By JONATHAN GOLD
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
L.A.'s Pasta King: Celestino Drago
"Here There Be Dragos"
Celestino Drago has been the king of pasta in Los Angeles since the day we all stopped eating SpaghettiOs, the duke of carpaccio, the baron of squid-ink risotto. His casual, pan-Italian yet rigorous cooking at his various dining rooms helped define the way Angelenos think about Italian food, and the late all-Sicilian restaurant l'Arancino, which some critics viewed as his mature statement of purpose, is still one of the most ambitious experiments in regional Italian cooking the city has ever seen. A lot of his early successes; beet risotto with goat cheese, spaghetti al cartoccio (cooked in parchment or foil), the supple tortelloni stuffed with sweet pumpkin live on at the restaurants Celestino, Il Pastaio, Panzanella, all run by his brothers, and at his own elegant wine bar Enoteca Drago. He even supports a bakery.
But you will most often spot his mournful, bearded countenance at the seat of his empire, Drago, working the door, barking at a sous-chef, following a bit of roast venison or stewed boar out into the dining room as if he had shot it himself. Drago is a passionate hunter who can go on for hours about wild pigs in Northern California and birds in North Dakota, the many uses of hare blood and the sweetness of doves who fatten themselves on autumn fruits. Shot game is illegal in U.S. restaurants (except for imported Scottish game for some reason), so he isn't likely to have killed what is on your plate, but the careful braising and sweet-and-sour flavors that are characteristic of Drago's style really come into focus when he is stuffing boned-out quail with dense sausage, cooking pheasant with mushrooms for a pasta sauce or simmering boar until it all but collapses under its own molecular weight. Drago 2628 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 828-1585. Also Enoteca Drago, 410 N. Canon Dr., Beverly Hills, (310) 786-8240; Celestino, 141 S. Lake Ave., (626) 795-4006, Pasadena; Il Pastaio, 400 N. Canon Dr., Beverly Hills, (310) 205-5444; Panzanella, 14928 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 784-4400.
