This hidden gem is a local neighborhood Italian restaurant that serves comfort food and happiness.
Tell us a bit about your restaurant?
Ritrovo has been here for about seven years. We’ve been in the industry for about 25 years and traveled all over the world, opened restaurants a bit everywhere, and came back to where I was born and raised in LA. People come here for Concert Park, but then they find us and come to the table; it’s a show. It makes people very happy.
Tell us a bit about the menu?
Everything is pretty much fresh here. We make our own lasagna, our own pomodoro sauce. We have lasagna melanzane, which is eggplant parm, agnolotti, ravioli, cacio e pepe, and a few gnocchi dishes, like a creamy Gorgonzola gnocchi with a fresh, earthy arugula salad.
Tell us about this wine you serve?
This is a very special wine from Château La Villatade. It’s owned by a family friend in France, and we are very proud of it. We want everybody to try it. What’s so nice about this Le Vin de Sophie is it was named after the owner, Sophie. It’s a beautiful wine that goes great with pasta.
Where are you from?
I’m from Santa Monica, born and raised in the area. My parents are French, and we also have Italian backgrounds, but mainly French. Every summer, I would go to France, and I learned that French food is part of the culture—food and wine. So, when you grow up, you know food.
How did you get started in the restaurant business?
My husband has a background in the food industry. Wherever we traveled led us to food. Food just makes people happy, and it brings people together from all over the world. You learn through food. You learn the culture through food. And by traveling, I learned there are stories and ways of doing things in local kitchens.
Food is very important, but ambiance is also very important. It makes people feel good. It’s really about the experience.
We brought it all together, and it made Ritrovo.
To experience Ritrovo’s delicious menu, visit ritrovoplayavista.com.