Sexy - The Factory Kitchen

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Viva Italia, LA style!
la-confidential-magazine.com
niche media holdings, llc
taste Viva Italia!
The hiT
FacTory
French is yesteryear’s news.
at the Factory Kitchen,
Angelo AuriAnA
and MAtteo FerdinAndi are
maKing all things italian the
haute cuisine di giorno.
photography by jessica sample
by jen jones donatelli
On a roll! A chef at The
Factory Kitchen’s pasta
station preps jewel-like
casonsei, a specialty
from Italy’s Lombardy
region, filled with veal
and pork.
Chef Angelo Auriana and restaurateur Matteo
Ferdinandi have been running in the same
culinary circles for decades—and, like so many
things in LA’s food sphere, all roads lead back to
Wolfgang Puck. Ferdinandi spent years as general
manager of Puck’s Spago Las Vegas and Cut, and
Auriana counted Puck among the groomsmen at
his wedding. So it was only a matter of time before
the two would connect—first as friends, and
eventually, as business partners.
“The first time I met Angelo, around 20 years
ago, I already considered him the greatest Italian
chef on the West Coast. Valentino was a temple,
and Angelo was a god,” recalls Ferdinandi of
Auriana’s 18-year stint at Piero Selvaggio’s vaunted
fine-dining institution on Pico.
The pair quickly bonded over their shared
Northern Italian heritage; Ferdinandi hails from
Venice, while Auriana was born in Bergamo
(which Ferdinandi fondly refers to as “the city of
chefs”). And though Auriana later moved to San
Francisco for almost nine years, the two always
stayed in close contact.
So when Ferdinandi called Auriana in 2013 to
join his new restaurant concept in DTLA’s Arts
District, Auriana didn’t blink twice. “I said,
‘Matteo, for you, I would work in a garage,’” jokes
Auriana. “And sure enough, that’s what we ended
up doing.”
That “garage” is a former loading dock in a
90-year-old warehouse now known to
Downtowners as the Factory Place Arts
Complex. Along with
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taste Viva Italia!
What to
order
Auriana;
citrus-marinated
California
semiboneless
quail; the
industrial-chic
interior at The
Factory Kitchen
features concrete
walls and floors,
reclaimed-wood
tables, and giant
windows that
used to be
garage doors.
ContInuED FRom PAgE 129
architectural lofts for living
and working, it’s also home
base for The Factory
Kitchen—the straightforward,
much-buzzed-about trattoria
Auriana and Ferdinandi
debuted in October. Concrete
walls and floors, reclaimed
wood tables, and giant
windows that were once
garage doors set the industrial
tone for the space, which was
originally slated for Walter
Manzke’s Republique.
“I didn’t anticipate what’s
going on today [in the Arts
District]; right now, there is so
much investment pouring in,”
says Ferdinandi, who
assembled the project quickly
(in a little more than nine
months) and likens the area to
“the next Meatpacking
District.” “I would have
expected a young hipster
clientele, but people are also
coming from all over the LA
Basin and even Orange
County.”
Among the restaurant’s
regulars are stars such as
Valerie Bertinelli, Michael
Keaton, and Susan Sarandon,
as well as many of the fans
Ferdinandi cultivated at
Beverly Hills’ Cut. A big part
of the draw is the restaurant’s
authenticity; Auriano’s menu
is designed to showcase
simple, seasonal cuisine
honoring his and Ferdinandi’s
shared Italian roots.
“The core base was Matteo
and me going back to what we
always talked about: serving
food like we grew up with
before we got exposed to
American [cuisine],” says
Auriana. “The menu takes a
journey through Italy—we try
to represent many regions and
give a complete layout of what
you’ll find north to south.”
Translation? Traditional
Ligurian items like the
mandilli di seta and focaccina
calda di Recco al formaggio
(see sidebar) alongside
cannoli from Sicily, porcetta
from Umbria, burrata from
Puglia, prosciutto from
Parma, and casoncelli pasta
from Bergamo. The Italian
principle of quinto quarto
(meaning “fourth-fifths of the
animal”) is also in practice,
with dishes like seared lamb
tongue, sweetbreads, and
sautéed calf’s liver. Says
Auriano, “It’s fashionable to
say nose-to-tail, but that’s what
we grew up with in our
culture.”
Though affordability and
comfort are a focus (the
average check is $50 per
person for dinner), the duo’s
roots in fine dining are highly
apparent. Ferdinandi says he’s
a big believer in Wolfgang
Puck’s “three pillars”
approach—design, culinary
arts, and service—and that he’s
“quick to eliminate underperformers” who don’t meet
expectations in those three
areas.
“Having come from
Valentino, Cut, Spago, and
Felidia [in New York], we have
a fine- dining soul,” explains
Ferdinandi. “We strive for
perfection every day.”
And The Factory Kitchen is
just the beginning—the duo’s
Factory Hospitality Group is
hard at work prepping
Officine Brera, a Northern
Italian restaurant slated to
open next spring in the Arts
District. “It’s in a unique 1923
building facing the 6th Street
Bridge and the new LA River
State Park,” shares Ferdinandi.
“It’ll be very different from
The Factory Kitchen; [the
menu] will play with all types
of animals: pig, lamb, game,
wild birds, and whole fish from
the Venetian lagoon.”
Whatever the future holds
in store, Ferdinandi and
Auriana plan on tackling it
together. “We’ll be together
until the end of our careers,”
says Ferdinandi. “I learned
from Wolfgang [Puck] to
surround yourself with the
best possible people—that’s the
best thing you can do in life…
and business.” 1300 Factory
Pl., LA, 213-996-6000;
thefactorykitchen.com LAC
Best taBle
Wine director Francine
Diamond-Ferdinandi says
the prime perch is next to
the open kitchen’s lively
pasta-making station.
“Some people have never
seen fresh pasta being
made, so they’re fascinated,” explains DiamondFerdinandi. “Everyone
gets up to watch and take
pictures; sometimes they’ll
even change their order
based on what they see. I
think that’s a lot of fun.”
photography by jessica sample
clockwise from
left: Chef Angelo
A guaranteed conversation
piece is the focaccina calda
di Recco al formaggio
(Italian for highly addictive appetizer). Baked in
a high-temperature oven,
this unique Ligurian
fatbread dish utilizes
milky crescenza cheese and
can be stuffed with your
choice of anchovies and
tomatoes or imported ham
and rosemary. “We’re one
of the few restaurants in
California to make
this dish,” says chef
Angelo Auriana.
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