Wow! That is what came into my mind as I strolled through this food lovers’ “Disneyland” (as my friend had called it). It is rather like that of an amusement park in that there were lines everywhere.

Not sure that I really wanted to fight the crowd when my friend mentioned this place that had just opened less than a few weeks ago. I was told the wait would be more than an hour to get into the restaurants. I finally relented since I did not have much to do that Saturday, and had plenty of time for waiting in lines.

My friend got there around 10:30am, and me around 11:15am, so we did not need to wait outside in order just to get in. However, there was a line already for “La Pizza, La Pasta”. The food looked really good at “La Piazza” while we were waiting in line, and I was told that the “ll Pesce Cucina” serves very good seafood. I noticed that for people who came later on that day, there was a line just to get inside Eataly.

First of all, I was glad that I registered online for “Smart Parking” which allows the car to enter straight into the garage without having to get a ticket, and that it also automatically bills the credit card on file without having to pay at the station before leaving (there is a 50% discount from now until end of the year for parking once registered).

It was exhilarating for me to walk around such a wonderful, happy place with lots of fresh and quality food. There is a station where fresh mozzarella is being made, another where doughs for fresh bread were being kneaded, and another where a lady was making fresh pasta.

There are lots of cheeses, beautiful cuts of meat, and seafood, produce, fruits and all different food products form Italy.

We were finally seated after lining up for over an hour for La Pizza, La Pasta. The hostess was telling me how much she enjoys working there since she loves food. I would not mind working there part-time as well, especially at the “Venchi Cioccolato” where one can purchase individually wrapped chocolates by the pound.

The pizza that we had ordered, “Tartufo”, with porchini mushroom puree and black truffle was quite light and flavorful, not salty as most other pizzas tend to be. The “Tagliatelle al Ragu” with brasied brisket was tasty, with the pasta being made daily on premise. I also liked the housemade mozzarella with a choice of 3 side accompaniments.

I was not full after those 3 plates, but my friend was stuffed. So instead of getting a Panigacci(a flatbread imported from Tuscany)as we had wanted to, we decided to wait, and get some sweets instead.

We purchased these 3 small bite size pastries at the “Venchi Ciocolate”, and the pastries were put into a beautiful box with ribbons which in itself looked rather fancy and expensive.  I really wanted to keep the box, but it got a bit soiled by the pastries, so I had to let it go. I exercised strong self control when I only picked two pieces of the individually wrapped chocolates that one can purchase by the pound. One of them was probably the best piece of chocolate I had ever had, with depth of flavors that were complex and rich. The other 3 pieces of pastries of which I ate all by myself were not as special, probably because I had them very soon after having a medium gelato (hazel nut and pistachio flavors), and an Italian hot chocolate with whipped cream!

We finally made it outside Eataly several hours later. The “Disneyland” of food was quite a fitting analogy and it certainly was a happy place for me.

Eataly: 10250 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90067  Phone: 213-310-8000

I cannot pinpoint what exactly it is that propelled me to be so infatuated with the Linguine Mare Chiaro  at Il Fornaio, a seafood pasta dish with tomatoes, garlic, crushed red peppers, and wine. It has become so addictive to me that I would have the desire to consume it again even on the same day after I had it, or had me dreaming about it over and over again.

Perhaps it is the firm texture of the noodle (al dente), and the perfect balance of the sauce with the wine, and the freshness of the seafood that had me drooling whenever I think about it.

However, it was a rather difficult decision for me to finally write about Il Fornaio due to the fact that there were a few misses here and there when I did order this seemingly simple dish. The experiences here had been a mix bag of “great, wonderful, so delicious, under cooked pasta, raw seafood, wrong order”.

The first time I ordered the dish, the noodle was undercooked to the point of being hard  in the center. When I told my waiter, with an ever so slight annoyance, snobbishness, and arrogance in his expression and tone, he related to me that in Italian cuisine, the pasta is cooked to “al dente”. “I know what “al dente” is”, I replied (trying hard not to sound too offended), “this noodle is hard”. With much reluctance, he brought the dish to the kitchen. The new plate of pasta that came later was perfection.

A few weeks ago, I was again craving for this pasta dish. It was DineLA week,  I made a request to the waiter to subsititute the dish with the entree listed on the DineLA menu, and the chef came over himself and said it was no problem. I was elated.

First of all, the DineLA menu was quite excellent as far as food selection and price. it was $40 for a 4 course menu. I had the Minestrone soup, and the Rusticella (Housemade flatbread with goat cheese, mozarella, olives, etc) to start. The flat bread was huge, and resembled a pizza. I would have been stuffed if I were to finish the entire dish. I loved the cheesiness and the thinness of the crust.

I had requested no shrimp, more scallops for my pasta order,  and the dish came out with all shrimp and no scallops. The waiter took it back and returned later with the pasta, but unfortunately, all the seafood were way too under cooked to the point of being too raw for me to eat. I ended up not eating much of the plate.

The Tiramisu was quite large,  a tad too sweet for my taste, but still good. When I tried to cut into my friend’s Cannoli Sicillian, the shell was so hard that it actually flew off the table, so I gave up on trying another one.

At the end of the meal, I mentioned to the waiter that the seafood were too raw to consume. He was at least conscientiously enough to talk to his superior, and did not charge us the entire $40 for the meal.

So as you can see, not all the meals at Il Fornaio were smooth and perfect, but somehow, my desire to have this pasta has not dwindled despite, and I am hoping to go back again soon for this favorite dish of mine.

Il Fornaio: 1800 Rosecrans Ave. Building F, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266   Phone:310-725-9555

Dinner: around $16 to $34