When I last visited Bettolino Kitchen, their adult beverages were limited to beer and wine. At that time, they told me that they applied for a license to allow them to serve craft cocktails.
Since that time, Bettolino Kitchen celebrated their first anniversary and also obtained the license to serve craft cocktails. Knowing this, I invited a friend to join me for their “Happy Hour”.
Believe it or not, their Happy Hour is daily from 2pm – 6pm. This even includes Saturday. What interested me about their happy hour is that it’s not a substandard offering of their menu. Their happy hour is simply “$3 off All Starters, Beer, Wine and Cocktails”.
They offer their interpretation of many of the current popular craft cocktails. I was amused to see “Riviera Mule” on the cocktail list because when you think of the animal, the name seems like an oxymoron. To their credit they use Bundaberg ginger beer from Australia and that is probably what made the difference to me. This ginger beer is very smooth and doesn’t overpower the drink.
The Beet Caprese comprised of buffalo mozzarella, basil and heirloom tomatoes and of course beets. What made this dish extraordinary was the pesto drizzle applied to the top. The pesto drizzle paired nicely with the beets.
The polpette (meatballs) are hand rolled with a spicy tomato sauce and served with crisp crostini. Looking at them you may not realize that they are spicy, but there is a fair amount of red pepper flakes to bring a bead of sweat to your forehead. The meatballs are delicious and extremely addictive.
The Crostone Frutti di Mare was served with crisp crostini topped with an assortment of fresh clams, mussels, shrimp and calamari mixed with a tomato white wine sauce. The sauce was light and didn’t overpower the offering as I was able to enjoy the seafood flavors.
The Spicy Paloma was an interesting take on the popular tequila cocktail. It is comprised of habanero infused Cabrito tequila, grapefruit juice and lime juice. This drink definitely had a nice spicy edge to it.
While I’m don’t order bourbon that often, The Brooklyn via Manhattan was a surprise to me. Instead of adding a cherry to their manhattan, they use Luxardo liqueur. It elevates the drink by adding a slight taste of cherries and almonds. The addition of an ice sphere gives it a magical presentation.
While entrees aren’t discounted during happy hour, we decided to split one. Because they make their pasta in-house, we ordered the Fazzoletti. The dish comprised of hand cut pasta squares, tomatoes, asparagus, mushrooms and fresh herbs. This was sauteed in a simple garlic white wine sauce and was absolutely delicious. The pasta was velvety soft and almost melted in my mouth. The garlic white wine sauce was delicious and because it wasn’t tomato based, you can taste the freshness of the asparagus, mushrooms and the tomatoes. I highly recommend this dish.
In addition to their daily happy hour from 2pm – 6pm, Bettolino Kitchen offers other specials. One that I just discovered is their “Tre Vini” or Three different courses paired with three different wines. The cost is only $35 with wine and $25 without and available on Monday nights.
- https://www.bettolinokitchen.com/
- 211 Palos Verdes Blvd. Redondo Beach, CA 90277; (310) 375-0500
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BettolinoKitchen
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BettolinoLA