It happens in Hollywood, it happens in real estate and now it's happening in Brentwood. It's a kind of copycat syndrome. In movies, they're called sequels. In real estate, it's called gentrification. In Brentwood, it's called an explosion in Italian restaurants.
Just a month ago, when Pecorino opened in the former Zax location, it became the 17th Italian restaurant in Brentwood. Clearly, even those who can choose to eat anything they wish are choosing to eat Italian, again and again and again.
In just about half a mile along the neighborhood's main street, San Vicente, on either side of Barrington Avenue, there are nine Italian restaurants: La Scala Presto, Osteria Latini, Palmeri Ristorante, Pecorino, Pizzicotto, Toscana, Vincenti, Frankie & Johnnie's New York Pizza and Pasta and California Pizza Kitchen. A few doors south on Barrington, there's the 6-month-old Sor Tino (in the former Rosti spot).
Trot up Barrington Avenue to Brentwood Village, and you'll see four more: San Gennaro Cafe, Divino, Maria's Italian Kitchen and Ristorante Peppone.
A little farther west, there are three clustered around the corner of San Vicente and 26th Street -- Pane Fresco, Amici and Louise's Trattoria. (OK, Amici and Louise's are on the west side of 26th Street, technically putting them in Santa Monica, but who's counting?)
Italian restaurants are spreading faster than you can say pasta pomodoro. Within blocks of each other, three new restaurants have opened in the last six months: Pecorino, Palmeri and Sor Tino. Fifteen months ago, neighbor Osteria Latini opened. It's getting hard to keep them straight.
"You mean this isn't Zax?" said one confused regular when he opened the menu on his first visit to Pecorino, where the lightning-quick, bare-bones remodeling barely concealed the old floor plan. One could be forgiven for confusing all of them, even though their proprietors insist that each is different.
Pecorino's exposed brick walls, open kitchen and central Italian cuisine give it a casual, SoHo sensibility. With the nervous energy of a new father, co-owner Mario Sabatini warmly welcomes customers to his proud creation, an intimate restaurant with his chef and twin brother, Raffaelle, turning out the cuisine of their native Abruzzo. The 19 tables fill with neighboring business owners, wealthy producer types, foodie gal pals and curiosity seekers.
