Inside Pasta Bar Encino: A Michelin-Starred Dining Experience Unlike Anything in LA

There are dining experiences, and then there are moments / evenings that linger long after the last bite, that rearrange your understanding of what a meal can be. Dinner at Pasta Bar in Encino is firmly in the latter category. Tucked along Ventura Boulevard at 16101, this intimate gem from the visionary Scratch Restaurants family is the kind of place that reminds you why you fell in love with food in the first place. Pasta Bar in Encino is a mind blowing speakeasy, 12 course omakase of intricate dishes that orbit around pasta like a bright moon meant to light up the night sky! This is some of the best food in Los Angeles!

The Captain of the Kitchen: Head Chef DJ Nelson

On the evening of our visit, it was Head Chef DJ Nelson who commanded the room, and command it he did, with grace, warmth, and an intensity that elevated the entire experience. DJ spent a generous amount of time with our table throughout the night, walking us through the inspiration behind dishes, the sourcing of ingredients, and the techniques that bring each course to life. His passion is infectious. You get the immediate sense that this is not a chef going through the motions, this is someone who loves what he does, deeply and visibly.

But the moment that truly stopped us in our tracks came when DJ called out an order to his kitchen team. The response was immediate, unified, and electric: "Yes, Chef!" - followed by a crisp, synchronized repetition of the dish being fired. Every single member of the kitchen echoed back in perfect unison, like a single organism responding to its heartbeat. It was culinary theater at its finest, but it was also something more genuine than theater, it was trust, discipline, and shared purpose on full display. DJ Nelson is not just the right person to hold the steering wheel at Pasta|Bar. He is the engine.

The Architects Behind the Apron: Phillip Frankland Lee & Margarita Kallas-Lee

To understand Pasta|Bar, you first have to understand the couple who built it.

Chef Phillip Frankland Lee didn't arrive at the top of the Los Angeles dining scene quietly. A Food Network record-holder for most consecutive competition wins, across Chopped, Guy's Grocery Games, and Cutthroat Kitchen, Lee also competed on Bravo's Top Chef Season 13 and earned a S. Pellegrino "Young Chef 2015" finalist nod, a Zagat "30 Under 30" recognition, and a prized slot on Jonathan Gold's legendary LA Times "101 Best Restaurants" list. But trophies and accolades only tell part of the story. What defines Lee is a relentless commitment to cooking everything, and we mean everything from scratch.

Standing alongside him is his wife and creative partner, pastry chef Margarita Kallas-Lee, whose dessert program at Scratch Restaurants is nothing short of revelatory. A Zagat "30 Under 30" honoree and Eater "Young Guns" semi-finalist, Kallas-Lee brings the same obsessive attention to detail to the sweet side of the plate. Together, they didn't just open restaurants they built a culinary philosophy. Scratch Restaurants was born from a simple but radical idea: what if every concept they created was entirely, uncompromisingly handmade? Pasta|Bar is that idea at its most focused and most beautiful.

The Menu: A 12-Course Love Letter to Los Angeles!!

The tasting menu at $245 per person unfolds like a story, each chapter distinct, each transition deliberate. Here is how the evening played out, course by extraordinary course.

Margarita's Sourdough : cultured butter

The meal begins with a statement of intent. Margarita's sourdough arrives with cultured butter, and the message is clear from the very first bite: nothing here is an afterthought. The bread carries a deep, tangy complexity, the crust shattering perfectly, the crumb open and pillowy. The cultured butter is rich without heaviness. It is the kind of bread course that makes you want to abandon all restraint immediately.

Salad: wagyu, herbs, ponzu

This is not your grandmother's side salad. Thinly draped wagyu mingles with bright, fresh herbs and a ponzu that cuts through the fat with citrusy precision. It is light, but purposeful. This is a palate awakening that hints at the Japanese-California fusion thread woven through much of the evening's menu. Elegant simplicity executed at the highest level.

