Il Moro...As Good As Ever

When we lived in Los Angeles a favorite Italian restaurant of ours was Il Moro. It's on the ground floor of a high rise office building in West Los Angeles, on Santa Monica Bloulevard. It's right off the 405 freeway, so it's conveniently located. Christmas night is a difficult time to find any good restaurants open. It's mostly deli's and Chinese restaurants. Mom and I wanted something a little bit more, but not the traditional Christmas dinner. Would you believe I found a web site that listed many of the restaurants in LA that were open on Christmas? So we decided to go to Il Moro. I hadn't been there in several years and I was anxious to see if it had changed.

It had. First, a bar was added to the front of the restaurant where a deli case used to be. It wasn't busy on Christmas night, but I can imagine that during the week workers from the building come by for a drink and appetizer after work. It's a nice looking restaurant, with a private room in the back and big, beautiful patio for al fresco dining when weather permits.

The menu has changed drastically since I was last there. A few standards remain but the menu is far more interesting, innovative and appealing. I started with an old favorite of mine which is hard to find anywhere. It's a raw artichoke salad, with lettuce and parmesean cheese, dressed in a lemony vinegrette. It's one of my all time favorite salads. My mom started with a tuna tartare topped with a layer of avocado mousse. It was delicious too. Other starters included several seasonal soups, grilled vegetables, calamari, and Italian white sardines, baked tomato and mozzarella cubes with toasted bread.. My entree was a saffron risotto topped with fresh tuna tartare. I absolutely loved it. My mom had something unique that I would recommend to anyone who dines there. It was a little cheese souffle, creamy and rich, with culatell "king of prosciuto" on the side. I highly recommend this dish. Lots of pizzas, thin crusts, pastas are all home made, and meats and fish.

Prices are reasonable, most starters being around $10, most entrees around $21. (pasta dishes and pizzas are less). This is another great choice for those of you go make the journey to LA frequently, as I do. It's a nice place to stop for dinner before tackling the 405. This is NOT your standard old fashioned Italian restaurant. There is no eggplant parmesean or veal scaloppine on the menu. This is for those that want new, modern Northern Italian cuisine. I sure enjoyed it and I think you will too.