Have you ever been to a culinary theatre? Probably not as it is a bit high minded and normal lease space for restaurant owners is always pared down for efficiency dollar by dollar. It is the nature of the business and wide open vistas in restaurants don’t compute. Opening an authentic Italian restaurant in the heart of pounding steel and sweaty warehouses far away from shopping plazas and daily commutes seems like a math problem with no solution as well. Gardena’s industrial center is outside the familiar warmth of the South Bay, but it houses a restaurant within a factory (or quite possibly a factory buttresses by a restaurant) that stretches the meaning of an old adage that location is everything. Eatalian Café has been seducing hungry eaters under or over the 110 Freeway down into its cavernous den of homemade pastries, gelato, pasta and pizza since 2010.
Not the entrance but the sign on Broadway that lets eaters know where to turn for Eatalian Cafe.
Owner Antonio Pellini initially planned to transform this former textile factory into a production facility for fresh cheeses, gelati, and baked goods; however, the sheer size of the space was so grand that a restaurant was built into the plans. Dining at Eatlian feels like a foodie field trip mixed in with a bird’s eye look at small business manufacturing. Through the glass that separates the dining room from factory, wide lens view abound with images of cheese-making, bakers & chefs massaging fresh pizza dough or pasta, and Italian imported gelati machines live in action prepare soon to be flavorful tubs of Italy’s coldest & creamiest dessert. There is an upscale energy inside the self-sustained café that blends universal design with strict attention to the way food is cooked and prepared in Italy.
A view into the factory side of Eatalian Cafe
The pizza is paper-thin, blackened on the top but soft in the middle layered with a minimal assortment of meats, mozzarella, and vegetables. Eatalian’s industrious brick ovens cook a variety of pies like the Scagliarini topped with fresh arugula, Prosciutto crudo and Parmigiano Reggiano. The frute de mare pizza is delicious with tons of seafood including scallops, shrimp and mussels (shell and all) on top of a crispy, thin crust. There are literally over fifty styles of pizza on the menu with nods to traditional and Italian origins.
One pizza will not fill you up, so an order of pasta is a must. In true Eatalian form, most pasta sauces here are light on the marinara and come rendered with olive oil, cream, garlic, pesto, butter, Italian chesses or the mother of roux sauces, Béchamel sauce. Eatalian makes all their pastas fresh daily, ravioli, potato gnocchi, tortellini, and lasagna. The buttery goodness of bacon sprinkled with Parmigiano Reggiano makes Spagheti Cabonara a simple but delectable treat. The butternut squash ravioli hints of earthy flavor and pairs nicely with the pancetta sauce. The house-made gnocchi with pesto is irresistibly pillowy and won’t last more than a couple minutes on your table before totally consumed.
Scagliarini Pizza
If you are seated and satiated at the end of your meal, waddle over to the pastry counter that is located next to at least two dozen flavors of gelato. Sample all the gelato you can, then select pistachio, coconut, nutella or lemon gelato. Take a number, come back to your seat and a server will bring the creamy closer to your table.
There is a ton of love and engineering in constant production inside Eatalian Café and it really is a special place that seemingly fits right in to the blue-collar, do-it-yourself environment of East Gardena.
Eatalian Cafe is located at 15500 S. Broadway in Gardena. Their phone number is (310)532-8880; the hours are Monday to Saturday 7:00 a.m. to 9 p.m. & open Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Breakfast is served before 10:30 a.m.