Culina at the Four Seasons’s New Pronto Market Lunch Transports Diners to Italy

(Gerry Furth-Sides) If this looks like an inviting place, room after room with a garden right outside each window, (You won’t want to leave even on a cloudy Spring day.) that’s because it is the Colina Restaurant, Four Seasons, Beverly Hills.  The inviting air wins you over before you even taste the faultless cuisine of  Executive Chef Luca Moriconi.  The impeccable service adds to an atmosphere as friendly and genuine as you would experience in the Italian countryside.  And it turned out to be the perfect place for this Angeleno to bring sophisticated out-of-town guests. And I just learned today that a rustic “culina” was a smoky vault where the food of the Roman home was produced.

The PRONTO Market Lunch has been extended by popular demand. The market-inspired buffet includes a selection of artisan salads, cheeses and charcuterie with a choice of protein. Dessert includes a selection of fresh fruit and more.  Each item, no matter how small, stands on its own.  It all starts with a rustic wooden box of crisp breads and crackers on the table.

Omar, our server, is worth his weight in gold.  He is the consummate professional and yet so much fun.  An amiable guide to the dishes and the spirits, Omar seems genuinely pleased to be at Colina Restaurant and pleased to make us happy.

The New Pronto Market Lunch, available every Monday through Saturday from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm ($35 per person) includes prepared selections as well as dishes from the kitchen.  It is easy to spot the Farmer’s Market-inspired buffet holding court in the bar area as you enter the last few rooms of the meandering restaurant/bar area.  Fittingly, seating is available at the bar, at small or very large group tables, or in the semi-enclosed outdoor patio.  All definitely encourage lingering.

Abbondanza defines the beautifully arranged selections of Salads, Cheese and Charcuterie, Choice of Protein, weekly rotating Seasonal Specials, Desserts and Fresh Fruits.  Each has its own name with ingredients next to it. A friendly staff is also there to guide diners.

Salads like the Little Gem Caesar with Taggiasca olives, oven-roasted tomatoes, Piave cheese, and bread crumbs, or the Deconstructed Market Salad, feature a rainbow array of lettuces and vegetables.   Healthy salads are deceptively decadent, such as the Farro Salad  with chopped vegetables, dried fruit, and red wine vinaigrette. Grilled Farmer’s Market Vegetables on the Pronto Market Lunch make their own statement as a complete meal.  A sweet and savory Persimmon Salad  is joined by fennel, arugula and Treviso with balsamic.  We even admired the Baby Kale Salad of frisée, Treviso grapes and Pecorino Toscana cheese, dressed with a citronette vinaigrette.

Chef’s Daily Soup soothes the body and soul in hot or cold weather.  Soup is a “must-have” here no matter what your stance on it. This rotation features the Sweet Corn Purée; the harvest-rich Tomato & Eggplant Soup; a reduced starch version of a classic Cauliflower & Leek Soup, and the Vegan Beluga Lentil.  We each ordered the tempting Mushroom Soup special and we each finished it to the last silky drop.

Pronto Market Lunch has become our favorite meal of the day because it can be brunch, lunch or the big meal. Chef’s Daily Pasta offered Baked Capunti with Eggplant; classic Pasta e Fagioli, and Pappardelle with Wild Boar. No matter the rotation of Soups, Salads and Pastas, Chef Moriconi is keen to ensure guests have Proteins to choose from including Tri-Tip, Grilled Salmon and Grilled Chicken.

Dessert always features Fresh Fruit but the weekly specials see such sweet indulgences as the Tiramisu, Lemon Tart, Panna Cotta with Passion Fruit Gelée and Red Velvet Cake. When the weekday is over, it is time to celebrate and savor the Saturday Pronto Market Lunch with bonus stations such as the Avocado Toast Station, the Omelet Station and the Eggs Benedict Station.

Indulge in South roast imports from Caffè Umbria at the Vinoteca Espresso Bar to start or kick-start a day. Enjoy refreshing Organic Cold-Pressed Juices and Feel-Good Smoothies from Solluna by Kimberly Snyder.  These include blends such as the Feel Alive with apple, kale, cucumber, celery, parsley, lemon, and ginger, the Feel Fit comprised of almond milk, raw vegan protein powder, chia seed gel, banana, raw cacao, and stevia or the Feel Youthful featuring coconut water, mango, lime juice, mint, turmeric, and stevia. Guests may also add their own favorites in a Create Your Own Juice offering or by adding additional Booster Shots to any juice or smoothie.

Available Monday – Saturday 11:30am – 2pm. $35 USD per person. For more information and to reserve, please call Culina at (310) 860-4000  For more information or to make reservations, please visit www.culinarestaurant.com or call Culina & Vinoteca directly at 310.860.4000.

Situated adjacent to the prestigious Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, Culina & Vinoteca is a stand-alone dining and drinking destination that is designed to accommodate hotel guests, world-class jetsetters, Hollywood moguls and locals alike, while retaining the impeccable amenities and hospitality that Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts are renowned for. The Vinoteca lounge is ideal all day long for convivial camaraderie or concentrating on finishing that new script with a cup of South roast imports from Caffè Umbria

Culina & Vinoteca’s General Manager Allen Artcliff-Cronrod is very familiar with the entertainment industry as he comes straight from the Sony Studios dining room.

Culina has been recognized as one of Wine Spectator’s “Best Award of Excellence” in 2018, the “Best New Restaurants” by Esquire magazine, one of the “100 Best Wine Restaurants” of 2011 by Wine Enthusiast magazine, one of the top restaurants in Los Angeles by Zagat, and one of the “Hollywood’s 25 Top Power Lunch Restaurants” by The Hollywood Reporter.