Officine Brera

Went to Officine Brera for dinner last night. Had planned to go several times previously but due to last minute changes, we never did made it. Restaurant is in an old converted factory and is beautifully done with out door patio. Nice bar area which does not need reservations. Our reservation was at 7 for 4 people and it was about ½ full when we sat down. Became very crowded when we got done at around 9pm. Owned and run by the same people as Factory Kitchen.
Ordered 5 starters/​appetizers, 2 pasta and a steak to share family style.
Frisceu, vegetable sage fritters. Did not expect much but was very good. ⁵⁄₅
Calamari salad. Good size with lots of whole baby squid. ⁵⁄₅
Lingua Salmistrata, picked beef tongue with salsa verde. One of the best beed tongue I ever had. ⁵⁄₅
Polpo, grilled octopus salad. Okay. ³⁄₅
Fagiolini, blue lake green beans salad. Good. ⁴⁄₅
Pappardelle al Nero, handcut black ink pasta with octopus ragu. Good. ⁴⁄₅
Foiade Bergamasche, handcut whole wheat pasta with goose ragu. Fantastic pasta with great flavors. Definitely the best dish of the evening. ⁵⁄₅
Carne Bovina, 14 day dry aged prime ribeye with salsa verde, grilled vidalia onions and roasted potatoes. A little under seasoned. ⁴⁄₅
Castagnole, donuts with salty bourbon caramel sauce. ⁴⁄₅
Torrone, honey + nut nougatine semifreddo. ⁴⁄₅
Serving size were good for sharing among 4 of us. All in all, fantastic dinner and highly recommended.

Beautiful space, outstanding service but the food is the star here. I LOVE the Factory Kitchen so this was a no brainer. It’s hip, cool but no pretense. Officina is more meat oriented than Factory Kitchen BUT plenty of options for my vegetarian husband.
We tried a variety if dishes, the grilled octopus was perfect, the aged ribeye was one of the better steaks I’ve had.
Great wine list. One of my new favorites — it’ll be a tough choice between Factory Kitchen and Officina when I’m downtown.

What started as a disappointing night was very much redeemed by Jesse, one of the restaurant managers. In short, the food was great though service began very mediocre but was made up for in the end. The black truffle gnocchi and pork shank were our favorites. Cannot speak to the wine as we brought a bottle of our own.
We were seated within 10 min of our reservation but quickly noticed how obnoxiously loud the dining room was. Turned out, it was coming from a big party in the back. Throughout the entire evening, there were numerous bursts of shouting, screaming and cheers from the back… other diners were either staring back or cutting their dinner short. After speaking to the manager, he agreed to adjust our bill and invited us on a different night.
There is valet parking, though you can find street parking on one of the side streets. Just be careful not to park on 6^th Street after 8pm, it is a tow away zone and they were ticketing cars on our way into the restaurant.

Loved the drinks. The bartender is a master. We had a very large group and it was difficult to get enough you food positioned for family style. I felt as if we missed a lot of food we were charged for w/​o much care. I was told to walk down to other end of table. :/(
Food had a great taste. Which is why we go eat.

Some say Officine Brera is the Steph Curry of risotto. Based on how things seem to have turned out, I must say Officine Brera is actually the Russell Westbrook of risotto.
Came in on a Saturday night and it was packed. Good thing we had a reservation, which I would highly recommend. The restaurant itself makes the most of its industrial/​warehouse bones and high-​rise ceiling while adding in a trendy, elegant layer over it. A great ambience for a gathering of friends or a date even. The service here is awesome as well.
For food, the most memorable was the Milanese and the pisarei e fasö. The taste is so good, I could eat it all day. So much good flavour that just climaxes and melts in your mouth. Pricing on the risotto isn’t absurd as well. Will definitely come back again.

