Chi SPACCA is a restaurant concept that grew out of chef Chad Colby's celebrated “salumi night” at Mozza's pizza school. So is it any wonder that the restaurant has a lockdown on the best charcuterie in town? The “salumeria” portion of Chi SPACCA's menu — split among “whole muscles,” “salami” and “pâté and terrine” — is its smoky, salty focal point. The salami are dense but also melting, imbued with ingredients like intensely aromatic fennel pollen, or the bright, biting, almost fruity Tellicherry pepper. Pancetta comes wrapped around breadsticks, looking like meaty, twirly candy. If there's a must-try among the pâtés and terrines, it's the bacon tenderloin pâté, one that conveys all the intensity of crisply cooked bacon but turns it meatier, softer and more herbaceous all at once. Here's the thing about Colby and what he's doing at Chi SPACCA that's so cool: Amidst the big, important, celebrity chef-driven machine that is Mozza is a young chef, a Willy Wonka of meats, who doggedly pursued a passion project that wasn't even possible in Los Angeles before he made it so. 6610 Melrose Ave., Hlywd. (323) 297-1133, chispacca.com. —Besha Rodell

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