Roman holiday

Mother Wolf (Design District)

RESTAURANTS • First Person

Six months after debuting in the Design District, the dining room was packed on a recent Tuesday night at Mother Wolf, chef Evan Funke’s hit L.A. import. The ode to Roman cooking serves sumptuous pastas to a fashionable crowd.

The expansive, richly textured space is aglow with the soft light of Murano glass chandeliers, and rounded red velvet banquettes line the walls. We started with the signature focaccia, a gorgeous spongy round sprinkled with olive oil, sea salt, and wild oregano; fried squash blossoms stuffed with ricotta and Parmigiano-Reggiano; and an arugula salad dressed simply with Parmesan, lemon, black pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. The hospitality was warm in the Italian fashion.

The hospitality’s as warm as the lighting, but also sharp — our waitress explained the menu with authority, later carefully plating the trio of pastas we ordered: two staples of Roman pasta, tonnarelli cacio e pepe and rigatoni all’amatriciana, and the Tuscan pappardelle al cinghiale. They were exceptional. We rounded out the meal with a crispy, thin-crust margherita pizza, but secondi options range from a 24-ounce Australian wagyu to swordfish puttanesca.

While I opted for a one-two punch of Champagne and a vodka martini, there’s a cocktail menu highlighting Italian spirits, liqueurs, and vermouths, as well as wine from across Italy. For dessert: creamy tiramisu and sweet little ciambellle fritti sugar donuts, served with blueberry preserves and crème fraiche panna cotta and just as addictive as the pasta. –Shayne Benowitz

→ Mother Wolf (Design District) • 3841 NE 2nd Ave • Daily 530-1030p • Reserve.