time to give that establishment their recognition, because if so many people think I should cover it, I probably should.
Eatalian is a massive eatery in a location that any broker of dining establishments would find ridiculous – a neighborhood of warehouses and auto repair shops in an industrial section of Gardena. The location made perfect sense for the business that immigrant entrepreneur Antonio Pellini wanted to start back in 2010. He was dissatisfied with the quality of Italian-style cheese in LA and was looking for a place to make it. His real estate agent found an old textile factory at a price he could afford that had plenty of room – in fact, it was about five times larger than necessary. Pellini set up the cheese factory in one corner and decided that since he was already making Italian-style milk products, some of the remainder could be a gelato factory. There was room for a bakery too, and still less than half of the space was in use. The plans for a restaurant soon followed, and Eatalian was born.
I first visited the place after they had been open for only a few months, and like everyone else who goes there, was lost even when I was right in front of it. Though the address is on Broadway, the entry is on the side street, and I drove past the building because I missed the small banner at the corner that was the only indication of its existence. They have a sign now, but it’s not much bigger or more useful.
Once you find the door, you enter a cavernous building with cases of gelato and baked goods visible across a wide dining room. An espresso and wine bar in the center adds a splash of color, flames flare in an open kitchen to one side, and there are a few subtle monochrome photos of Italy on one wall. Otherwise the space looks like a warehouse. If you appreciate industrial chic design, this is the real thing.
The long menu is heavy on housemade pastas and pizzas from their woodburning oven, with a few grilled items. There is one important departure from Italian tradition – the portions are closer to American sizes rather than European standards, so it’s easy to over-order. This is particularly the case with the starters, so you might consider splitting one of the salads or antipasti between three or four people unless you actually look forward to leftovers.
The Emilia salad is a good place to start, an array of grilled vegetables topped with shaved Parmesan and balsamic vinegar. It’s a simple dish, the bell peppers, zucchini, eggplant, onions, and bell peppers sweetened from grilling, with just the right touch of smoky flavor. The Sicilian salad, of cabbage, orange segments, onion, and Kalamata olives in a simple vinegar and oil dressing, sounds like an unlikely combination, but give it a chance – the light acidity of the fruit along with tangy olives makes this more interesting than it sounds. Seafood lovers will gravitate to the insalata di mare, octopus, shrimp, squid, and shellfish tossed with vegetables and capers with olive oil, salt, pepper, and parsley. The generous portion is modestly priced at $18 and would be an ample and interesting main course.
If you enjoy vegetables and seafood, you can also get them on a pizza instead of in a salad. That frutta di mare mix is great over a base of tomato sauce and mozzarella, and there are enough vegetarian choices to give anyone some tough choices. The usual toppings like ham and cold cuts are here too, and in a departure from the rest of the menu, so are some original combinations. One of the most popular is called The Rock, featuring tomato sauce, mozzarella, spicy salami, gorgonzola, spinach, and bacon. All of the pizzas are the traditional Naples style that Beach city denizens know from Locale 90 – a very thin crust that somehow has just enough structural integrity to fold in half if you like to eat it New York style. (Modern Italians are about as likely to eat pizza with a knife and fork as to pick it up, something that surprised me on my first visit to Naples.) However you eat it, it’s best eaten there, since very thin crust pizzas don’t travel as well as thicker versions.
The pastas are a better bet if you’re getting a meal to go, and Eatalian executes the classics deftly. The carbonara is the cream-free classic, the puttanesca has a bite from the combination of olives, capers, and anchovies with just a dash of red pepper, and anything with pesto sauce will have plenty of fresh herbal kick. They make several types of pasta in-house and allow substitutions, so if you prefer penne or linguine in an item that is listed with spaghetti, go for it. Before you order, though, find out whether they have any daily specials. On my most recent visit they had strozzapretti, a rope-shaped egg pasta whose name means “priest strangler.” Nobody is sure why it’s called that, though this was invented in the 1800s during a time when sentiment against the clergy was high. I had this pasta with a cream sauce of Italian bacon called speck and treviso, a mildly bitter lettuce that is best when cooked, and it was fantastic. If pasta isn’t your thing, consider the risottos – I’ve had all four that are offered, and both the four cheese versions and the one with porcini mushrooms are better than anything you have at home unless you live with an Italian grandmother.
Over the years that I’ve visited Eatalian I’ve tried a few of the grilled items, which have always been satisfying, but were rarely standouts. The chicken scalloppine with marsala wine sauce sticks in my memory as worth trying, and I had a memorable taste of a companion’s seafood soup in white wine broth, but the pastas and pizzas are what keeps me coming back.
There is a decent and fairly priced wine list – all Italian of course, and a beer list that includes American, German, and Belgian brews because even Italians will admit that other countries have stronger brewing traditions. Most wines are under $60 a bottle, reasonable for the offerings here, and the most expensive Brunello is $100 a bottle.
If you didn’t take my mention of the portion size seriously, you may not have room for dessert, but if you do, take a stroll to the pastry case and gelato bar and see what tempts you. You may want to take something home for later, or a pastry to complement your morning coffee. Do it, and stretch out the experience at this most unlikely of temples to Italy’s culinary culture.
Eatalian is at 15500 S. Broadway in Gardena, a few minutes from the 110 Freeway, at Redondo Beach Boulevard. 10:30 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. Mon-Sat. Parking lot in rear, wheelchair access good. Sound level moderate, some vegan and vegetarian items, Corkage $18. Reservations only for parties of 6+. (310) 532-8880, menu at eataliangroup.com. ER
