What drives someone to spend eight years in Italy to learn the art and science behind traditional pasta making? This is the question we asked when we first heard of chef Evan Funke. Since then, we had been wanting to try out his dishes.
In 2017, Funke started Felix, in Venice, CA and given how close it was from home, we had our eyes set on it. My husband, Puneet had been trying to find a table at this popular spot, some claimed as the best pasta in Los Angeles.
Finally, after months and months of patient attempts, he managed to get us a spot on a Sunday evening, 7:45 last month.
We dressed up for the occasion. We were SO excited and we were not disappointed. The service was amazing, staff was careful, social distancing at its best. I love how far our table was from other folks. It is comforting.
We ordered a couple drinks. Puneet ordered a Negroni and I got a nice wine.
This (below) was our appetizer.
OMG. I dream about this foccacia bread every night, now. I almost cried cutting it - The bread was a balloon, lots of air bubbles, it cut beautifully and tasted heavenly.
This bread is called Sfincione (focaccia Siciliana, rosemary, sea salt and olive oil)
The pizza was pretty decent too. I don't do much dairy but my husband loved it. I thought the crust was just lovely and the pizza melted in my mouth. This below is a Margherita pizza with flor de latte (fresh cow's milk mozzarella), basil, Pomodoro and olive oil.
I have to say the highlight were the two vegetarian pasta dishes we ordered.
On the left is Tonnarelli Cacio E Pepe, which is pasta with black pepper and pecorino Romano. This pasta is from Central Italy. On the right is a pasta variety called Trofie which comes from Northern Italy. The pesto was super duper good.
Al dente takes a whole new meaning at Felix. Both these pasta have a slightly chewy texture but they both tasted fantastic.
I just absolutely loved this experience. I hope we can go there again to celebrate a birthday or an anniversary. Definitely, still. Felix, on my mind.
