Bottega Louie

We visited Andrew and Lauren this weekend and they suggested we eat at Bottega Louie, located at 700 S. Grand Ave in Los Angeles (phone: 213-802-1470). 

I'm glad we visited late on a Saturday afternoon. Downtown was not crowded and we had no problem getting around or finding parking. It is located among the high rises 

and has a European feel to it. Inside it has extremely high ceilings, lots of whitish marble (the restrooms were beautiful) and French tables. Because of the high ceilings and spacious room, it felt a little like eating at an elegant train station. The servings for the most part were quite small and it is expensive. When we walked in we passed a refrigerated section with European type sandwiches and soft drinks. On the way out I bought a hard bread type sandwich with prosciutto and burrata cheese which I ate in the car. It may have been the best thing I ate. Nice and chewy, flavorful and European to the core. I had to gnaw on it for a while to get each bite, and then chew and chew, but the texture and taste were wonderful. Further into the restaurant we passed displays of wicked looking desserts 

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which we also purchased some of on our way out. I got a praline pecan creme brulee which I ate at home when it was cold, but it was still very good. It reminded me of some of the beautiful French desserts we saw on display in Montreal. Finally, once at a table, Andrew and Lauren ordered a clam pizza which was clammy with surf clams and mozzarella and Pecorino Romano cheese. 

It was nice and mild, surprising because Pecorino is very salty and strong. It was pretty good as far as pizza goes, but I'm just not much of a pizza person. 

Judy got trenne pasta with prime rib eye, kale and shaved Grana Parmesan cheese. 

I only tasted one piece of her pasta and it was kind of hard and crunchy, but I'm not a pasta person either. Judy had read a review on Yelp that raved about the trenne pasta, but she was disappointed with it. She said the ribeye with it was good, but did not like the pasta much. I got what was identified as a lamb porterhouse which was two very small lamb chops with small baked potatoes and garlic cloves. 

I asked for medium rare lamb, but they said it was small and would be cooked through. Of my two pieces, one was thicker than the other, and was thus rare, and I enjoyed it more than the more cooked piece. It was good, but not great. The vegetables were tasty. The portabello mushroom fries were truly unique, with a thin crisp coating and a nice green, quite flavorful, dipping sauce. 

The fries were crisp on the outside, but with the meaty, juicy portabello taste inside. 

They were a truly nice dish and a nice value, comparatively, even at $10.00. The other menu item that was very nicely cooked was grilled octopus. 

It was $12.00 for a very small amount, but it may be the best octopus I've ever eaten. It had a nice, firm, grilled exterior, had a nice taste and was not rubbery.  Finally, we all shared a chocolate souffle dessert there. A hole was punched in the top of the souffle and cream poured in. 

The souffle was very light and fluffy and the cream not very sweet. 

It was fun and different, but I would not pay $15.00 to eat it again. Bottega Louie was fun to visit, but given the cost I would probably not go for a sit-down meal again. However, I do look forward to trying some more of their take out sandwiches and desserts. I love the crusty European bread and need to try some more of their luscious looking desserts.