My husband Peter and I finally made it downtown for dinner last Thursday. We keep meaning to spend more time in DTLA (DownTown LA), but it took “DineLA Restaurant Week” to get us to check out the sleek and sexy Drago Centro.
The special DineLA menu at the Italian hotspot offers three courses for $44, which is a great bargain (and very filling), but as usual we ordered some extras from the regular menu as well. The three of us (including our friend Laurieann) shared every dish, and now I can’t wait to go back and try the things I missed!
If you’re not familiar with Drago Centro, here’s what Jonathan Gold wrote about the restaurant in LA Weekly:
“Planted at the base of a formerly sterile office plaza, Centro may be the grandest new restaurant in this neighborhood since the early 1980s, a sprawling former bank space blown out into a double-height modernist dining room, punctuated in the middle by a glassed-in wine vault…”
I have to admit, sitting in the main dining room, near the enormous glass wine room was sort of powerfully intoxicating… but then again, it could have been the red wine and grappa!
All around it was a fun evening, especially spending time with sommelier Michael Shearin and our terrific server, Stefano. Make sure you ask for them if you plan on eating there soon (which you should)!
What we ate:
Amuse Bouche: Bocconcini with Pesto Mousse (compliments of the chef)
La Pancetta Brasata: Pork Belly, Farro, Spinach, Blueberries (Regular Menu $14)
La Burrata, Tomatoes, Olive Oil, Crostino (Regular Menu $13)
Top: Antipasto Plate: Roasted peppers, Radicchio, Speck, Eggplant Puree, Burrata and Gnocco Fritto
Bottom: Garganelli, Veal Bolognese. (Both on DineLA Menu)
Smoked Salmon, Cauliflower Panna Cotta, Fennel (on DineLA Menu)
Braised Veal Cheeks, Endive, Parsnips, Almonds (on DineLA Menu)
Pork Belly Risotto, Rapini, Radicchio (on DineLA Menu) and yes it’s true… we ordered TWO pork belly dishes (so GOOD!)
Crispy Chicken, Assorted Beans & Veg (on DineLA Menu)
Desserts: Top Left: Mascarpone Semifreddo with Strawberries and Basil.
Bottom Left: Chocolate Coffee Cake, Vanilla Cream.
Right: Prosecco Mousse, Fennel Crumble, Citrus (All on DineLA Menu)
The custom-built glass wine vault.
Drago Centro’s private dining room with exhibition kitchen (in the former bank vault).
Drago Centro
525 S. Flower St #120
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 228-8998
Website
Dining Date: 10/08/09
Follow Drago Centro on Twitter
Follow Michael Shearin, Sommelier on Twitter
Photo above right: Grappa flavored with Chamomile made by Marolo
my last bite... 
That was some meal, Jo! So many courses. I hope you wore your eating pants! 🙂 The braised veal cheeks are my favorite out of the lot – simply because as tender as veal already is, it almost seems like overkill to braise them (in wine, no less). But you can never have meat that’s too tender!
I have never had Bocconcini. In fact, I had to look it up. How good was that? Did it kind of burst when you bit into it? It almost seems like a bit of molecular cooking trickery has to go into those.
Love the wine tower too. It’s nothing like Charlie Palmer’s tower at Aureole, but it’s on its way. Impressive collection.
The meal was great, and the restaurant was so “grown up” and sexy. Maybe it was being downtown at all… but it felt like a whole new (fun) dining experience!
these photos are obscene! the sheen, the glisten, the moistness. i could die. i’m going if dragocentro is included in dinela extension.
I can’t believe I ordered TWO pork belly dishes… LOL!!!
NOW that is my kind of food. It looks sooooo good. And the restaurant itself looks really different for Los Angeles. You’re right – it’s the downtowness of of it all. AND DineLA is continuing for one more week. Time to pull out the eating pants! 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Wow, I’m dying to try this place, but like you have been held back because of its location! The food looks amazing and is making me super hungry. Thanks for this great review!
xo
Those photos are awesome! Wish I had been there and that I lived in S CA. I’ll make sure to visit the restaurant next time I’m there!
That looks far and away better than my DineLA supper at XIV. You sure can pick ’em. Petrossian looked amazing as well.
I picked some NOT SO GREAT ones too… but I just don’t blog about those. Only the good stuff!
Cheers.