Bottega Louie

If first impressions make the grade then Bottega Louie scores 100%. The downtown LA restaurant, market, bar and patisserie is first and foremost a stunning space with a brilliantly executed concept. Up front you'll find the shop, selling everything from artisan salts and fine wines to brightly colored macarons and stuffed croissants. A long deli counter houses a variety if prepared foods (while visions of picnics dance in my head).

The vast white space (don't you just love tall ceilings??) continues with the bar on one side, dotted with a few little tables, and an open air kitchen on the other.

It's always a great touch to be able to see the inside of the kitchen, both for peace of mind and for great foodie gazing.

A barricade in the path: the hostess stand. The back half of the place houses the dining room. Packed tables of beautiful people, what more could you ask for?

Let's get to the food: the menu is classic. Pizza, pasta, sandwiches, poultry and meats cooked in various manner and an impressive list of side dishes, from sauteed spinach, roasted peppers and calamari to fennel & onions, peas & prosciutto and portobello fries. And all of it remarkably affordable.

Maybe you're wondering, like I was, "What exactly is a portobello fry?" Well, imagine, if you will (and I think you will), french fries, but instead of a potato it's strips of giant mushroom.

Yoooooowza!! No words. With a little watercress dip, divine.

Now, the ricotta, mozzarella, garlic and rocket Bianco pizza we shared was salivatingly (saliva tingly?) delicious but my main was perfection:

Look at this table! Does it get better than three perfectly grilled pork chops, a side of apple sauce and a dirty Tanqueray 10 martini? I think not, dear reader.

Top marks: Pork chops

Grade: Service docked some points from that first impression, but what a great spot! A-