Locanda Located

You mean you haven’t heard of Locanda Veneta? Then you’re not a true Foodie. So new that the phone number, (213) 274-1893, still isn’t listed with information, the place has an impeccable pedigree, and already it is packed with people. And no wonder, with the likes of Jean-Louis DeMori (whose brother Silvio is wowing them over at Tuttobene) running the front while Antonio Tommasi (a wonderful Italian chef who was most recently at Chianti) mans the stove.

Add to that the undeniably raffish charm of the room. The address is 8638 W. 3rd St., and a couple of weeks ago it was Chez Dupont. Before that Paris-Mexico Cafe inhabited the premises. Neither was quite right for the location--a sort of casual shack that makes you feel that you’ve drifted off to Tahiti. Sit here for a while and you begin to think that a tropical rain is falling gently on the roof.

It doesn’t sound like the perfect place for Italian food--but somehow it all works. That may be because the food is quite wonderful. My favorite dish was a plate of tiny fried fish, no bigger than threads, heaped onto the plate and topped with onion marmalade. There was a fine plate of tortelloni in asparagus sauce, a respectable risotto and other dishes of that ilk. The prices are reasonable, the service is sweet, and I suspect that the Foodies will soon be saying how great Locanda Veneta was before everybody else went and discovered it.