Some of the best pasta in the South Bay is now in Venice, too.
Chef Jackson Kalb and partner Melissa Saka first made waves in 2018 when they opened Jame Enoteca, their El Segundo pasta destination, and now they’re following up one of the best Italian restaurants in L.A. with Ospi: a pasta- and pizza-forward concept with outdoor seating, plenty of seafood, a range of negronis and large planks of fried provolone, and it’s all just two blocks from the beach.
Ospi launched in the former Canal Club space last week and while you can’t enjoy that brighter and freshly redesigned dining room just yet, you can take a seat on its new 40-or-so–seat patio to tuck into Neapolitan meatballs, tuna conserva with egg, and ricotta gnudi in brown butter—or you can grab anything on the menu to-go or even order delivery, if you’re within the radius.
At Jame Enoteca, Kalb’s cooking extends a bit beyond the focus on fresh handmade pastas, and that’s certainly the case at Ospi, where the menu includes the likes of Japanese eggplant with parmesan fonduta; a five-ounce crab cake; pork braciole; and a handful of fett’unta, or toast, some topped with smoked trout with mascarpone, others with chilled lobster and stracciatella. Unique to this second restaurant is the pizza, and while L.A. is home to some phenomenal pizza, few are devoted to the cracker-thin crusts of Rome that Ospi is emulating.
Inspired by Rome’s Antico Forno Roscioli—a favorite of Kalb and Saka’s—Ospi’s tonda-style pizza dough is rolled thin, but then gets topped with ingredients both traditional and modern. There’s a margherita, of course, as well as a pie topped with sopressata, chili and honey. One includes nduja and scallions, while another riffs on ham and pineapple with ground pepperoni, slow-roasted pineapple, and both raw and pickled jalapeño.
If you’re here for Kalb’s pasta, Ospi offers options such as malloreddus in beef cheek ragu with thyme and toscano; lemon taglioni with lobster; baked cannelloni filled with lamb neck; spicy rigatoni alla vodka, and on and on. For dessert? House-made cannoli or basil mousse washed down with a negroni nightcap.
Take a peek at Ospi, below, then stop by, order takeout or pickup, or find it on Grubhub and DoorDash for delivery.
Ospi is now open in Venice at 2025 Pacific Ave with daily hours of 5 to 9pm.