I became a fan of this restaurant. Before my family going to the LA Opera, we ate dinner here. and i am so impressed because the parking, services, food, ambiences, and the price are perfect.
First of all, the parking is perfect. It’s easy and convenience as i drove into the parking area. It’s $ 7 valet but we don’t need looking for the parking spaces in the neighborhood street parking. If we spend our energy to find out the parking space, the dinner would be ruined. But the parking made me very happy with that.
Because this restaurant is located in the Art District in DTLA, the ambience is gorgeous, too. This building is converted the warehouse into the restaurant with red brick walls, rustic windows, cement walled patio, Texan leather seats, high ceiling with modern light fixtures, and spacious dinning area. Even though the building itself looks old, the restroom is clean and modern.
Also i was so impressed by the services. The service is top-​notch. It’s five stars service. Believe me. They make me i am very special. They change the plates and silverware every time i finish the dishes and they make the napkin as i leave for the restroom like this.
The food is the textbook of Italian kitchen. Every food we ordered randomly was the best. Very decadent and warm food on the heated plates. So the food they served never became cold until i finish.
I usually ordered the pasta in Italian restaurant, i don’t need broke my bank accounts. And I recommend the Hazelnut dessert.

| Parking |
There’s a valet lot that you can use; I don’t remember how much, but I’m sure it’s somewhere around $ 7. Otherwise, you can park on the street!
| Location |
Right next to LA Gun Club, so you can grab a bite before or after shooting some guns. Officine Brera is located in Arts District, where you’ll find The Factory Kitchen (their other restaurant of the same group) next door along with sketchy warehouses scattered on every block. Lol it has it’s charm.
The restaurant itself is beautiful and probably my favorite part of the place. The interior is sleek and industrial with big open windows and just enough lighting so that you’re not squinting while reading the menu. Aesthetically pleasing to the eye with lots of squares, corners, and straight lines lol. They also have an open kitchen so you can see them grilling and cooking your food! It can be pretty loud inside, my friend and I had trouble carrying a conversation
| Food |
They cook up Northern Italian cuisine, and the menu is a lot to take in. In fact, there’s so many words on the menu with Italian ingredients I couldn’t even pronounce so I trusted the waiters to tell me their favorite dishes while simultaneously pointing at nearby tables and asking what they had. Lol, I’m embarrassing, I know. Dishes on the menu are listed from small to big portions, and 3 – 5 dishes were good enough for 2 people depending on how hungry you are and how big they are. Here’s what we ended up with:
Cannelloni: Probably my favorite dish of the night. Tender, braised meat stuffed inside long, flat pasta noodles and topped with creamy bechamel — I recommend this.
Polpo: Their grilled octopus. I love seafood, but I wasn’t a huge fan of this. It didn’t have much flavor. I know octopus and the meat was too chewy.
Milanese: Got this because, well, everyone seemed to get this. And why wouldn’t you, there’s a huge piece of bone marrow chucked right in the middle of the dish! Plus, I love saffron. However, the risotto was undercooked and rather hard. Taste was good, but texture wasn’t right.
Stinchetto di maiale: Huge pork shank served with polenta and vegetables. Sadly, the pork shank was just ok. The meat itself lacked taste and was bland, even though the sauce was good. You can’t cover up the lack of flavor in meat with good sauce, just doesn’t work.
Torrone: A lovely semifreddo (kind of like a cross between ice cream and a mousse) topped with fudge, nougat, and cherries. Nice ending to our meal
| Service |
Waiters/​waitresses were kind and helpful, but the time it took for the food to come out was quite slow.
| Overall |
Officine Brera seems to be along the lines of Bestia — modern Italian cuisine with a romantic dining area. Food-​wise, it has some work to do to be up to par with Bestia, IMO. It just opened, so I imagine that they are still making some tweaks to the menu.

