Mother Wolf — Restaurant in Los Angeles

This is the italian restaurant for people who have never been to Italy. There is an everlasting truth about Italian food, everyone who tries to make it too fancy fails, and Mother Wolf just confirmed it once more. First of all it's immensely pretentious, which is the opposite of Italian cuisine. With a chef/owner that refuses any small change on the menu because he won't 'compromise the purity' of 'HIS' recipes.... Really? 'his' recipes? There is nothing 'his' in here. These are old standard italian recipes made for hundreds of years and oh so easy to adjust without losing their freshness or appeal.

Cacio e Pepe or Amatriciana are some of the easiest, less fuss lunch pasta you can have in any Roman trattoria. And I guarantee that my Arrabbiata made at home is more interesting than this one, because I know how it tastes in Rome. The chef might have learned to cook italian but he knows nothing about the spirit or the richness of the flavors done simply and with the heart. This is a Disneyfied version of an uninteresting tourist menu.

The fact that every waiter is instructed to say 4 words in italian is also absolutely ridicolous. They all repeat the same stuff barely knowing what they are saying. Borderline offensive. And not one italian in sight anywhere (not that I particularly care about having Italians, in NYC some of the best pasta is served at Basta Pasta on 17th St which is owned and operated by Japanese, but they don't pretend to speak italian).

Besides the pompous vibe, there is also NOTHING gluten free on the menu and when asked, the waiters look down at you like you asked for an heresy, they clearly don't know that Italy is one of the countries with the highest count of celiacs and we make some of the best gluten free pasta, breads and desserts in the world. Given than Mother Wolf does not offer fresh-pasta, it's just regular dry/off-the-shelf, it wouldn't take much to have the same options in GF. Almost EVERY restaurant in Italy offers a GF version of both pasta, pizza and bread, without feeling offended. I guess Italians will compromise their recipes but Evan Funke is too precious for that.

My husband, who ordered the Amatriciana, dared to ask for some extra sauce as it was dry, and they sent some plain tomato sauce. Really? They expected us to mix tomato sauce on top of the Amatriciana sauce?... and that is not an heresy for them! When asked again, the waiter told us the Amatriciana is made as 'custom order' and they could not bring more sauce.... well, there is no pasta sauce cooked 'custom'. I'm sure they have buckets of it in the kitchen, and it was 6Pm on a Friday, they had to have enough for the rest of the night, but no, they could not bring a bit extra. Pure BS.

The meatballs were fried (assuming with bread / gluten in it), pretty heavy. The grilled branzino was good, probably the best thing, but not worth $70, although they gave us a discount given the sadness of the situation.

Besides our own misadventures, everything on the menu is truly basic, non inventive in any way, perfect for anyone who thinks a mozzarella is a fancy meal, white-label Italian for mass-consumption at premium pricing. I don't even understand why it's this hard to get a table. So not worth it. There are dozens of restaurants in LA that do a better job and at better prices and without the judgmental look.

$200 into a mediocre meal, we decided to skip dessert and instead we drove to Ecco Un Poco on 3rd St for ice cream, which, not only is truly italian, but the owner (from Milan) also 'dares' to offer delicious gluten free and vegan ice-creams in addition to the rich and innovative dairy ones. Their salted caramel and old fashioned chocolate was better than anything we had at...

This was our first visit to Mother Wolf. We have previously enjoyed dining at Felix, Chef Funke’s intimate trattoria in Venice. Entering Mother Wolf’s grand, soaring space, one would not expect the warmth of service which smaller venues are able to provide. To our pleasant surprise, the service at Mother Wold was outstanding, with a polished and professional (and friendly) staff endeavoring to provide a level of culinary execution and attentiveness one would expect at Michelin starred venues. Our server, Julia Tanase, was superb, a highly skilled professional (with a deep knowledge of the Chef’s cooking) clearly dedicated to providing gracious customer service.

It is clear that Mother Wolf has invested in an experienced management team. Roy Morales, the manager in charge of the restaurant on the night of our visit (a full capacity Saturday night), seemed to be everywhere, keeping a careful eye on each table and closely monitoring the interaction of staff and guests. It was like watching the conductor of a philharmonic, focused on every note. Mr. Morales introduced himself to our table and discreetly asked if he could be of assistance. A restaurant of this magnitude could not function at such a high level without such experienced and skilled professionals at the helm.