Kanpachi : strawberry, sorrel, amazake

One of the most visually arresting courses of the night, the kanpachi arrives as a study in contrast and harmony. The delicate, clean flesh of the yellowtail finds unexpected companionship with the sweetness of strawberry, the bright acidity of sorrel, and the gentle, fermented sweetness of amazake. It should not work as well as it does. It is transcendent.

Agnolotti: oxtail, comté, onion, rosemary

Here is where the pasta program announces itself with full confidence. The agnolotti are impossibly tender pillows, their pasta thin enough to feel like silk but sturdy enough to contain a filling of slow-braised oxtail, nutty comté, and deeply caramelized onion. A whisper of rosemary ties it all together. This single course is worth the price of admission alone.

Gnocchi: sunchoke, truffle, hazelnut

Chef Lee and his team have a gift for taking humble ingredients and coaxing something almost spiritual from them. The gnocchi featherlight and pillowy are paired with earthy sunchoke, the unmistakable luxury of truffle, and the quiet crunch and warmth of hazelnut. It is comfort food elevated to something close to poetry.

Tagliolini: gyukotsu, tongue, seaweeds

This is the dish that most boldly declares Pasta|Bar's Los Angeles identity. The silky tagliolini is bathed in a gyukotsu - a deeply savory, Japanese beef bone broth while tender slices of beef tongue and delicate seaweeds add layers of umami and oceanic depth. It is bold, deeply satisfying, and unlike anything you have encountered on a pasta menu before.

Garganelli Ruvida: porcini, madeira, brioche

Rich and indulgent in the best possible way, the garganelli ruvida, ridged, rolled pasta with just enough bite arrives cloaked in a sauce built on porcini mushrooms, the warm, slightly sweet depth of madeira, and the buttery elegance of brioche. This is a course that wraps around you like an embrace on a cool evening.

Black Cod: white asparagus, fumet

A moment of refinement and restraint. The black cod is silky, buttery, and perfectly rendered, its natural richness complemented by the delicate, slightly bitter sweetness of white asparagus and a fumet, a concentrated fish stock that is clean, briny, and deeply aromatic. It is the kind of course that quiets a table.

Squab: rapini, green garlic, fioretto

The protein course arrives in the form of expertly prepared squab — tender, gamey, and gloriously flavorful resting alongside rapini's pleasing bitterness, the gentle pungency of green garlic, and the nutty delicacy of fioretto cauliflower. It is a dish that feels distinctly seasonal, distinctly Californian, and entirely at home in this menu.

Harry's Berries Pavlova: tonka, fig leaf

Margarita Kallas-Lee's dessert program takes center stage with a pavlova built around Harry's Berries, the legendary Oxnard strawberry farm beloved by LA's top chefs. The meringue is crisp at the edges and marshmallowy within, and the subtle warmth of tonka bean and the green, coconutty whisper of fig leaf elevate this into something quietly extraordinary.

Namelaka: cherries, red walnut, black currant

The final sweet course brings the evening to a breathtaking close. Namelaka, a Japanese word meaning "ultra-smooth", is a chocolate cream of almost impossible silkiness, paired here with tart cherries, the earthy bitterness of red walnut, and the deep, jammy intensity of black currant. It is sophisticated, complex, and deeply satisfying. A perfect punctuation mark.

The Verdict

Pasta|Bar is not a restaurant you visit, it is a restaurant you experience. From the philosophical foundation laid by Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee, to the commanding and soulful leadership of Head Chef DJ Nelson, to the breathtaking precision of twelve courses that blur the line between Italian tradition and Los Angeles identity, this is one of the most remarkable evenings a food lover can have in Southern California.

The moment that kitchen team chanted back in perfect unison "Yes, Chef " we understood completely. This is a culinary tribe. And you will want to be a part of it.

I hope your hungry!! - Matthew Tropp | FJM

Pasta|Bar is located at 16101 Ventura Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 91436. The tasting menu is $245 per person.

Reservations are available at sevenrooms.com/explore/pastabarlosangeles 

Instagram at @pastabarla.

A 20% service charge is applied to all checks. All dietary restrictions must be submitted at least 48 hours in advance.