It was date night, and Officine Brera had a table. The ease of reserving a last minute table for 4 on a Saturday night worried me a bit, but we booked it anyway. My worries were quelled when our Über driver dropped us off and immediately said «Wow! what is going on here tonight? It looks fun!». Phew!
We were late for our 8:15 pm reservation, but the hostess didn’t seem phased, she just sent us off to the patio to have a drink and assured us we would be found and led to our table eventually. We waited about 20 minutes but we had drinks in hand & a sweet spot on the GORGEOUS patio, so we didn’t mind.
As we were led to our table, we walked through an impressive and expansive industrial space… think «abandoned warehouse chic». High ceilings, modern — dimly lit light fixtures, original warehouse windows and a stunning open kitchen that is in full display for all to watch in amazement. There was A LOT of energy in the space on Saturday night and the crowd was very much «LA Elite» — the kind of crowd that might have frequented Spago or Crustacean in the 90’s. Older, more formal, the kind of crowd that ignores the digits on the menu, you know what I mean. Young Hollywood was definitely absent, and I didn’t mind.
Service was friendly and warm, but a bit confusing as we had several different people approach our table and introduce themselves and ask to take our orders. It all worked out, but it was weird. Our servers also turned out to be our interpreters as we didn’t understand a lick of the menu, nor could we read it. At night, the space is dark, and the print is tiny with no spaces. This was my one complaint. I’d read other reviews of patrons that speak fluent Italian and still found the menu a bit convoluted. This left us at the mercy of our servers. Luckily one of our servers broke things down for us by Popular vs. His Favorites vs. Chef’s Picks in ENGLISH and we just nodded at what we felt sounded good/​familiar. He was fair is offering up items that were all over the price spectrum, not just the highest end. This helped ease our feeling of inadequacy.
Our selections/​His suggestions were pretty sensational. Here they are in the order that we enjoyed them:
Farinata 3.5 Stars (Secret Menu Item)
Culatello 4.5 Stars ~ Make sure to ask for bread, we got lavash with it at first — bleh.
Pisarei e fasö — 3 Stars (ok)
Nastrini del miracolo 4.5 Stars (My favorite Pasta)
Bassa padana risotto — 4 Stars (My dining friends say 5 stars — their favorite)
Stinchetto di maiale — 5 stars! My favorite dish. So tender, so flavorful!
Rustin nega’ — 4 Stars (My dining friends say 5 stars — also their favorite)
In the end, I would absolutely return to Officine Brera, armed with my Google Translator and an expense account!

Very Good seems to be the «New Norm» when it comes to clean, beautiful, gentrified, hip restaurants in Downtown L.A. and especially in or near the Art District. Officine Brera does not disappoint, because it was Very Good!
Super clean lines with a lot of space to work with, there is no claustrophobia to deal with here. This is a comfortable place to eat a meal.
I was here for lunch and the lunch menu was short but sweet. Based in true Italian cooking it had its pastas, risottos, meats, fish and assorted high end «regional» Italian dishes that all looked very good. I said «regional» avoiding the word «classical» as I don’t think you’ll find meatballs and spaghetti or veal parmigian here. I had a wonderful fusilli meat ragu that rivaled Angelini Osteria’s lamb ragu. I really liked it.
My service was excellent and the prices were certainly in par for any high end eatery which this certainly was.
Here was the only problem, if you can call this a problem:
The food, atmosphere, destination and feel of Officine Brera was just too good for lunch. Lunch is a «filler» meal. All it does is fill the gap between breakfast and dinner.
Dinner is the «Real Deal» meal when alcohol comes into play and there is no time limit in which to consume your food and your usually dressed a little nicer (at least in the old days) and conversations tend to be different than when the sun is up.
As I was sitting here eating my lunch, I wished I was here with my (always impeccably dressed) wife having a Barolo and people watching the hordes of drinkers, eaters, couples and singles doing that dance of the night called Dinner… and my next visit here will be exactly that!

Factory Kitchen, good.
Officine Brera, excellent.
I can do without having FK again, but I’d be excited to visit OB again especially for their pasta dishes. Yess, risotto is their specialty, and both the seafood and saffron/​cheese were delicious, but I really liked their cannelloni and oxtail ragu.
— Cannelloni stuffed with braised beef and cheese smothered atop. Amazing, tender, cheesy, packed with a ton of flavor, mouth is watering right now.
— Buckwheat pasta, oxtail ragu, fava beans, and raspadura cheese shavings. Nothing buckwheat-​y about these pasta noodles, nope. Delicious, and so rich in flavor.
— I’m mostly indifferent to seafood, but the delicious octopus appetizer kick-​started my taste for it, so found myself appreciating the seafood risotto, but not as much as the.
— Saffron, cheese and bone marrow risotto. I didn’t get much of the saffron (and don’t expect an abundance of the bone marrow either; phooey), but cheesy, and cheesy is good.
— Pork shank, good.
— Octopus appetizer, good.
Everything was good, but the pastas were great.

