Dinner & Show: AVANTI CAFé

For delicious pastas and pizza in a no-frills, friendly neighborhood-vibed establishment; check out Avanti Café a few blocks away from The Boston Court Performing Arts Center for a wonderful evening of Dinner & Show. With the wood fire pizza oven and the kitchen in the same room as customers, the smells of tomato, basil, parmesan, and garlic froth through the air making you hungrier than when you first walked in.

No pretentiousness here, dining room lead Nedal greeted us with Avanti Café's descriptive menu of their Italian dishes while offering to take our drink orders. An incredible plus at Avanti Café, instead of serving you pre-entrée breads with your order of pasta, Avanti Café offers a dish of garlic rolls that will melt in your mouth. Careful, you could easily fill up before your entrée arrives.

Try to grab a seat facing their wood fire oven to watch the show pizza chef Alberto or pizza cook Jose Miguel put on in constructing - from scratch - the pizza of your choosing.

We dined like re-united lost relatives on Avanti's Caesar Salad (w/fresh romaine, crunchy house-made croutons, parmesan cheese and Avanti's house-made Caesar dressing with just the right hint of anchovies); the subtly sweet, Glazed Apple Pizza (w/roasted baby garlic, roasted red peppers, gorgonzola cheese, leeks, roasted almonds and glazed sliced apples), Chicken Tequila Fettuccine (w/tender pieces of chicken, fresh peppers - red and green - and Bermuda onions in a very light tequila lime cream sauce), and, of course, their amazing Garlic Rolls.

Owner Bobby Ghofranian took some time from managing Avanti Café and his latest venture Avanti Italian Bistro & Bar to chat with us.

Bobby, is Avanti Café your first eating establishment?

Yes, it was my first establishment.

Tell our BroadwayWorld readers the beginnings of Avanti Café in 1987.

Locals were very excited for a new Italian restaurant with good service, wood fired gourmet pizzas, and pastas to come to the neighborhood.

What made you pick this location on Lake Avenue?

Excellent corner in the heart of the business district and surrounded by residential areas.

Do you yourself have a cooking background?

Limited to start with, but gained a lot of knowledge during the many years of operation.

What is your favorite meal (or meals)?

My favorite dish has changed through the years. Favorite pastas are the Chicken Tequila Fettuccini and the Seafood Pasta. My favorite pizzas are the Glazed Apple and the Wood Burned Delight.

What is the history behind your imported oak-wood fired Italian oven?

Those days, there were only a few wood fire pizza ovens in LA County. The permitting to install one was very difficult due to creating the uncontrolled fire in a public establishment. As you may know, there is no thermometer in this genuine Italian oven imported to the states by only two companies.

What are Avanti Café's popular dishes?

Gourmet pizza: Chicken Magnifico, Glazed Apple, and the Wood Burned Delight

Pastas: Seafood Pastas, Chicken Tequila Fettuccini, Chicken Florentine, and Lasagna

Salads: Caesar and Mediterranean

Avanti Café is literally minutes away from The Boston Court Performing Arts Center. Do you take reservations?

Yes, we take reservations.

What would you suggest as a comfortable time to get here for a Friday or Saturday 8pm curtain?

Between 6 to 6:30

When do you plan on opening on Sundays again?

We have a lot of requests to open Sundays, but no definite plan yet. Some customers come to our new restaurant.

How late do you stay open for post-show munchies?

We stay open until 10pm on Friday and Saturday nights.

Full-bar or beer & wine?

Beer and wine.

Easy to find parking/valet?

Yes, parking is easy in the evening after 6pm. There is a lot of street parking with no time limit and our own parking lot available.

Tell us a little about your newest venture Avanti Italian Bistro & Bar that you recently opened.

I always wanted to start a fine dining restaurant with about 100 seats with full bar and patio dining. The Sierra Madre location was a perfect location and was on my mind for years while I was passing by to go from home to Avanti on Lake. Then it became available for sale. Permitting, construction and remodeling took more than two years. But at the end, it turned out very nice and elegant. We opened in December of 2014.

How far are your two restaurants apart?

They are about three miles apart.

Any other info on Avanti Café you'd like to add?

Since we opened the new restaurant, the Avanti on Lake Avenue is open only Tuesday through Saturday. Closed Sundays and Mondays.

Thank you for your taking the time, Bobby.

Next time you're going to see a production at The Boston Court Performing Arts Center (www.bostoncourt.com), drop by Avanti Café for a tasty, light (not heavy) bite of Italy! Gluten-free options also deliciously available with all items very reasonably priced. When we left Avanti Café, we felt full, but definitely not weighted down with a heavy stomach. Very nice feeling!

www.avanticafe.com

111 N. Lake Ave.

Pasadena, CA 91101

626-577-4688

Sundays & Mondays Temporarily Closed
Tue - Thurs: 11am - 9pm
Fri: 11am -10pm
Sat: 11:30am - 10pm