Inside LA’s Hardest Restaurant Reservation: Funke
Feeling like one of the chosen one’s!
The restaurant scene in Los Angeles is ever-changing, and there is always a hot new restaurant popping up. Currently, Evan Funke’s new restaurant Funke has been the toughest reservation to get. This does not come as a surprise, as you may be familiar with his other incredible and equally tough reservation spots: Felix Trattoria and Mother Wolf. As you may have learned from my other blogs, I absolutely live for the thrill of securing these hard to get reservations and was ecstatic to finally try Funke this week.
I somehow even got a primetime slot at 7:45PM (true manifestation), and my friend and I decided to come about 30 minutes early to check out the rooftop bar, Bar Funke. There is valet on the left side if you are facing the restaurant, which made it super convient especially with our GNO heels on (valet is $15). Upon walking in, the space is absolutely gorgeous! Right behind the host/hostess stand you are able to witness the Italian art form of creating their different pasta shapes in a glass room. You can either take the stairs enveloped with pink walls and incredible artwork up three flights to the rooftop or use the elevator.
Stepping onto the rooftop, you immediately get the wow factor as there is an archway adorned with plants and flowers to walk through like your own runway before reaching the bar. I was absolutely in love with the bar, as it was made entirely of pink marble (adding it to my vision board scrapbook!). We ordered the ‘Sicilia’ cocktail, which is the Italian take on a margarita and it did not disappoint! Next time, I need to inquire how they get it to be such a gorgeous pink color and it has the perfect garnishes to match! I will say that the cocktail prices are higher than most places in LA (~$25), but the ‘Sicilia’ cocktail in particular is well worth it and pairs well with the Barbiecore theme of the summer.
For our dinner reservation, we were seated on the second level. Though the overall restaurant space is a considerable size of 10,000 square feet, the seating area still felt very intimate. Our waiter was very charming and assisted us in curing our indecisiveness and narrowing down the menu to some popular favorites. We started with the famed foccacia—‘Sfincione In Biano’— which we are very fond of from dining at Felix, and the peaches and burrata. For drinks, I started with their take on the espresso martini ‘The Marche’ and my friend had some red wine. The martini was solid, but unfortunately does not make the list for best one I have had in LA.
We were elated with a surprise “compliments of the chef” ‘Fiori Di Zucca’, which is ricotta stuffed and fried zucchini flowers which was absolutely amazing! The foccacia was heavenly per usual, and paired perfectly with the fresh peaches and burrata drizzled with olive oil made by the gods.
Now for the main event—the pastis! We definitely came for the gluten, so ordered the ‘Rigatoni All’Amatricina’, ‘Trofie, Sori, Liguria, Sofia’, and ‘Tonnarelli Cacio E Pepe’. These are truly the closest to Italy as you can get in Los Angeles. I will have to say that the ‘Rigatoni All’Amatricina’ is my absolute favorite and would happily eat for every meal from here on out, but the ‘Trofie, Sori, Lihuria, Sofia’ was a very close second as the pesto sauce was so fresh and handmade noodles made to perfection. All of them were truly incredible and flawlessly al dente!
I paired the pastas with a glass of the ‘Fontanabianca’ Barbaresco, which was very delicious and nicely balanced. The next best part was the juicy people watching around us, where a couple next to us was in the midst of breaking up due to a cheating scandal and a large business dinner was taking place across the way. Godspeed to them!
We were stuffed from dinner and decided to pass on dessert, but they still delivered a platter of complimentary decadent chocolate truffles and peanut butter cookies! Also, an amazing special touch that I have never seen before is that you are given a ticket for your to-go boxes to pick up downstairs, adorned with stickers of the glorious side profile of the one and only Evan Funke. Don’t forget to pick up some matchbooks as well!
All in all, dining at Funke did not disappoint and I would ignore the haters and negative comments online and try it out yourself! The experience will obviously depend on the service, your taste preference, and what menu items you choose, but if you roughly follow my order above I am sure you will be extremely pleased with your experience! I would even come back just to go to Bar Funke for a sunset cocktail. Funke is the perfect date night, girls night, and even business dinner spot. Eating my leftovers that still somehow taste like absolute perfection, I am plotting my plan to snag another reservation!
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