If you enjoy the food at The Factory Kitchen you’ll definitely enjoy the food here at it sister restaurant Officine Brera. Between the two I would give Officine Brera a slight edge. Due to the fact they have some nice grilled meat dishes.
Officine Brera is located in DTLA in one of those abandoned warehouse turn into one beautiful restaurant. The restaurant has nice natural light shining in through out the restaurant. The has a nice cool vibe, and yes it gets pretty loud.
PARKING: Valet for $ 7 or if you want to take a risk and fine street parking.
SERVICE: Top notch. Very attentive, never once we had to ask for anything. Our class of water was always filled.
(Note) We did family style party of 4)
FOOD:
Lingua Salmistrata. If you love beef tongue this is the dish to get. This was one of the most tender tongue I have ever had. It just melts away when you take that first bit.
Lardo Al Pepe. Cured Pork Back Fat. Just simply melts in your mouth delicious.
Polop. This octopus was grilled and charred to perfection. Super tender.
Milanese. I thought this dish could have been better. The flavor was good tho. Definitely doesn’t beat the bone marrow dish at Bestia.
Pappardelle Al Nero. Black ink pasta. Fantastic dish tons of flavor. The seafood was perfectly cook, but definitely not worth the price for the small amount you get. The smallest dish of all.
Gnocchetti. If you love truffle. This is the dish. It’s rich and creamy and a great amount of the truffle taste.
Rustin Nega. 22oz Bone-​in Veal chop. Cook to perfection. Super tender. Well season. My favorite dish of the night.
Lombo Di Bovino. 35 day dry aged bone in Colorado Delmonico Steak. The steak was perfectly cook to our liking medium rare to rare.
Overall Officine Brera delivers.

This is definitely in the high 4’s but not quite a 5. Still delicious nonetheless!
If you get a chance to get to the restaurant early, definitely make a pit stop at the bar. (I recommend valet. Don’t chance it on street parking) Their drinks definitely hit the spot. They’ll even give you comped bread and olive oil while you’re chit chatting away.
The scenery is abandoned DTLA warehouse turned into an industrially chic restaurant with an awesome view into the kitchen. Very open and yet very intimate (as in the tables are super close together). It gets kind of loud in there since it has the echo of a warehouse but it adds to the experience.
Waitstaff is super attentive. There was never a dirty plate or utensils left on the table unchanged or an empty glass of water. They even refold your napkin if you get up to use the loo!
On to the FOOD. We decided to go tapas style and share everything. I highly recommend this so you can try as many dishes as possible.
Starters:
1) Lardo — cured pork back fat?!? Yes please! Sweet, salty, melt in your mouth. Some microgreens for some balance.
2)Polpo — this octopus was so tender and charred to perfection! Not gummy or chewy.
3)Lingua Salmistrata — pickled. beef. tongue. This was probably my favorite! The texture is definitely surprising. Melts in your mouth. Your practically don’t even have to chew!
Pasta/​risotto:
1) Gnocchi — a truffle lover’s dream. I am truffle lover. I dreamt.
2) Milanese — saffron risotto. Bone marrow. Mix. Mix reaaaal good. Eat. Die a little inside (because it’s so good. Cholesterol has nothing to do with it)
3) Papardelle al Nero — luscious squid ink pasta with muscles.
The Girth:
1) Lombo di Bovino — 35 day dry aged bone-​in Colorado Delmonico steak with duck fat garlic potatoes. Not gonna lie, I prefer wet aged. Taste was good though
2) Rustin Nega — 22 oz veal chop. This one was the winner. Perfectly cooked (rare) with butta, cipollini, and pancetta. Heart attack… In the best way possible
Happy Endings:
1) honey and nougatine semifreddo. Light, airy, not too sweet, chocolate drizzle, tons of nuts. I love nuts. A good dessert.
Would I come back… Ummmm? Yes.

