La Dolce Vita
As the COVID-19 pandemic winds down, locals and guests look forward to frequenting the seaside haunt for drinks at the sultry bar
F
alsini’s love for feeding others and respect for ingredients, though, springs from his own Roman roots, including his beloved pastry chef grandmother and his family in the charcuterie-making business for seven generations. At first, the youth, hungry to pave his own path, had his career sights set on banking; he earned a bachelor’s in business administration and accounting, in fact, instead of ever going to culinary school. Fate is tough to resist, though. At age 16, while working in neighborhood restaurants to make money, “I suddenly discovered that I could cook,” Falsini remembers. “I learned to fall in love with food, and I have never stopped since then.” He’s not shy about admitting that, while elevated, the dining experience he aims to create for his guests is “a hint of the pleasure of the Italian sweet life,” where meals last a little longer, conversation flows more freely, and where “people can cut away for a while from their busy worlds.” Says property developer Rick Caruso: “I am incredibly proud of the hard work that Massimo and his team have put into bringing the glamour of la dolce vita to the Americana Rivera.” The COVID-19 pandemic, interestingly, has served to fine-tune Falsini’s focus. Amid staffing changes and rolling closures, the charitable Miramar on the Move initiative – with the chef behind the wheel of the Miramar Food Truck as it covered ground from Montecito to Los Angeles – did manage to deliver 12,000 meals through local charities and 81,000 meals to children on Skid Row. But the chef recognizes the toll that the virus has taken on his community, and the world at large. “People are meant to be together, to hug each other, to kiss each other,” he says. “This pandemic has interrupted our fundamental need for this.”
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SUMMER 2021
Executive chef Massimo Falsini