Call it chef Scott Conant's great Westward expansion: Scarpetta Beverly Hills. Conant's fourth version of the Italian restaurant opened Monday at Montage Beverly Hills in the space formerly occupied by Parq, the beautifully tiled, but ultimately unsuccessful, space that overlooked Beverly Canon Gardens.

Montage gutted most of Parq, its original fine dining room, to refashion Scarpetta with dark woods, warm lighting and a more contemporary atmosphere–very much in the Conant style. And the food? Conant calls it “earthy yet sophisticated,” which means you can sop up the last bit of marinara with the little, shoe-shaped piece of bread that the Italians call scarpetta.

Conant is a familiar restaurant presence in hotels, where in the last two years he has opened three Scarpetta restaurants: in Miami's renovated Fontainebleau Hotel; the Thompson Toronto; and now, Montage Beverly Hills. In addition, he recently opened Faustina in the Cooper Square Hotel in New York. Scarpetta and D.O.C.G. Enoteca at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas are the next hotel projects slated to finish this year.

Conant comes to the city of stars as a celebrity in his own right: He is the host of the Food Network's 24 Hour Restaurant Battle and has published two cookbooks on Italian fare.

Scarpetta: 225 North Canon Dr. Beverly Hills; 310-860-7970.

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