LA has been in hyper-​gentrification mode for a long while now and with that comes re-​purposing of old buildings. The Arts District «is drawing favorable comparisons to New York’s meatpacking district,» according to the LA Times. It being filled with trendy shops, restaurants, hotels and offices that are taking over many industrial buildings that were strictly blue collar for decades,” and it is now the exclusive domain of young upper-​middle class peeps with small tea cup dogs who want to live, work and play in the same area without having to drive.
Let’s take this location for example. Once an old Nike factory where the shoes cost more then what people were paid a day (so I was told), is now the home of a hipster restaurant with valet parking. If you want FREE parking look on the surrounding streets but be mindful of the time. You can get a ticket if you’re parked in certain places after 8pm. All this hyper-​gentrification of LA has me NO LONGER afraid to venture into LA after dark. I actually felt pretty safe.
I was here to meet up with Unilocal Buds for a Sunday Birthday Party Dinner. There were about 10 of us and Isabel was SUPER kind to arrange everything and make the reservation. This place is pretty new so I was even happier to be getting in early to try it out.
The space is not huge but can seat lots of people with its tables and booth seating. You can even get a view of the chef cooking through the huge window. He’ll even go as far as to pose for you. Haha!
We met at the bar where the service was spot on and SUPER FRIENDLY! Kim or Isabel had ordered some Italian pizza that was described to me as a chickpea type of pizza. Pretty good. I’ve been all over Italy more than once and never seen anything there like it. Chef did GOOD with this one.
As are party started to show up we moved out to the covered patio which was SUPER nice and comfy. The warm afternoon and light breeze was great. One everyone arrived we were seated. Then the waiter sort of did a little disappearing act because he was gone for a long while.
Once he showed back up we started ordering. Since we all decided to share we ordered like there was no tomorrow.
Appetizers:
Mesin con salam — A selection of meats&cheeses, crostini, pear mostarda $ 17
Polpo — grilled mediterranean octopus, water cress, frisée salad, sunchokes purèe $ 18
Lingua salmistrata (AKA heffa) — sliced pickled beef tongue, arugula salad, salsa verde $ 15
Entrée
Gnocchi — handmade potato gnocchi, castelmagno cheese fonduta, chives $ 19
Nastrini del miracolo — ancient grain house made pasta, butcher’s table meat-​ragù, italian parsley $ 19 Cannelloni — braised beef stuffed oven baked fresh pasta, foie grass, melted cheese béchamel $ 24
Bassa padana Arborio — rice, luganega rope sausage, cotechino, grana padano $ 19
Milanese vialone nano — rice, saffron, beef tripe sugo, lodigrana $ 22
The food arrived and OMG it was a frenzy of pictures taking activity. So funny! I’m sure we looked like Parana all attacking the food with our camera phones.
Once that was out the way we proceeded to scoop and pass plates! I’m not a fan of the octopus but I did try the pickled heffa and I am glad I had the experience. It was SUPER DUPER moist and melted on my tongue. I later found out it was raw which freaked me out but by that time it was in my belly and moving through my intestines. Hahah! Both Risottos were good and the gnocchi was REALLY GOOD! Prefect for a cold rainy day. The seafood dish was also very good and had plenty of seafood in it.
The only drawback was the service in the beginning but it got better as the night went on. I think there were a few desserts ordered but I had to pass on that. SOOO MUCH FOOD was on the table. The bill came to almost $ 400 dollars. I can’t say it was worth all that but it was GOOD! I hear the other place they own «The Factory Kitchen» is much better. I mean for nearly $ 400 some of the dishes should have leaped from the plate into my mouth and slid down my throat.

