Long Beach Lunch: Passaparola Trattoria Italiana
Categories: Long Beach Lunch
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| Sarah Bennett |
La Parolaccia (whose chef we just recently interviewed) is a decade-old family-owned restaurant specializing in classical central Italian dishes and staffed by a slew of young Anglo-looking waitresses that somehow speak fluent Italian. Passaparola (which basically means "pass on the word") is its year-old counterpart--a Mediterranean-style café that trades Parolaccia's stone-oven pizzas for handmade pastas and offers top shelf wine to customers wearing jeans. A few months ago, it began opening for lunch.
But like most traditional European dining experiences, there is no "grab and go" option here. Lunch at Passaparola should take at least an hour, not because the service is poor, but because you take the courses in slowly, savoring each part of the experience (while hopefully having a good conversation with a cute guy or gal waiter).
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| Sarah Bennett |
| Ravioli Passaparola aka homemade spinach and ricotta cheese ravioli. |
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| Sarah Bennett |
Both my stomach and my soul were nourished by my long lunch at Passaparola. My bank account, however, not so much. In all, I spent around $25 on what was only technically one-third of my food for the day (some of us still operate on a college budget).
But with sustenance like fresh tortellini, a menu full of rare central Italian wines and a staff of affable émigrés, this is one place worth spending your entire per diem. Viva la famiglia!
Passaparola Trattoria Italiana, 6204 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., Long Beach, (562) 986-5280
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