Piadina Lover Left Flatless

Where to find the classic Adriatic snack in Southern California

Comments (0) By Jonathan Gold Wednesday, Aug 6 2008

Dear Mr. Gold:

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Locanda Del Lago

231 Arizona Ave.
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Category: Restaurant > Italian

Region: Santa Monica

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I have fond memories of childhood summers in a small town named Cervia, on the Adriatic coast in the Emilia-Romagna region. And I have clear memories of walking to piadina stands for a taste of that distinct flatbread, which I loved. It would be nice to have a place in Los Angeles where I can enjoy the modest bread I remember so well.

—Eric S.

Dear Eric S.:

Piadinas, as you know, are native to Romagna but are almost as common in Italy as hamburgers are in Los Angeles — soft, floppy flatbread usually layered with something like prosciutto, arugula and a bit of fresh mozzarella, folded in half and grilled. It’s a default snack at places like swimming pools and cocktail bars, anywhere there isn’t really room to cook, as well as at specialty piadinerie. There’s also a lot of piadina in New York, for some reason — I used to live across the street from a restaurant actually called Piadina — although there doesn’t seem to be much of it here. You can, though, find piadina stuffed with cheese or sausage lunch times at Locanda del Lago in Santa Monica, a restaurant that concentrates on the cooking of the Lombardy Lake District, things like pizzoccheri or trota alla Comesca, but isn’t dogmatic about it. 231 Arizona Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 451-3525.

Got a burning culinary question? E-mail askmrgold@laweekly.com.