Officine Brera is your garden variety 21^st century restaurant configuration, which to its credit recycles old warehouses & factories, near the edges of DTLA. Cavernous & spacious, but its concrete floor & walls reflect & do not absorb sound. However, Bestia, Animal, Son of a Gun would be winners in this competition for sonic displeasure.
Brera is a quartiere in the historic core of Milano, Lombardia. I remember going to Pinacoteca di Brera & seeing paintings of my favorite modern Italian painter Amadeo Modiglini w/​his portraiture of women w/​long necks & mysterious eyes.
«The inspiration behind Officine BRERA comes from classic recipes of Cucina Povera, the countryside along the River Po’ Valley in Northern Italy where both Chef Angelo Auriana and Matteo Ferdinandi grew up.» There wasn’t much that was Cucina Povera (poverty) about the prIces here.
1) Farinata: a pizza shaped flat bread made of chickpea flour. Boringly bland, dry texture. I had Socca, another name for Farinata, in the town of Nice, France which was once part of Italy & recall it was more flavourful eating it at a sidewalk café.
2) Polpo: charred octopus tentacle. Smoky, soft, sweet, fibrously meaty w/​non-​descript sunchoke purée, watercress & frisee dressed w/​light vinaigrette to brighten the bitter greens for a good counterpoint to the octopus.
3) Culatello: Originally from Pianura Padana, plain of the Po River is dark rose red cured pork Salame w/​only a bit of veining of white fat is moist, stretchy w/​a meaty, slightly acetic acid, fermented, earthy scent. Baguette is no big deal, but the butter has a sweet, scented grassy dairy fragrance.
4) Lingua Salmistrata: Tongue here is a thing of beauty, finely veined w/​a white, rich fat that melts-​in-​mouth & dusty rose tinted meat that is ever so tender. There is a Spam-​like fatty meaty odor w/​traces of possibly sage, black pepper, garlic, black peppercorns, thyme, bay leaves, cloves for almost Pastrami flavor. Chopped Taggia olives for a briny, earthiness & Ruccola for a peppery, peanut oil scented bitterness.
5) Gnocchi: small tiny pillows are soft, starchy, crème of wheat-​like yet maintains its membranous skin, coated w/​a sweet, buttery Castelmagno/​half cream cow’s milk cheese Fonduta.
6) Bassa Padana: Al dente Risotto made from Arborio rice, cut slices of rough ground, porky Luganega & Cotechino sausage for a Farmer John Breakfast Sausage flavor. Grana Padano, relative to Parmigiano Reggiano cheese adds a milky, creamy, lactic acid tone w/​drizzling of aged Aceto Balsamico.
7) Pesce: Vialone Nano Veronese (Indicazione Geografica Protetta) is very fat, mouth filling al dente rice grain. Creamy w/​a mélange of chopped langoustine, smoked eel, black mussels & clams in its shell in a frutti di mare sauce veloute.
8) Milanese: Bright yellow, orange Risotto of Vialone Nano Veronese, touched w/​herbal, just opened oyster minerality scent of Saffron
& cheesy dairy creaminess. Sitting in the middle, a piece of roasted bone-​in marrow.
9) Foiade Bergamasche: Wide, Pappardelle style, Chestnut Pasta was bit over-​cooked for a softer mushier feel dressed w/​a rich, meaty duck Sugo/​demi-​glacé sauce.
10) Nastrini del Miracolo: ancient grain texture is dry & rough. Butcher table’s Ragu is a bit watery & gamy, hint of oregano.
11) Stinchetto di Maiale: Roasted pork shank in a sea of yellow corn polenta/​grits, bit of greens to relieve the carbs & meaty protein.
12) Rustin Nega: Lombata di Vitello/​veal chop was grilled grass fed baby beef grilled over wood fire so part of the meat was cooked well to leave a chaw. Inner pink medium rare meat was soft, silky, meaty. Beefiness is subtle, divine.
Cipollini onions were caramelized, but cured pork over-​cooked, over salted were leathery, unpleasantly chewy. Semi-​caramelized demi-​glacé sauce added meatier Umami. This was the crowning dish.
2−10a) Raphael, our congenial, conscientious waiter, suggested a Spanish Tempranillo to pair especially w/​the Rustin Nega, but I wanted Italian wine that would be regionally more congruent. He suggested a Dolcetto d’Alba from Piedmonte, but said it would not be a perfect fit.
Dolcetto had faint blueberry, blackberry scent along w/​a juicy, plum flavor. But it was too sour, earthy, acidic, astringent, grainy & over-​powered the subtle Lombata di Vitello. My ‘bad’.
11) Torrone: frozen Nougat-​like semi-​freddo w/​a taste of citron/​candied citrus. When frozen, texture is drier, but as it melts, becomes creamier. Chocolate swirls on the plate & 2 conserved tiny cherry-​like fruits preserved in perhaps cherry liqueur.
Various paste at Brera don’t seem to match the high quality of its sister ristorante, Factory Kitchen. It doesn’t have the fresh, stretchy, snappy yet chewy mouthfeel. Most of the dishes here are competently done, but I don’t sense a wow factor in general. 3+ Unilocal stars.

