With the string of new restaurants such as Jacksons, Kagura, and Sausal, El Segundo is slowly becoming a destination for good food. One of the most recent to open is Jame Enoteca on Main Street. Food & Wine called it “one of the best new places to eat pasta in all of Los Angeles.” With the buzz that they have been receiving, I decided to visit them on New Year’s Eve.
The South Bay restaurant, which opened at an unassuming El Segundo strip mall in mid-2018, is best known for its hand-rolled pasta which is made fresh daily. The interior of the restaurant is bright and cozy with room for only 24. That evening there were two seatings and my wife and I opted for the first seating.
Co-owner and chef Jackson Kalb spent many of his formative years in the kitchen. At age 13, he worked in the kitchen at Melisse and received direction from two-star Michelin chef Josiah Citrin. After that Kalb worked at Joël Robuchon, Alinea, and most recently at Factory Kitchen in downtown LA.
In the Italian tradition, antipasti are selected for color, flavor, texture and how well they complement each other. The first dish was a chopped salad made with fall chicories such as endive and radicchio. I enjoyed the combination of bitter leaves with the sweet cameo apples (think Fuji in taste). The grated Piave Vecchio cheese also brightened the dish with some mild sweetness.
Stracciatella cheese is the tasty and creamy filling of burrata. It is made from shredded mozzarella cheese that is shredded and frayed into thin threads. It is then mixed with fresh cream. This cheese dish was mixed with Calabrian chiles and toasted pine nuts. A basil puree was drizzled over the top. Spreading this cheese on the toasted baguette was heavenly.
I think my wife’s favorite of the evening was the Macaroni Gratin. It should have been called “Lobster Mac and Cheese”. It was made with melted gruyere and large pieces of fresh lobster and was topped with herbed breadcrumbs. You can’t eat just one bite, nor would you want to hold back on this.
The other pasta dish was a Speck Tortelli. Speck is a ham and the Italian cousin of prosciutto, but instead of the delicate flavor, speck is smoked. Because the meat is so thin, it was layered and stuffed inside a hand-rolled ravioli. Bits of crispy bresaola gave this nice contrast. The ravioli was silky smooth and almost melted in my mouth.
My wife was extremely happy with her entree selection. The Filet Mignon was very tender and the Short Ribs simply fell apart because they were braised for 36 hours. The butter potato puree nicely paired with both meat selections.
My red snapper was nicely seared and moist on the inside. It was surrounded with ricotta gnocchetti, which is a version of gnocchi made with ricotta cheese instead of potato. The flavor of the lobster sauce really elevated this dish.
For dessert, we had the pecan torta and their “signature lemon pie”. Both desserts were tasty and I thought the crusts were crispy and flavorful. Given the demise of pie restaurants in LA, it was nice to see them feature a pie.
The menu that evening was a four-course pre-fixe for $95 which I thought was reasonable for the quality of food we received that evening. If Jame Enoteca was located elsewhere, I could see this pre-fixe price going for much more. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our dishes which made for a nice New Years’ Eve.