Chi Spacca

Melrose Ave and the Italian Butcher Tradition

On a stretch of Melrose Ave where the dining scene swings between trend-chasing and quiet neighborhood utility, Chi Spacca occupies a different register entirely. The room signals its priorities early: exposed brick, hanging cured meats, a wood-fired hearth that drives the heat and the smell before you've ordered anything. The name translates roughly as "she (or he) who cleaves," and that etymology is not incidental. The cooking is organized around the logic of an Italian butcher's kitchen — nothing wasted, every cut treated as having inherent value, fat and bone as flavor rather than obstacle.

This approach puts Chi Spacca in a distinct position within Los Angeles Italian dining, which more commonly leans toward the delicate end of the register: hand-rolled pastas, restrained sauces, produce-forward plates. The butchery-forward format is a narrower lane, and Chi Spacca has held it consistently. Its Opinionated About Dining Casual North America ranking has moved from #20 in 2023 to #8 in 2024 and #11 in 2025, a trajectory that reflects sustained performance rather than a single breakout moment.

What the Price Bracket Actually Buys

Chi Spacca prices at the leading end of the Los Angeles dining market, in the same tier as Bestia, Osteria Mozza, and Angelini Osteria. The relevant question at that price point is what the premium is actually paying for. At Chi Spacca, the answer is format density: the cuts are large, the sourcing is serious, and the kitchen operates without the kind of decorative elaboration that pads out a plate at comparable price points elsewhere.

The LA Times 101 Best Restaurants 2024 placed it at #23, specifically calling out the focaccia di Recco as one of the most impressive executions of that style in the city. That is a narrow, technically demanding bread — two gossamer sheets of dough with salty cheese between them, baked to produce a cracker-like leading with molten pockets beneath , and it has become the table's opening statement. For a restaurant that holds a Michelin Plate alongside a consistent Opinionated About Dining ranking, the value argument is grounded in portions and execution rather than ceremony or atmosphere theater. You are not paying for tableside rituals or extended service choreography. You are paying for a 50-ounce bistecca Fiorentina that arrives as what it is.

That straightforwardness is a deliberate editorial stance from the kitchen, not a gap in ambition. The LA Times review noted that the affettati misti board, the bistecca, and even a recent special of grilled mackerel over Umbrian lentils all demonstrated what it called "maximum impact with little to no flash." At the $$$$ tier, maximum impact without flash is a harder achievement than it sounds. Most kitchens at this price fill the silence with garnish.

The Menu as Argument

The menu at Chi Spacca is organized around meat in a sequence that makes the kitchen's priorities legible. The affettati misti opens the meal with a long board of cured pork , fat-speckled slices alongside fried pig's trotter , which establishes both the flavor register and the kitchen's willingness to use the whole animal. The bistecca Fiorentina at 50 ounces is the anchor of the menu, a cut that requires confidence in sourcing and fire management to execute at any scale, let alone consistently.

The focaccia di Recco sits slightly outside the meat program but reinforces the same logic: a single product, executed with technical precision, that doesn't need anything added to it. Nancy Silverton has described falling in love with the style in the Ligurian town of Recco before introducing it to the Chi Spacca menu, and the version here , made in a specific pan to achieve the characteristic bubble-and-crater surface , appears on nearly every table in the room. In a city where imported bread techniques often get adapted beyond recognition, the fidelity to the Ligurian original is worth noting.

Executive chef Ryan DeNicola, who leads the kitchen under Silverton's direction, maintains the Italian-butcher framing across both the cured meat program and the fire-cooked plates. For context on what Italian cooking looks like at the leading of a different market, 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong and cenci in Kyoto show how the cuisine adapts to entirely different local contexts. Within Los Angeles, Antico Nuovo and Bianca represent different points on the city's Italian spectrum, and the contrast helps locate Chi Spacca's particular position: meat-forward, Michelin-recognized, with a format that rewards those who want volume and craft rather than tasting-menu geometry.

Chi Spacca in the Wider Los Angeles Dining Context

Los Angeles at the $$$$ tier is a market where several formats compete for the same spend. Michelin-starred Japanese counters like Hayato and New American formats push the technical-performance angle. Progressive tasting menus offer multi-hour experiences with extended service. Chi Spacca's peer set is different: it competes less on ceremony and more on what arrives at the table. The Pearl Recommended designation (2025) and consecutive Michelin Plates confirm that the kitchen's output meets a consistent external standard, which matters when the format deliberately strips out the theatrical elements that can otherwise substitute for cooking quality.

For a broader picture of where Chi Spacca sits within the city's full dining range, our full Los Angeles restaurants guide maps the Italian category alongside every other major cuisine type. Those planning longer stays can also reference our full Los Angeles hotels guide, our full Los Angeles bars guide, our full Los Angeles wineries guide, and our full Los Angeles experiences guide for a complete picture. For reference points elsewhere in American fine dining, Le Bernardin in New York City, Lazy Bear in San Francisco, Alinea in Chicago, Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg, The French Laundry in Napa, and Emeril's in New Orleans mark other points on the premium American dining map.

Know Before You Go

• Address: 6610 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038
• Hours: Monday–Thursday 6:00–9:30 pm; Friday–Sunday 5:30–9:30 pm
• Price range: $$$$
• Awards: Michelin Plate (2024, 2025); Opinionated About Dining Casual North America #8 (2024), #11 (2025); LA Times 101 Best Restaurants 2024, #23; Pearl Recommended Restaurant (2025)
• Google rating: 4.7 from 451 reviews
• Format: Italian butchery-inspired; wood-fired meat and charcuterie; full dinner service
• Planning note: The focaccia di Recco and bistecca Fiorentina are the table anchors; the former appears on nearly every table and is worth ordering early

What Do People Recommend at Chi Spacca?

The dishes most consistently cited are the focaccia di Recco and the bistecca Fiorentina. The focaccia di Recco , a Ligurian-style bread made with two thin sheets of dough and salty cheese, baked to a cracker-crisp leading , is mentioned by the LA Times as one of the most impressive examples of its kind in the city, and it appears on nearly every table in the room. The bistecca Fiorentina at 50 ounces is the centerpiece of the meat program and the clearest expression of the kitchen's fire-cooking approach. The affettati misti board, a cured pork spread with fried pig's trotter, functions as the standard opening. A recent special of grilled mackerel over Umbrian lentils received specific praise in the LA Times review, demonstrating that the kitchen's precision extends beyond the butchery program. Chef Ryan DeNicola and the team around Nancy Silverton have built a menu where the recurring order across tables is less a trend and more a consensus: start with the focaccia, anchor on the bistecca, and let the charcuterie board set the tone.