It’s been about a year and a half since the Mina Group opened the stylishly rustic Cal Mare in the Beverly Center for dinner and Sunday brunches prepared by Michael Mina’s prized protégé Adam Sobel. Starting this week they have finally added a delightful weekday lunch menu in the relaxed 8,000-square-foot space and an all-day happy hour in the bar under its bright pink bougainvillea canopy . There are new and signature items on the lineup, as well as a three-course Vespa menu for $29 if you’re in a hurry.

The seasonal Vespa menu currently includes a choice of sweet pea soup with gnudi or little gem lettuce salad to start. Second course offers either cavatelli cacio e pepe with chive blossoms or brick pressed chicken, followed by house made cannoli or gelato for dessert.

A la carte menu items include Sobel’s Italian take on bagels and lox – fennel cured smoked salmon on ciabatta with stracciatella, avocado and radish sprinkled with fresh herbs. The chicken Milanese sandwich is fried to perfection and stacked with broccoli rabe, provolone and arugula pesto. Signature favorites like the paper thin carbonara pizza with guanciale and Yukon gold potatoes drizzled tableside with a farm fresh egg are also available on the new lunch menu.

Chicken Milanese sandwich with crispy smashed potatoes, broccolini and spicy baby zucchini; Credit: Michele Stueven

Chicken Milanese sandwich with crispy smashed potatoes, broccolini and spicy baby zucchini; Credit: Michele Stueven

The Cal Mare chopped salad is Sobel’s own unique version of a local classic, with Calabrese salami, pepperoncini, radicchio and draped with a dramatic swatch of prosciutto. If you’re feeling spicy, try the stuffed calamari alla diavola with 'nduja, tangerine and toasted hazelnuts, a perfect match for their Spritz of the Day or an alcohol-free Frida’s Flower made with hibiscus, orange oil and tonic.

Also, 4-Hour free valet parking is now available with validation at the 3rd Street and La Cienega Boulevard entrance.

Cal Mare, 8500 Beverly Blvd. (ground floor of the Beverly Center), West Hollywood; (424) 332-4595, michaelmina.net/restaurants/southern-california/calmare/.

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