FROM ITALY WITH LOVE
By Leslee Komaiko
For dineLA.com
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Piero Selvaggio, owner of Valentino in Santa Monica |
When your very first restaurant job is at Chasen’s, the storied Beverly Hills haunt famous for its chili and celebrity clientele, you’re bound for greatness. This is certainly the case with Piero Selvaggio, owner of Valentino in Santa Monica, considered by many the best Italian restaurant in the city. Valentino also has one of those most dazzling wine lists in the country: some 2000 selections. And Selvaggio is the consummate host. When he welcomes visitors to his restaurant, it is as if he were welcoming them into his home.
Where did the name “Valentino” come from?
It was in 1972 when I was talking about a restaurant with a friend of mine who became my first and only partner, Gianni Paoletti. He owns Peppone. We searched for a name for this little storefront. We went through a bunch of names and stopped at Valentino. It’s very catchy and had the association with Rudolph Valentino and Hollywood.
After 35 years in business, how do you compete with the new kids on the block? Or don’t you?
At this point it’s not a matter of competing. I was doing tapas and small plates at Primi in 1985. I was planning to do a wine bar five years ago already. I think I am a trendsetter.
How do you keep the restaurant fresh?
You have to have the courage to spend a lot of money when a restaurant is 35 years old. That’s not even old; it’s ancient. Maybe someday we’ll be considered a part of Los Angeles history.
Plus you have a big loyal clientele.
Not big enough. Los Angeles means no loyalty most of the time. You try to go to next generation. Is the restaurant different than 30 years ago? Enormously. We do a lot of crudo dishes these days. We call it Italian ‘Suschi’ for fun.
Following crudo, what do you think is going to be our next big ‘discovery’?
Pretty soon we’re going to have culatello, the sweetest hunk of prosciutto. It’s very rare and very expensive. Calamarata is a new pasta. It’s like little squid rings and it’s delightful with a seafood ragu. Couscous or fregola (a semolina pasta) instead of risotto or rice.
A few years ago, every restaurant that opened seemed to be Italian. Now it’s French. What’s up?
French because they have discovered the bistro and brasserie are the trattoria that was so popular 20 years ago. Look at Anisette. Look at Comme Ca. They hit perfectly the time. The hamburger is hotter than ever. It’s the price point.
Let’s talk wine. Where do you keep 50,000 plus bottles?
We have thirty to forty thousand bottles on the premises upstairs. We have some storage. Sometimes we ask the producers to park the wine for a while.
What’s the price range of wines you offer?
From $21 to $15,000 and in between practically anything. I’m in love with Malbec from Argentina. I’m in love with Portuguese and Spanish wines. So we are not just an Italian restaurant. Our wine is worldwide. You can come to us to have the great Chateaus and great Burgundies.
Are some just for show or do you actually expect people to order them?
A little of both. Once in a while, in Vegas it’s much easier, a high roller after they lose tons of money, they want to get even with the casino and the casino covers it. Those are the exceptions. Those are the Santa Clauses we wait to come.
And you just won the Wine Spectator’s Grand Award, their highest award, for like the nth time.
We started in 1982. We’re the only restaurant left in the world that has consecutively won the award since the first year of inception.
Are you concerned that the recent controversy over the Wine Spectator awards is going to undermine the status those awards confer?
Unfortunately it will for the short run, because people have a short memory. I defend them because what they have done for wine in restaurants and wine in general cannot be taken lightly.
In addition to wine, Valentino is known for service. Yet most waiters in this town are waiters on the side. How do you ensure the gracious service Valentino is known for?
I am lucky in having an old restaurant, with all the negative of being called old, I have people who have been on the floor for 15 to 20 years straight. We pretty much are a well oiled machine.
I admit I think of Spago, Michael’s and Campanile as the places in L.A. where great chefs are cultivated. But Valentino has had its share of big talent.
I just lost the young man I created as chef because the new Italian restaurant in town made him a double offer. I have two guys in the wing from the Amalfi coast. Look how many former [Valentino] chefs are around town: All’ Angelo to so many other places. It’s okay. I expect it.
Do you keep track of regulars?
I am an old timer so I keep mental track. I have become an impresario more than a restaurateur. But I still like to say I am restaurateur in Santa Monica because I spend more time there than I do with my wives or girlfriends. Remember [Los Angeles Times writer] David Shaw? David slowly through food and wine became a great friend. I could mention Steve Wallace. I could mention all the people who like me have been part of the culinary package of this town during that magical time in the late 70s to the beginning of the 2000s.
Why do you refer to that period as the “magical time”?
Unfortunately restaurants became more of a business. With Open Table there isn’t interaction over the phone. I think after 2000, with the computer, which is essential to business today, you kind of lost some of that personalized interaction.
What’s in your fridge that might surprise us?
We adore Vitamin Water so we have a ton of Vitamin Water. Anna [Selvaggio’s fiancée] is Russian so she likes anything that is like pickles which I hate intensely. She keeps smoked herring and I hate herring. For me instead it’s tons of sausages and cheeses.
But you keep trim. You can’t be eating sausage and cheese all the time.
This is when we pick at home when we watch Law and Order.
What are some of your favorite L.A. restaurants?
My best friend is Mr. Wolgang Puck. I would say Chinois.
Did you and Puck ever work together?
No. But we have played a lot of tennis together and bid against each other for big truffles at different auctions. Wolf’s restaurants to me are just a cut above because he’s able to reinvent things.
What do you eat at Chinois?
I like everything, especially the Shanghai lobster and Mongolian lamb chops. With Anna we go to Father’s Office for a hamburger. The old one on Montana is still to me the best burger in town. For sushi we like our neighborhood Hide sushi on Sawtelle. For something special we go to Nobu in Malibu. There is another place I like: Nambankan, a yakitori place. I love to see the chefs just grilling all these little skewers. It’s near the 405 freeway and Santa Monica Boulevard. I have also discovered that Alain Giraud makes the best breakfast in town. Vincente has great Italian food. It’s the ultimate neighborhood restaurant.
