La Botte Ristorante

This restaurant easily surpasses most, if not every, Los Angeles restaurant in terms of quality of the menu, taste, service, and ambiance. The chef's seasonal tasting menu was immaculate. It took a little over 2 hours to finish dinner, yet was paced perfectly and made for great conversation. The staff is knowledgeable, friendly, and prompt. Pros: Perfect service, Great ambience, Excellent food, Wine List Cons: Far from home more

Absolutely wonderful. If you truly appreciate fine dining, you must try La Botte. All the little extra touches are memorable as is the impeccable, sharp service from the pleasant staff. It was superb and worth every penny. Pros: Everything more

Last night, a Thursday, I took my boyfriend here for his birthday. We were definitely excited, as we, too, had read and heard wonderful things about this newer restaurant. After careful deliberation, we chose the tasting menu (which did not require a reservation prior to our arrival) and awaited our six courses. The first, a cold appetizer of tuna tartar, was fresh and our true favorite. Served with avocado, spicy micro greens, and salt, this course was a perfect compilation of some of our favorite flavors. The sweetbreads arrived as the second course, and I was pleasantly surprised. The sweetbreads were cooked to perfection - delicate on the inside and crispy on the outside, and the soft polenta was a lovely complement. The third course was a fontina raviolini with a butter and white truffle sauce, and sadly, it marked the impending decline of our meal. The fourth course, beet tagliolini with homemade quail sausage was overwhelmed by an unimpressive sauce, and we were disappointed to find that at this point, on a Thursday night, the service began a marked decline. We waited with empty plates at our table for twenty or more minutes before our fifth course arrived, and when it did, the filet mignon with truffle Barolo wine sauce which we were anxious to try, was well done rather than rare as we had requested. Another twenty minutes passed and our desserts arrived - his a tiny sliver of layered chocolate in different textures and flavors (which he loved) and mine a poorly-plated larger piece of tiramisu. The desserts were enjoyable, but we were put-off by the strange change in service. If we return, other items we would like to try include the duck prosciutto, the squid ink linguini with crab meat, and the ravioli with rabbit mousse. I'm not sure how soon we'll return, as there are so many more places to try, but despite the service, we enjoyed a mostly delicious meal and would recommend it to others. Pros: wonderful tasting menu, extensive wine list Cons: service declined, ambience not particularly special more

The name La Botte kept popping up everywhere (Los Angeles Magazine's runner-up best new restaurant, in particular caught our eye), so we decided to try it for New Year's. We could not have been more happy! From start to finish, it was a special experience. Every member of the staff was friendly, helpful, and determined to make sure we had a great meal. No attitude here. After choosing an Italian wine (with a little help from our waiter), the manager suggested one of comparable price that he found to be much better--he was right. We had the polenta appetizer, the vegetable ravioli, and the cod in orange and rosemary glaze--all had extremely delicate and memorable flavors--we enjoyed every bite. We've been to Italy several times, and although we're far from experts, we've learned to distinguish the more everyday flavors from the special ones... La Botte makes them special. We don't eat meat, only fish, but there were enough options to make us happy and very, very full. Portions are not huge, but in our opinion just right, especially if you order a starter and desert. For desert, we tried the amaretto ice cream and the chocolate bar--perfect with espresso. All in, we spent around $200. A lovely dinner, we'll be back for special occasions! more

I have now dined at La Botte twice in the last few weeks and both times I have been thoroughly impressed. The food is truthfully out of this world and the wine selection is brilliant. This restaurant is an amazing place for a date or a quiet dinner with friends. more

La Botte is quite simply the best dining experience I have had in this city. The restaurant itself is lovely, the waitstaff/manager knowledgeable and helpful, the service impeccable. But most importantly, the food is amazing. Every single item we ordered was nothing short of perfect. The ravioli with truffle are out of this world. The desserts were excellent as well and the wine pairings were outstanding. Perfetto! Pros: knowledgeable service, food and wine pairings more

Had dinner here on Saturday and couldn't have been more impressed. This is an amazing place that I truly hope survives its slightly odd location. Once inside, you feel so warm and cared for by the staff and the environs. Protion sizes are perfect - not too small & not enormous. I am not knowledgeable in Italian wine but our waiter helped pick out a bottle that was both affordable and delightful. Will absolutely return! Pros: Everything! Cons: Nothing! more

