At Celestino, Italian Steakhouse Turns Out to Be a Meaty Idea

After closing briefly to remodel, Celestino Drago (Drago, Il Pastaio, Celestino) has essentially opened a new restaurant in the space where L’Arancino, his West Hollywood Sicilian, used to be. Sicilian cuisine just didn’t go over there--and it’s a real shame.

There’s a silver lining in that cloud, though, because his new concept, an Italian steakhouse called Celestino, is smart and appealing. To signal the changeover, he’s warmed the room with brighter colors and added an awning out front, so you can see the entrance tucked between high-end furniture showrooms.

The cooking is now focused on northern Italy and has a strong Piedmontese influence. That’s because the beef he’s using is a special Piedmontese breed now raised in the Midwest and USDA-certified. Its virtue is that it’s both lean and flavorful. A kind of miracle beef, if you ask me.

For his new menu, Drago has taken the upscale steakhouse formula--appetizers, steak cuts, sides and desserts--and Italianized it. Appetizers include bagna cauda, for example, Piedmont’s “hot bath” of garlic, anchovies and olive oil in which to dip an array of winter crudites. An entire grilled head of radicchio Trevisano (which looks like a small head of romaine in brilliant burgundy and cream) served with breaded, fried slices of scamorza (smoked mozzarella) is divine. And he makes a mean borlotti bean and farro soup with plump cranberry beans from Italy and farro, or spelt, a chewy grain. Swirled with extra-virgin olive oil, this one would do a Tuscan farmer proud.

The steaks--New York strip, rib-eye and fiorentina for one or two--are served with any of a half-dozen sauces. But that New York has its own special Barolo reduction scattered with coins of bone marrow. (For those who aren’t red-meat eaters, he also has a roast free-range chicken or grilled swordfish.) Sides are suitably Italian--rapini with garlic, sweet and sour cipollini onions, etc. And yes, if anybody’s asking, there are a handful of pasta dishes too. For dessert, hold out for panna cotta--Piedmont’s famous “cooked cream.”

I’m sorry to see L’Arancino go, but Celestino Italian Steakhouse just may be the right concept for this spot.

BE THERE

Celestino Italian Steakhouse, 8908 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 858-5777. Open for dinner nightly. Appetizers $6 to $12.50; main courses $20 to $28; sides $3.75 to $5; desserts $6. Valet parking.