Flavors of Westwood: Angelo Peloni tastes success by running La Bruschetta

Angelo Peloni immigrated to California in 1976 to chase his dreams, which he fulfills everyday by creating and serving penne and gnocchi.

Peloni attended a school for culinary and hospitality skills in his hometown of Genoa, Italy, but he left his Italian kitchen at age 21, believing that remaining in Italy would not allow him to pursue his professional dreams. In Los Angeles, he put his education to work at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and what he called Italian houses.

Eventually Peloni realized he could scrape up as much money as he could and put 110 percent into his own business. For the past 31 years, Peloni has owned La Bruschetta, an Italian restaurant in Westwood south of Wilshire Boulevard that holds the “Ospitalita’ Italiana – Seal of Authenticity” award.

“I was willing to pay the price, whatever it took,” Peloni said. “Otherwise I would be half the man I am.”

Peloni opened his first restaurant with a former partner in 1983, called the Westwood Fettuccine Bar, followed by La Bruschetta the next year. However, the Westwood Fettuccine Bar closed its doors in 1991 when people became concerned about carbohydrates and it fell off the radar, he said. Ever since, La Bruschetta has been offering fresh fish and homemade pastas made to order.

Peloni adjusts and embellishes traditional recipes from hundreds of years ago, he said.

“You can build a skyscraper on a slab of cement or you can choose to be at the foundation – that’s what (chefs are) building,” Peloni said.

One of the most popular items on his menu, he said, is sautéed spinach with cannellini bean puree called spinaci con pure di cannellini. Another dish, the penne all Indiana, incorporates pasta with eggplant and shrimp, bathed in sauces of curry and crème.

Peloni said these dishes are created by a team of employees, because he doesn’t like to constantly be in the kitchen.

“Nobody is the star in my restaurant – me included,” Peloni said. “We all work for the entity.”

Peloni’s son, Roberto Michaels, works at the restaurant and said he got his work ethic from his father. Since Michaels was 11 months old, the day the restaurant opened, he said he was growing up in the kitchen.

Though Michaels is a musician, he said he works at La Bruschetta when he’s not on tour, brewing hot coffee behind the counter and growing close to their regular customers.

Michaels said his father has watched generations of families share meals at the restaurant and can’t go anywhere without seeing a customer, including a time Peloni met customers on a cruise.

Over the years, celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor and Mel Brooks have savored the wine and authentic Italian cuisine at La Bruschetta. From his experience working as a waiter at Century Fox Studios, Peloni said he always treats stars as private individuals, not wanting to capitalize on their fame.

For Brad Pitt’s 2011 film “Moneyball,” location scouts approached Peloni about filming in La Bruschetta. The result was two bustling days of film production in the brick restaurant.

“The whole experience was incredibly gratifying,” Peloni said, stirring a cup of espresso behind the coffee counter. “I was happy to deal with such a level of professionalism within (the film) industry.”

The 200-person crew was respectful of his shop, Peloni said, and he was impressed that not a single bottle of wine was broken during the group’s time on the premises.

While Peloni has built a collection of memories and menus, he said the trick to a long-lasting reputation has been consistency and reliability. After three decades in Westwood, Peloni said his hard work as an immigrant pursuing his dream allowed his restaurant to flourish.

“I didn’t want to have a life of mediocrity,” Peloni said. “Let me put it this way – ‘what if’ is not in my vocabulary.”