Unbelievable restaurant, food, wines, service, decore and atmosphere. Great place to take your loved ones. Pros: Food, service, atmosphere more

Food was tasty, but we were told we could not open some special wine we had brought for the occasion. There must be about 3 or 4 restaurants in all of LA that have this mis-guided policy. Hell, just charge corkage and make up the difference on the fact that we will order more food, come more often, and yes, even buy bottles off the list too. Instead, I won't be going back and neither will my wine-loving friends. Silly.\r \r Also, the valet parking was full (??) on a Thursday night. They said they only had 12 spaces. Huh??? Pros: Good food, nice ambience Cons: No outside wine/BYOB permitted, screwed-up valet parking situation, not particularly friendly wait-staff more

Great selection of appetizers - my favorite is the duck prosciutto. I recently had the zucchini flowers risotto, which was very light and flavorful. Of course I can't resist the branzino, usually served as one of the specials. Service is very friendly and all the wait staff is Italian. Good assortment of wines.\r more

We went to La Botte last night on a concierge's recommendation. The restaurant is incredible, the warmest hospitality I have ever experienced in an Italian Restaurant.\r Branzino and sea urchin carpaccio, heirloom tomato caprese, ravioli with fontina and truffle, zucchini flower risotto, imported branzino, and so on, outstanding. Also, fine wine selection with many hard to find wines. Indeed recommended. more

We had a great time at La Botte. The decor is brilliant, and the food unbelievable. The staff is very attentive and the selection of wine terrific. This is a meal I had no problem paying $$$ for. Cons: too far from Chicago, IL more

La Botte has brought a whole new level of dining to Santa Monica. Try the chef's menu, it's worth every penny! Pros: professional service, personal attention, amazing food and wine more

The food is very good, the service is excellent, the decor is okay. But serious wine folks will be disappointed to learn that they can't bring their own wine...period. The wine list is loaded with very young, mostly over-priced bottles. The white is served at refrigerator temperature, and the reds are stacked around the too-warm room. Looks nice, but room temperature does not really mean 75+ degrees. When we questioned the manager about the policy, he did not have a good reason for it, and shrugged when told that virtually all other restaurants in Los Angeles welcome wine geeks and their bottles, including the esteemed Valentino, Spago, La Cachette, La Terza, Patina, and the list goes on. \r \r Too bad, because they had some other good things on the menu that I would have liked to try. Pros: good food, good service Cons: no corkage, wines overpriced and too cold or too warm more

One of the most pleasurable evenings we've had out in a while. From the door to the bussers, they all take this business seriously. The owners are always present and Stephano also helped us pick a great bottle of wine. An out of the ordinary menu that is perfectly executed by Chef Tony. It was by far the best Italian we've ever had in LA. more

It's real real Italian food, cooked with love and care by a real Italian chef.\r There are actually more Italians working at La Botte than in all the Brentwood restaurants combined. Pros: Very much like being in Italy for few hours more

On a Friday night the restaurant was very busy, however, we did not have to wait for our table. Service was very attentive, the friendly atmosphere offer a dining experienced not to be missed. Branzino carpaccio appetizer was excellent, as were the black linguine and the desert. The wide-ranging wine list includes most of my favorite Italian wines. Pros: welcoming service more

We have been to this place a few times now, and it only seems to get busier and better. It was a great place when not a lot of people knew about it, and might be more fun, now that the word is out. \r Superb food, fantastic service, wonderful atmosphere, it's a bit pricey, but it's worth it!\r Pros: wine list, authentic food, professional service more

The restaurant is elegant and sophisticated and the staff is friendly and accomodating, we felt that everyone there cared about us and the experience we were having. \r But the best part was the food, I loved the foie gras and duck ravioli. The truffle pasta was to die for. The presentation was like artwork and the food was outstanding. Pros: Food, Wine List, Service more

The service is great. The ambiance is nice and intimate with a open wine stand that takes up one entire wall of the restaurant. Tons of great wines. An out of the ordinary menu is executed with divine perfection. Highly recommended for food and wine lovers. more