Hermosa Beach

Hermosa Beach is home to one of the most elegant and luxurious Italian restaurants in LA. With a small patio and quiet, leisurely paced indoor dining, Racidi features a lovely array of pastas, salads, and main courses that include a delightful fresh salmon and perfectly prepared shrimp dish.

Located on the second floor of a small two story, outdoor complex, the restaurant features comfortable seating that encourages lingering. The softly illuminated bar area is also a great spot for a sophisticated craft cocktail.

The Northern Italian cuisine is created from scratch; diners will find a wide range of pastas, vegetable selections, and seafood choices on the menu. Among the highlights are incredibly fresh produce that is tender and succulently prepared, from eggplant to a simple Insalata Arugula. The ricotta cheese is made in house, and is a revelation when it comes to ricotta. The owner’s mother, Lucia Gasbarri, is to thank for this and the overall powerful ability of the kitchen to turn a simple dish into a classic. She oversees the kitchen, uses many family recipes, and has worked for thirty years with the accomplished chef. Owner Laura Francisco and restaurant manager, Francesca Iacobellis provide high quality service.

Try the crisp, light, calamari as a starter, breaded crisp with tender fish inside. The arugula salad had a fresh tang, accented by sweet, crisp slices of pear; we found the simple olive oil and vinegar dressing to be lovely, with olive oil from Olive Cove. Bread is warm and fresh; but don’t fill up, there’s more ahead.

Roasted tomatoes and homemade manicotti with that light-as-air ricotta was a perfect first course; fire roasted sweet peppers can be topped – or not – with equally light and flavorful goat cheese. The Bruschetta is also crisp and perfect. The Portobello features a tender mushroom stuffed with onions, breadcrumbs, polenta, and bell peppers, offering another taste of beautiful produce.

Often gnocchi can be heavy and dense, not so with the light pillows here. Potato and spinach dumplings can be served with a rich gorgonzola cream sauce or sautéed with fresh tomatoes.  There is also a rich pink sauce choice for the ravioli – mouth meltingly flavorful.

Spaghetti Pomodoro may just be the quintessential vegan dish: the pasta is perfectly al dente, chewy and flavorful; the lovely fresh tomato and basil sauce is brilliantly flavorful, simple but somehow rich with complex flavor. Yes, it is “just” spaghetti, but it is a classic rendition; the restaurant also serves variations on the pomodoro with other flavorful sauces and pastas.

Another simple dish that is all too often treated as either an after-thought or something starchy and bland, is polenta. Available as a side on many of the fresh fish or meat dishes, it can also be ordered in a more generous portion separately, and is well worth sampling. It made a terrific pairing with dishes such as the salmon: prepared crisp, with fragrant, light lemon butter sauce.

Also terrific: the jumbo shrimp in white wine and garlic with lemon butter, gamberoni al limone.

Cocktails were inventive, and many used Italian ingredients or had unique touches such as the rosemary syrup in the Italian Greyhound. On the non-alocholic side, the Italian Limonata soda refreshed.

Desserts are well accompanied by beverages such as the L’Americano Corretto made with biscotti liqueur; espresso and teas are beautifully served and prepared. There are four delicious grappas too, including a chocolate version that must be savored.

As to the sweets themselves, the cannoli is perfect, but then so was the imported chocolate gelato. You’ll have to save room for both, or better yet, come back for another delicious visit. We did.

• Genie Davis; photos: provided by Radici; supplemental by Genie Davis