Good friends of mine just got back from their first trip to Paris & London and I got the scoop last Sunday night over dinner at SBE’s latest Italian market inspired restaurant in LA, Mercato di Vetro. I had zero expectations, because I honestly didn’t care if we ate happy meals in the parking lot– I just couldn’t wait to hear about their trip. I’m not sure if the no expectations made the experience all the better or if it really is just that great, but I LOVED every single thing about this place. It’s two open levels, meaning if you sit in certain tables upstairs, you get a view down below. We nestled in our booth, ordered Gnocco Fritto (this amazing bread that kind of tastes like a donut—what’s not to love?) & ridiculously good buffalo mozzarella and got down to business. They told us their luck of stumbling into Verjus, a fabulous no reservations wine bar owned by Americans (hopefully you’ll get a guest post on that later!), discovering Move On, the most amazingly comfortable, yet chic shoes in Paris and the fact that the Tower of London has become somewhat of a kids’ amusement park rather than a historical monument. Once they confirmed they loved my Indian restaurant recommendation in London, we could move on to the main courses. Whew!

Mercato di Vetro, like many hip and trendy restaurants these days, serves small plates. I’m an only child, so sharing is not my greatest virtue. That said, every single thing we ordered was so insanely delicious that I got my fill and was glad I got to try so many different things. We ordered artichokes with lemon & rosemary, beets w/ pistachio & blood orange, hen of the woods mushrooms (my fave), fried olives, kale crostini w/ ricotta, pine nuts & currants, chicken liver crostoni w/ fig jam, proscuitto pizza, meat pie, meatballs, and cacio e pepe pasta. To say that I was full after this meal is an understatement. To say that I wanted to leave on the next plane to Paris & London is an even bigger understatement. For now, I’ll have to live vicariously through my friends and be glad I got to go to Italy for an evening. I just might become a regular. And so should you.

Mercato di Vetro.  9077 Santa Monica Blvd.  West Hollywood, CA.  310-859-8369

italian restaurants Los Angeles Restaurants Mercato di Vetro SBE