Il Moro Restaurant in Los Angeles

Il Moro is a great place to take people who think you don't know any great restaurants. Italian food can mean everything from dressed up pasta to imitation sauces with packages ravioli. Il Moro features exquisite Northern Italian cuisine served in a classic bricked patio restaurant with a modern ambiance. Diners can enjoy the beautiful open-air in the afternoon or early evening or duck inside. But don't expect to talk business too much, because Il Moro is about very good food.

Insalate and Zuppe are all very well, but Il Moro serves serious food. I wouldn't suggest bringing the kids unless you're used to forking out $20 and above for their eats. But Il Moro is the kind of place that layers béchamel with béarnaise between squared spinach pasta over a light tomato cream, or a cheese eggplant gnocchi with fresh braised beef or capon sauce. Food like this deserves the attention. Everything from the garlic shrimp salad to the lobster in lime dressing with microgreens will be a profound dining experience. Sample the Bitto and Brinata cheese with honey.

If you have some money to spend on some fine dinners out, Il Moro is the place where a week's worth of trips won't exhaust the chef's creativity or the wine list. It's also a place where if you are on a restricted diet it's worth spending your calories here. Il Moro can be considered a show off grand restaurant or a California casual patio dining experience with cuisine that seriously challenges the best restaurants in the city. The dishes here are not experiments but time warp taste capsules flown over the Atlantic. Even the Maine lobster tower with avaocados and crab and shrimp cakes will tempt diners to try something new.