No. 2

Union

Planted on an Old Pasadena side street, a sign discreetly announces the entrance to a cozy room dominated by an impressive piece of chalkboard art listing farmers’ markets. That board may be the least subtle thing about this venture from Bruce Kalman, whose produce-forward Italian cooking is all ease and balance. He parries the cured intensity of prosciutto with peaches from Tenerelli Orchards and pairs browned garlic with Fresno chiles in a delicate sauce for the spaghetti alla chitarra. The giardinera is a signature, a jar of pickled seasonal florets riding the tang of house-cultured butter. With garganelli, he goes lush, folding tender lobster and Meyer lemon peel into a lobster stock finished with truffle butter. Kalman butchers a whole hog himself each week, rolling the loin in belly fat and roasting the porchetta until the skin crackles like a crème brûlée.

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