Do you think that we have enough Italian restaurants in Santa Monica? Of course there’s some reason to have some variety, since there are a number of regional Italian cuisines. But very few of the Italian restaurants really prepare the regional dishes. One distinguishing characteristic of Italian restaurants is whether they are “new Italian” or “old style” Italian. For the old style type you could try Vito at 28 Ocean Park. For the new style I like Obica on sixth and Broadway.

There are high end Italians and low end Italians but most are in between. At the low end try Rosti on Montana. A lot of the food there is aging in a steam table, not something one sees in real Italian restaurants. On the other hand, they have a great American hamburger. At the high-end we are blessed with Valentino’s, which has been there for many years and remains one of the top restaurants in Santa Monica. But it’s not cheap. On the other hand it’s probably less expensive then Giorgio Baldi’s in the Santa Monica Canyon, where it’s hard to drive past all the Bentlys and Porsches, and squeeze in between the too-closely spaced tables to wave at your favorite movie star.