As to the cuisine, notwithstanding the volume at which Mother Wolf operates (275 seats), the foundation of Chef Funke’s cuisine remains an obsession with the quality of the raw materials - the fish, meat, and vegetables are impeccable - the pristine nature of the products resonate on the plates.

At Ms. Tanasae’s suggestion, we began with a selection of appetizers, including the blue prawns in a fragrant salsa verde, ethereally delicate ricotta filled squash blossoms and rich risotto croquettes. Each appetizer was sublime. We then shared a pizza “Quattro Fomaggi”, a thin crusted marvel with a perfect, tangy crust reflecting its slow fermented dough.

We followed the pizza with two of Chef Funke’s signature pastas, a Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe and a Rigatoni with Oxtail Ragu. Each was delicious. Mother Wolf’s pasta is outstanding, comparable to the renowned pasta at Rome’s legendary Roscioli and Armando al Pantheon.

We then shared the prime ribeye (accompanied by addictive potatoes and a refreshing arugula salad), a richly marbled aged steak perfectly cooked.

Desserts were delicious, including a refined Baba al Rum and an elegant Tiramisu.

I note that the wine list at Mother Wolf’s seems out of synch with Chef Funke’s soulful cooking. There are few choices under $100 and the selections and producers are disappointing. In contrast, the original wine list at Felix was distinguished for both its producers and value. Hopefully, the wine selection at Mother Wolf will evolve to offer a wider range of price points and more diverse and value oriented selections from Italy’s artisanal producers.

This was a memorable dining experience. It is a wonderful place to celebrate a birthday or special occasion. Mother Wolf provides a spectacular framework in which the extraordinary cuisine of Chef Funke can be fully appreciated. Given the scale of the restaurant, the execution of both the kitchen and service team is nothing short of remarkable. Kudos to Chef Funke and his...

It’s funny how one can overlook music turned up to unacceptably loud levels, pushy servers requesting orders as if table flipping were tracked via stopwatch, or the few Italian words being uttered by servers obviously keeping to a bland script of attempted cultural authenticity. Hollywood’s glamorous interpretation of Rome’s authenticity, instead presents as Italian inspired Cheesecake Factory-esque dining that falls so far below it’s claim, it’s utterly pointless.

The warning signs should have been evident from the time our first two cocktails hit the table. The poorly mixed version of a classic Aperol Spritz and Negroni Sour that forgoes nuance for a Campari wallop were the first of a few unfortunate offerings.

The Good: Squash Blossoms with delicately balanced flavors and perfect presentation. Suplí so fresh it’s as if it were being served from the classic Florentine food stall of sublimely delicious street snacks.

The Mediocre: Wild Boar Ragú which was an acceptable plate of slightly al dente pasta with adequately flavored sauce. Peach Honey Cake that could have been mistaken for yesterday’s leftover cafe pastries, made slightly too dense to avoid drying out immediately. Prime Ribeye cooked perfectly, yet brought down by it’s crispy edges tasting as if they had been aging on salt blocks.

The Bad: House special Pizza with crust so thin that it managed to become waterlogged in it’s own sauce via the short trip from the oven to the table. This was most disappointing because after having sampled some of the most mind blowing pizza in Rome on a recent trip, this was almost an insult to the innovation that is Roman Pizza. Carbonara, or calling it that would be the most generous description of this travesty. If Luciano in Rome is the pinnacle of elevated Carbonara, then this representation is akin to what a freezer aisle pre-packed meal assumes decent Carbonara is supposed to taste like. I have never experienced Guanciale that presented as bland, dried out bacon until Mother Wolf, and I don’t expect to come across it any time soon. Even the cheese was not beyond offense as it invoked elements of velveeta-esque texture and flavor.

Almost all of the dishes were extremely overly salted. The server completely misrepresented the portion sizing to the point where one could only assume that car salesperson like tactics of upselling additional plates are part of the training policy.

I was truly excited to experience the offerings at Mother Wolf. Last year my Wife and I celebrated our Anniversary in Rome, a culinary heaven. This year we visited Mother Wolf for our Anniversary and found ourselves in this restaurant’s unfortunate attempt at Roman cuisine. Los Angeles is a city with many examples of fabulously executed Italian cuisine at luxurious levels to family friendly plates for everyone.

Mother Wolf is a disappointment of Hollywood Hype that I was truly...