Ospi

Jackson Kalb and Melissa Saka Kalb’s Ospi has outgrown its older sibling, Jame in El Segundo, in terms of fame and fortune. These days, you can also find this modern Italian American restaurant in Brentwood and Costa Mesa. All three locations serve the same addicting crispy provolone in vodka sauce, plus housemade pastas and uniquely thin crust pizzas. The Venice original, however, stands out for a few reasons. In a neighborhood lousy with Italian restaurants, Kalb’s creative, seasonally inspired takes on Southern Italian cuisine and the sense of hospitality imbued by front-of-house lead Saka Kalb, whose stellar team can make any given meal at this crowded, fairly casual eatery feel like white tablecloth fine dining. These days, you can also find Ospi in Brentwood and Costa Mesa, and the pair also run Jame Enoteca in El Segundo and Jemma in Hollywood, which offer slightly different menus. Most will delight in the buttery fett’unta, made with bread from Clark Street Bakery, and the crowd-pleasing mix of appetizers and pizza, but what truly distinguishes Ospi in my eyes are the pastas—particularly the spicy rigatoni alla vodka and malloreddus served in beef cheek ragu.