Old School Italian Updated at Hearts & Flame ❣️

(Gerry Furth-Sides) The soaring space of Hearts & Flame is literally breath-taking. Once housing a two-story agricultural product warehouse it is so vast that live trees look natural in it. Yet charm and personality are ingeniously also a part of this rustic space with gracious indirect lighting and little touches like corner nook tables and leather couch banquette seating with pillows along the walls.

Flames leap up as meats are grilled open kitchen in the center of the restaurant under the direction of old-school Executive Chef, Michele Brogi.

Dishes shown below include cauliflower with marinated vegetables, caponata, strozzapreti (handmade eggless pasta with sea bass), pappardelle with wild mushrooms, and prawns with beans in tomato sauce.

Service can only be described as beyond excellent with a roving manager leading the low-key, attentive European service. A guest’s pleasure is foremost.

When we (i.e. I the only carnivore at the table) wanted only a taste of the beef cheeks on the menu. But because they are done sous vide and marinated for days in advance, the order could not be split – so the chef served this dish on the house. As it turned out, this rarely offered, classic version of the dish is a must-try, served with a little dish of glacé fruit.

We were also treated to extra bowls of gelato for dessert. And the manager followed us outside in the drizzle when we left to wish us safe journey and see that we got into our car safely.

Passionate, generous with information, Chef Brogi beings over 35 years of experience to his post from his working travels throughout all of Europe, the Mediterranean and internationally.

Our favorite dishes (we already picked out from the menu ahead of time): Beef cheeks or Guance de Manzoare, a delicacy of naturally-raised, grass-fed, hormone & antibiotic-free meat from the face of the cow, next to the jaw muscle.  It is more commonly used here in Southern California as barbacoa meat for tacos, quesadillas and burritos. The festive Italian version here is spezzatino or stew, and added glaceed fruits..

The chef told us, “really the only way to cook them is slow-cooking. This will ensure that they achieve the desired melt-in-your-mouth texture. Beef cheeks absorb the flavours of the liquid they are cooked in, resulting in a flavoursome meat with a texture that melts in your mouth like butter. Takes 24 hours to braise at 170 degrees in a vacuum pack with madera port, herbs, vegetables

The must-have dessert, a classic Russian (many-layered honey cake (a must-try) that takes days in the making and gelato (Fosselman’s ice cream and tiramisu.

The story is that the chef loved this cake so much on a trip to Moscow that he learned how to make it. And the origin? Carême, of course. The French master baker created it in the 19th century in the Russian Empire to impress Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna, wife of Alexander I. Empress Elizabeth could not stand honey, and any dish made with it drove her mad. She loved this one, naturally.

Hearts & Flame, A Coastal Italian Retreat in Downtown Los Angeles’ Arts District, 225-227 S Garey St, Los Angeles, CA 90012, 1 213-722-3050

info@heartsandflame.com