Couple Resurface With Alessi

Hello Again: The Bocchinos have resurfaced. Their ship (well, the Santa Monica restaurant they both worked at, Remi) went under in 2001 because of escalating rents. Chris (husband, chef) and Kristine (wife, consulting pastry chef) have come up for air at the recently opened Alessi Ristorante in Hollywood. Its owners, Antonio and Sarah Alessi, remodeled the old L’Angolo space on Melrose Avenue, creating an Italian restaurant with a main dining room, private dining room, patio and wine room. There’s a separate bar area. The menu of antipasti, salads, pizzas, pastas, risotto, meat and fish dishes might include polenta with sauteed mushrooms and thyme ($8), prosciutto and arugula pizza ($13), butternut squash and Fontina ravioli ($12), tagliatelle in lamb ragout ($15), striped bass filet with rapini and fennel gratin ($21), veal scaloppine ($25) and roasted chicken with preserved lemon sauce ($17). Alessi is open for dinner Monday-Saturday.

Alessi Ristorante & Bar, 6602 Melrose Ave., Hollywood; (323) 935-1197.

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A Second Spark: Danilo Terribili, owner of Alto Palato on La Cienega Boulevard in L.A., also has his hand in Spark Woodfire Cooking in Studio City. He and partners Bill Chait, a founder of the Louise’s Trattoria chain, and Jeff Sladicka are sparking up again with a second Spark in Huntington Beach, and with a third to come. Says Terribili, “We’re looking, as we speak, in Summerlin, [Nev.].” Tom Shields, formerly chef at the Bungalow in Corona del Mar, will be the chef of the second Spark, pulling rustic Italian-style pizzas and meats out of a wood-burning oven. Since the Huntington Beach location is so much larger than Studio City’s, Shields will be able to offer grilled fish, more meat entrees and more pastas than the Studio City location can. Entree prices will still fall between $11 and $20, with sides (e.g., grilled asparagus, creamed spinach, roasted potatoes) hitting between $2 and $6. The new Spark, when it opens at the end of March at Pierside Pavilion, will be able to seat about 100 inside and 70 on the terrace. Osvaldo Maiozzi designed it to show a family resemblance to the Studio City Spark.

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Regional Menu: The El Torito Mexican restaurant chain has gotten into regional menus, with a different region every two months. Right now, they’re exploring Sonoran cuisine, featuring nopalitos (cactus paddles) in a few specials. Next up (as of March 12) will be Vera Cruz.

El Torito, various locations; consult phone book or www.eltorito.com

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Four Wines, Five Feet: The American Institute of Wine & Food will hold a dinner at Five Feet, a Franco-Chinese restaurant in West Hollywood, March 10 at 5:30 p.m. Dennis Overstreet from the Beverly Hills Wine Merchant has chosen four wines to accompany the four courses. The menu begins with crustacean fritters and proceeds to tea-smoked carpaccio of ostrich with a marmalade of beets, braised Kobe beef short ribs and a three-cheese souffle. The tab is $90. Call Roberta Mitchell of the AIWF for tickets at (818) 902-3724.

Five Feet, 8783 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood; (310) 289-0660.

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Sweet Solvang: The Danish village of Solvang (34 miles northwest of Santa Barbara) hosts a three-day eating fest March 15-17. It begins with a dessert reception rife with Danish pastries March 15, 7-9 p.m. The following day is the “walking smorgasbord,” as they call it, with samples from about 30 restaurants, bakeries and food shops. Look for Danish meatballs, German sausages and open-faced sandwiches. It runs March 16, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. And the last day, March 17, there’s a wine and cheese tasting 11 a.m.-1 p.m. with Santa Barbara wines and imported cheeses. Throughout the weekend, you’ll also see costumed Danish dancers and folk music performers. A three-day ticket book for all events costs $40. For more information, call (805) 688-6144 or visit www.solvangusa.com.

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Reach Angela Pettera at (310) 358-7647 or [email protected]