DRAGO CENTRO at 525 S. Flower Street in next to the Bonaventure Hotel
is only a year old and is the offshoot of the superstar chef Celstino
Drago's Santa Monica location. It is huge, tall, loud and busy; not
ideal for taking opera singers.
After the 5-1/2 conclusion to the Ring (Gotterdammerung) I took my two
clients who were in the lead roles of Gunther and Guntrune (the
Gibichung siblings that aide to bring about Siegfried's fall and
ultimately the "twilight of the gods".
We settled in and I sipped a TAROCO made from vodka, cointreau,
tangelo, cucumber and lemon juice. YUM!
We ordered up a bottle of ARGIOLAS from Pedera "Isola deii Nuraghi"
made from the Monica grapes in Sardinia, which we sipped while we
chatted.
Amuses arrived and we dug in (quite hungry after so long a show) to
the rich tasty COLD PEA SOUP shooter.
Our starters were simple with salad variations mine being the POLIPO
or Octopus with Blood Orange & Mixed Greens. A Roasted LOBSTER Bisque
was rich but not a prize winner.
We all split two pastas and these were rich sauced heavy meaty dishes
that were just divine (like the gods that had just been destroyed:-)):
Papardelle al FAGIANO with Roasted Pheasant and Morels
and
GARGANELLI with Pork Sausage, Parmesan & Fennel Seeds.
Julie our most pleasant server suggested a LA SPINETTA-PIN 2005 which
was a blend of Nebbiolo and Barbera from Piemonte which was simply
silky and delish. It was the first time I ever recalled this varietal
combo and it works quite well.
The main courses were I POLLO -chicken with Parmesan crust, farro and
mixed veggies which was neatly packed up for take-away for my guests
who could not finish. They then got a coat check to pick up the
package on the way out so as not to have to keep it at or under the
table and then forget it! A brilliant idea.
I had IL MAIALE a rich sauced braised PORK CHEEK with a Turnip cooked
sous-vide that was too hard and boring and yummy spinach and the
hugest blackberries I had ever seen.
We shared I BOMBOLINI, doughnuts with apples, amaretto, caramel and
ricotta in brown butter sauce, but were too full to finish.
DRAGO was pretty good, but only if you really like crowds and noise.
