An open kitchen, always in motion.
Walking into Bottega Louie in downtown for lunch, I really had no idea what to expect. My girlfriend had told me it was some sort of market, but I found that it was also a bustling restaurant. And this was no ordinary bustling restaurant. There wasn’t just one kitchen, but multiple kitchen-esque stations that were in plain view for everyone. There was movement everywhere and a waiting list to get a table. For lunch! I knew this place had to be good.
So many colorful desserts...
While waiting for our table, we wandered around the pre-made food market area and saw some beautiful sandwiches, pastries and even more. If I wasn’t already hungry, this certainly did the trick. After about fifteen minutes of drooling, our table was ready, so we headed to the area close to the pizza-making station and took our seats. Although the menu wasn’t huge, there were plenty of things I wanted to try out. We decided to get some white bean hummus to start things off. This hummus was pretty good, but was made even better by the delicious flat bread it came with.
It's like flatbread from heaven.
For my main course, I ordered the Meatball Parmesan Sandwich. The menu described this as three meatball sliders, tomato sauce and provolone. Somewhere in my head, I thought of this as three meatballs in a single sandwich with that provolone and sauce. Because of this, I was surprised when my waiter came to my table with three miniature sandwiches. I find it amazing that the term “slider” has been stretched so far that it can even include miniature sandwiches, but that scruple aside, these things looked damn good.
Oooh shiny object.
I started eating and was very happy with what I bit into. The buns were moist and tasty, while the cheese, sauce and meatballs went perfectly together inside the bun. The meatballs were juicy and flavorful and they each had just the right amount of sauce and cheese, as to not overpower the meat. The fries that came with them were also pretty good and necessary since the three mini-sandwiches would not be enough to fill me up.
For something unexpected, Bottega Louie was pretty awesome. My meatball sandwich was delicious, even though it used the term “sliders” pretty liberally. I would definitely go back if I find myself in that part of downtown again. I might even try some of their pre-made food to mix things up.
“There was movement everywhere and a waiting list to get a table. For lunch! I knew this place had to be good.”
Your criteria for a good restaurant is movement and a waiting list?
No, my criteria for a good restaurant is the way the food tastes and how many vegetables they use. Usually good restaurants have waiting lists and I have found it very rare that you have to wait for a restaurant for lunch. A lot of movement with the waitstaff is also a good sign, because they are constantly busy and trying to keep the customers satisfied.
It could just be that the place is overhyped and the waitstaff are overwhelmed and rushing.
Of course that is always a possibility, but then I actually ate their food and it was great.
Mark is apparently taking a blog about not eating vegetables way too seriously.
Nice!
I went there for dinner once and was not impressed! But it does make for a good atmosphere to hang out at – very New Yorkesque. Bread is good there though!
this is one of the best places for lunch in the downtown LA area… i would think the long lines and busy staff would make it seem that way too!