Anchoring The Emerson, a new luxury apartment building on Bunker Hill, Ago Sciandri’s latest is a strand of tagliatelle's reach away from the Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Music Center, MOCA and the newly opened Broad Museum. Designed by Ralph Gentile Architects, Vespaio is a stunning space, long and narrow with lots of marble and brass, and accents that take their cue from '80s men's fashion (fabrics and patterns of pocket squares, for instance). The patio is exquisite, with four retractable awnings for year-round dining and a fireplace. Meant to be an all-day kind of place, it's bright and cheery for coffee and pastries in the morning, salads and flatbreads at lunch and wood-fired and rotisserie entrees at dinner. When the time is right, happy-hour and pre-theater menus will be available, as well. The menu is classic Sciandri with both Northern and Southern Italian specialties all inflected with a California sensibility.
225 S. Grand Ave.; 213-221-7244