Speranza

For some people, Speranza doesn’t exist. It’s a small undercover restaurant, hidden on Hyperion Avenue behind plastic tarps. There is almost no review of the place, no restaurant website nor social media accounts — even though it has existed for almost ten years. Some will say Speranza has no right to exist because the pasta is sometimes overcooked, the portions sometimes too small. These are the same people who would rather wait three weeks for a table at Felix Trattoria or Bestia. Yet, there’s a certain charm to this neighborhood restaurant, where couples come to share a dish of bucatini on the terrace, heated by braziers during the short LA winter. They would often hesitate between handmade pasta (fettuccine with pesto, linguine with clams…) and signature dishes (bottarga spaghetti, squid ink risotto, lamb chops…), and they quickly go over the wine list, a necessary social lubricant for a first Tinder date. If all goes well, they might also order a tiramisu with two spoons, which would actually deserve to be eaten egoistically as it’s too good to be shared…