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Il Grano

11359 Santa Monica Blvd. (Purdue St.) Send to Phone
Los AngelesCA 90025
310-477-7886 | Make Restaurant Reservations
Sal Marino, chef-owner of Il Grano, uses only top-quality, seasonal products for his fine Italian menu. Il Grano Restaurant is one of our | Top 10 Los Angeles FoodRating Restaurants | Top 10 Los Angeles Italian Restaurants |

Cuisine

Open

Lunch daily, Dinner Mon.-Sat.

Features

Wine

Great Wine List

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Dining room at Il Grano, Los Angeles, CAIf you have been to Il Grano in the past, and return now, you will think that you have arrived at a different restaurant. The only constants are the name and, fortunately for our palates, chef Salvatore Marino. The dining room, completely redesigned in white and black, is now an elegant showcase for Marino's distinguished cuisine. We have to admit that Marino has learned the lessons of his family, two generations in the restaurant business, quite well. He begins his preparations with meticulous choices of ingredients, which are consistently top quality. All the vegetables are organic, and the chef grows over 40 varieties of tomatoes in his own garden. Marino goes downtown himself to select the fish at the Japanese wholesale fish market, like a top sushi chef. He follows the production of each season so everything is always fresh; therefore the menu changes frequently. Then comes his know-how---and his heart, as he likes to say---to deliver onto your plate a very fine squid ink pasta in sea urchin sauce or calf's tongue in parsley-basil sauce; a perfectly cooked Alaskan halibut with Umbrian lentils in leek sauce or a skate wing with black rice risotto in pea sauce. We like his innovative desserts such as the blood orange semifreddo or the poached pear. On Tuesdays, Marino offers a crudo tasting menu---five, eight or 12 courses---that shows off the best of his daily seafood selections. The smart Italian wine list includes hard-to-find and rare old vintages, as well as organic wines from Italy and California. There is a good business lunch---guaranteed in 30 minutes---that includes a first and second course plus dessert for $19. Vegetarians, vegans and those on gluten-free diets are always accommodated at Il Grano.

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