a bottega belly

Bottega Louie
700 S Grand Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90017
(866) 418-9162
http://www.bottegalouie.com/

price: $$
verdict: omg, i love it!

i have awesome friends. you know why? cuz they are belly supporters. they brought me to bottega louie for a nice belated bday dinner and i was able to stuff face like a sumo wrestler in the middle of the week. arigato tomodachis. arigato!

it was such a relief to be let out of my cage from an already long work day. i took out my camera and embarassed my tomodachis with a few snaps of people working hard when i got there. haha suckas! make the food and feed me! cute atmosphere and i loved the open space. we went when it was still light out but i heard the space glows when it's at night...must be the gigantic windows, white walls, and candle lights.

a nice glass of chardonney to drown out the work week woes. this is how all bad behaviors start...drinking to unwind, drinking so you can whine, drinking wine....it did the trick though because my tongue loosened and i did what i do best, talk nonsense LOUDLY.

the enthusiastic eaters around me ordered up a storm and i'm so glad we did! we started off with portobello fries which were sliced portobello mushrooms dipped in a light batter then fried. a creamy aioli (?) dip was provided to bolster up the fat grams. it was pretty good.

one word: cellulite.

the burrata and grape tomatoes turned out to be fresh mozzarella cheese stuffed with ricotta cheese on a bed of pesto with grape tomatoes. mmm good, though the cheese stuffed with cheese reminded me of a turduken lactate style. it seemed like a fat move to me and WHO was the cheese lover that created this?!

the haricots verts (french green beans) were delicious. i don't exactly know what made them french though i did say "weee, weee" after my first bite. they were crispy and "green" tasting and reminded me of a breezy summer day.

fried calamari. of course! you can never go wrong with calamari and marinara sauce.

the bianco pizza. a sauceless pizza with "rocket" arugula. VERY tasty. i loved it like a rabbit with fine tastes. i thought the crust was pretty incredible with the right crisp, crunch, and soft breadiness. the spice from the arugula chopped through the cheesy topping like a ninja. for a person that don't care much for pizza, i kinda cared for this one. very good!

penne gamber: jumbo shrimps, broccoli, roasted tomatoes in a garlic sauce. the sauce was pretty tasty and a friend took bread and wiped up all the sauce with it once the plate was emptied. do you think he liked it? not sure. need to check the dribble stains first.

roasted chicken. tender and juicy!

then off to the bakery section to take a few sweets to go. my eyes grew large and i wanted to buy one of everything, but the extra flap under my chin reminded me about "moderation."

i still came home with a few things though and out of the sweet loot, the eclair was my favorite followed by the mini blueberry tart. the cream was what pushed it over the top. the vanilla flavors...the vanilla flavors!! how i love thy creaminess!

the macarons were illin'. not off the chain illin'...more like, ill, i want to spit it out illin'. the nuclear bright pieces of ewww were way too sweet and out of all the flavors (i bought one of each), the light tan one was the most tasty even though it still belonged in the illin' category. i believe it was vanilla flavored.....

great space, yummy food, and awesome company. it's been a long time since i've enjoyed a nice wednesday like this one. ARIGATO TOMODACHIS!