Bottega Louie — The Swallow Twins

Bottega Louie: Lunch of my dreams

Bottega Louie is pizza/pasta heaven on Santa Monica blvd in West Hollywood, one of our favorite restaurants. This place is also a bakery, and I can never leave lunch without getting one of their pain au chocolates or chocolate beignets. I mean, could you ignore these pastries?

It’s walkable from our apartment, so it’s a no brainer. It also doesn’t do reservations, just an FYI. Embrace the spontaneity and walk in.

A pro tip is to ask for the back of the restaurant when you go. There is limited space inside, so you either get the front of the restaurant overlooking the street, or the outdoor/indoor vibey back of the restaurant, my personal favorite. It has very European vibes, and the greenery transports you to a different place. It can get a little hot, but it’s LA weather so suck it up and appreciate.

First, I’m going to take you on a lunch date and then to a girl’s day.

first up: Lunch date

I went here on a lunch date this past Thursday (gasp, people ask her on dates?). I looked perfect. You ever have one of those days where you’re like wow, I’m extremely good looking? It was one of those days.

Aperol spritz in hand, obviously. Let me pretend I’m in Europe.

Lashes done by Lira at bijou beauty. Sustainable dress by French brand Sisterhood the Label.

Okay, I’m guessing you care about the food and not just how hot I looked. For appetizers, we got the avocado toast with chorizo and the eponymous Louie salad, which is my favorite salad there (I’ve also tried the cobb— not the best). It has avocado, crab, radishes, boiled egg and tomato amongst other ingredients, combined with their delicious household dressing.

For an entrée, we got (well, I got) a truffle pizza with an egg on top. When the server brought it over he pierced the egg and spread the yolk across the top. I absolutely love truffle, and you know your date is a good date when he pays for something with truffle in it. That’s how I judge my men: super high standards, I know.

My date asked for grilled chicken and a side of brussel sprouts, because health.

You’re probably actually now wondering how my date went, but I’m not going to tell you. The food was AMAZING though, per usual, and after my two aperol spritz I was feeling great! Woohoo for spritz!