Italian Reincarnate

Spartina, the Cali-Italian restaurant from chef Stephen Kalt- debuted last month on L.A.’s Melrose Ave., where diners can sit both inside and outside, either in a beautifully adorned dining room or an expansive patio that essentially reaches the sidewalk. Kalt- having won Iron Chef America- is an industry veteran, and cooked in New York City alongside several culinary luminaries- he currently has a restaurant in Atlantic City. He made a splash landing here in Los Angeles at Caulfield’s inside the SIXTY hotel in Beverly Hills a few years ago.

Spartina is a reincarnation of a restaurant- with the same name- Kalt opened in NYC in the 1990’s. The 2015 version, L.A. style, is more Italian, more market-driven with pizza and pasta. But it’s not a red sauce restaurant. The interior is grown up, polished, homey, and sleek all at the same time, with an open kitchen giving the room plenty of energy. Heather Ashton Design & Shelly Schulze consulted with Kalt on the look. With breakfast and lunch coming later this month, Spartina just might be the flexible California-Italian restaurant the area was waiting for. www.spartina.la.