Our reservation for 9 girls were delayed and we ended up sitting in 2 separate tables.
We heard Officine Brera was the sister company to Factory Kitchen so we were super excited to give this place a gander.
High ceiling and full of space and every single table was filled up!
The choices for vegetarians were bleak and our server seemed overwhelmed and couldn’t think of much choices for me and so I ended up getting a gnocchi and though that was delicious and fluffy, I felt like the server was quick to dismiss my dietary needs. I said I was a vegetarian and she was like well, there isnt much for you… I really hate it when they don’t at least try a bit harder to see if there are other options.
I ended up seeing this pizza like dish that was on almost every other table that I walked pass and ended up asking her and she said that was vegetarian but she didnt even mention it the first time when i asked if there were options. LAZY LADY!

What a beautiful place to have a great meal! I’ve heard that Officine Brera is being called «the new Bestia» and it’s hard not to compare the two. I love love love the space! Gorgeous vaulted ceiling with glass panes so the natural light streams through, great mix of wood, leather and iron for that industrial chic look.
FOOD:
— house made head cheese — I love me some head cheese so this was a must for me. Super thinly sliced and on top of a refreshing green salad. I really enjoyed this dish as a starter. The horseradish purée on the side was delicious!
— pesce risotto — wow, so creamy! You get a lot of seafood in this dish — smoked eel, mussels, clams, scallop, crab and maybe some other stuff as well. Super flavorful but not overly salty — nice balance with the more delicately flavored seafood.
— pasta with butcher’s cut meat ragu — loved the pasta! Al dente, the sauce slathered all over it, yum! The meat was not to my taste (but I don’t eat beef, so maybe that’s why) but was very tenderly braised.
— pork shank — served with polenta and spinach, this was tender, but a tad on the dry side.
SERVICE:
Excellent. We arrived 5 minutes before our 7pm reservation and were seated about 5 minutes later. We were offered water right away and our carafe was instantly replaced whenever it was empty. We had new plates after every dish and were checked on several times throughout our meal. Timing between the dishes was perfect too.
VENUE/​PARKING:
I repeat, just a gorgeous space! I recommend getting here while there’s still light to really see how pretty the space is. There’s an outdoor patio with a firepit to hang out on while you wait for your table, or you can wait at the bar as well. The entrance is gorgeous as well, and there’s a really cool wall of glass brick behind the hostess stand. There is valet parking available, but you really don’t need it — plenty of free street parking all around.
The menu changes often so it seems like there’s always something new to try! As for the comparison to Bestia, reservations are definitely much easier to get here and although I think Bestia’s menu is more creative — Officine Brera is a solid and welcome addition to the Arts District food scene!

Come on, Unilocalers. Why so much hate? Did you all sit at the wrong places and order the wrong things again, you little rebellious Unilocalers, you?
Well, allow this seasoned Unilocaler to show you the recipe for a good time at newcomer Officine Brera:
1. Find the handsome bartender with beautiful dark features and sit in front of him at the bar.
2. Order an Old Fashioned from said bartender and watch the magic unfold.
3. Sip on said magic and order the Pesce (seafood risotto), the Polpo (grilled octopus), and the Pisarei E Faso (al dente dumplings).
4. Enjoy the rest of the magic as it quickly arrives piping hot in front of you.
5. Thank me and never deviate from my recipes again.
(jk)
(njk)

We really enjoyed the food and service here.
The waiter I think his name was Henry was awesome and super friendly.
The whole staff was attentive and fast.
The salad we ordered came with slow roasted chicken and the octopus was one of the best dishes.
The pasta was amazing.
And for dessert get the chocolate custard tart with fresh fig. Order that with coffee.
The outdoor space is nice with the fireplace.

As soon as I saw Chef Mirko’s risotto post on IG, I had to have it. Since this restaurant is inspired by Milan and Northern Italy countryside, ordering risotto or polenta was a must instead of pasta.
I am a HUGE fan of Factory Kitchen, Brera’s sister restaurant almost next door (and everything about Milan and the Brera Design District). This restaurant opening jumped to the top my list of restaurants to try right now in LA as soon as they opened.
The last time I tasted authentic Northern Italian cuisine was on vacation in Milan and before that at this Italian restaurant in Tribeca in NYC many years back. I was excited to taste it again.
The warehouse and industrial feel of the space is fitting for the location. I loved the exterior to the gorgeous interiors and the open kitchen. I chose to sit facing the action of the kitchen, to me, the best seats in the house.
Service was a little slow when the restaurant wasn’t busy. It kind of reminded me of the service level in Europe. Service definitely was not as attentive as my recent visit to Tempura Endo in Beverly Hills. The restaurant was empty and I was awkwardly sitting at my table waiting for someone to bring me a menu or a beverage.
The risotto alla milanese was new on the menu tonight. It was an easy choice for me. The risotto I was told takes 20 minutes to prepare. Less than 20 minutes later, the risotto arrived with the bone marrow in the middle and a small spoon in the cavity. Not much to scoop as far as marrow so I was confused and asked Chef Mirko how to eat it. He told me that the marrow was already mixed into the risotto. I decided to take the tiny piece of meat inside the cavity and blend it in. Looking back I should have just ate the piece of meat because it got lost in the risotto.
The flavor of the risotto was just as I expected and cooked to perfection. The flavor of the bone marrow was mellow and almost undetectable.
I was quite satisfied with my meal and will be back to try more dishes… and that ricotta cheesecake.
Valet parking or limited street parking.

Came here last night with a group of friends, and as per our usual tradition, we ordered almost the entire menu. This place definitely has the vibe of Bestia, and I prefer the ambiance here much more. It’s wide open and very welcoming, and the lighting is also very intimate and romantic. One thing I did notice was that the crowd was different from other up and coming restaurants that I’ve been to in the DTLA/​Arts district area… mostly everyone was older and looked like they came from Brentwood/​Manhattan Beach (as opposed to yuppies). The classy atmosphere was definitely a welcome change! I did notice several typos on the menu; however, so it’s possibly something they should check out
+ FRISCEU: Vegetable sage fritters that had a nice, mellow flavor and weren’t too oily. The texture reminded me of the Brazilian cheese breads… very moist on the inside.
+ LARDO AL PEPE: The lardo was a bit sweet for me as the honey was pretty overpowering. Other than that, I really liked this appetizer.
+ POLPO: Rule of thumb… anytime there is octopus on the menu, you order it. This was the first dish that came out, and it made a great impression. The octopus was cooked perfectly and flavored very well.
+ MELUZZO: Advertised as a smoked salted water codfish dish, I expected more codfish in our salad. When it came out, we thought at first that they gave us the wrong dish, but then we found the codfish. Great salty taste and paired well with the chickpea farinata salad.
+ GNOCCHI: Very simple, made with castelmagno cheese. The cheese has a nice mellow taste to go with the fluffy, light texture of the gnocchi.
+ FOIADE BERGAMASCHE: Homemade pasta with oxtail meat. LOVED this dish… easily my favorite pasta dish. The oxtail was flavored perfectly and was prepared to the perfect tenderness. The pasta had a great texture as well.
+ STINCHETTO DI MAIALE: Quite possibly the most aesthetic dish of the night. A beautiful bone-​in pork shank topped with aromatic herbs with a side of rosemary potatoes. The meat fell so beautifully off the bone and the flavors just melted in your mouth. Worth it.
+ GIANDUIOTTA: A beautiful Hazlenut crème brûlée. The hazlenut wasn’t too overpowering and the dessert was topped with a great crumble
+ CASTAGNOLE: My favorite dessert of the night. Freshly fried doughnuts with a salty bourbon caramel sauce. Even though were were so full by the end of the night, we had more than enough room for this treat.
+ CANNONCINI: Unfortunately, this dish looked and sounded better than it was. Don’t get me wrong, we still enjoyed this dish thoroughly; however, it didn’t compare to the other two desserts that we got.