CULINA & VINOTECA
LAUNCH NEW PRONTO MARKET LUNCH

One of my absolute favorite meals of the year was dinner at Culina & Vinoteca at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. It was a five-hour feast of indulgence and fine fare. It hit every note perfectly. So, when I returned recently for Culina’s Pronto Market Lunch, time was of the essence this time around as I couldn’t spend all day lazily lunching.

The Pronto Market Lunch is a buffet bonanza of salads, cheese and charcuterie, proteins like tri-tip, grilled salmon and grilled chicken, as well as desserts and fresh fruit for $35 per person. While it is a tad pricey for lunch, it is lunch at the Four Seasons and it’s ideal if you’re looking for a leisurely meal. Talk about the ultimate power lunch.

At Culina, the setting is swank and the service stellar. It’s the perfect place to indulge and enjoy lunch at your own pace.

It’s so easy being green with an array of salads like the Little Gem Caesar with Taggiasca olives, oven roasted tomatoes, Piave cheese, and bread crumbs (this is a modern take on a Caesar and not a classic Caesar salad), or the Deconstructed Market Salad, featuring a variety of lettuces and vegetables. The Farro Salad comes with chopped vegetables, dried fruit, and red wine vinaigrette.

If you’re looking for even more healthy options, the grilled farmer's market vegetables are the Pronto Market Lunch standby. There’s the Persimmon Salad accompanied by fennel, arugula and Treviso with balsamic, and the Baby Kale Salad with frisée, Treviso grapes and Pecorino Toscana cheese, dressed with a citronette vinaigrette.

Chef's Daily Soup options include Sweet Corn Purée; the harvest rich Tomato & Eggplant Soup; a healthier and reduced starch version of a classic Cauliflower & Leek Soup, and for those watching their meat and dairy intake there is the Vegan Beluga Lentil.

Chef's Daily Pasta offers comfortingly creative selections such as the Baked Capunti with Eggplant; the classic Pasta e Fagioli, and the Pappardelle with Wild Boar.

No matter the rotation of soups, salads and pastas, Chef Luca Moriconi is keen to ensure that guests have plenty of proteins to choose from, including tri-tip, grilled salmon and grilled chicken.

And make sure to save room for dessert where fresh fruit is always featured, as are weekly specials, including sweet indulgences like tiramisu, lemon tart, panna cotta with passion fruit gelée, and red velvet cake.

And if all that is not enough, guests are welcome to fuel themselves by ordering a cup of South roast imports from Caffè Umbria at the Vinoteca Espresso Bar or quench their thirst with refreshing organic cold-pressed juices and Feel-Good Smoothies from Solluna by Kimberly Snyder. Options include the Feel Alive, with apple, kale, cucumber, celery, parsley, lemon, and ginger, or the Feel Fit, comprised of almond milk, raw vegan protein powder, chia seed gel, banana, raw cacao, and stevia, or the Feel Youthful, featuring coconut water, mango, lime juice, mint, turmeric, and stevia. Guests can also Create Your Own Juice by adding additional Booster Shots to any juice or smoothie.         

   

Saturday Pronto Market Lunch includes bonus stations such as the Avocado Toast Station, Omelet Station, and Eggs Benedict Station. Now that really makes for a boffo brunch.

Culina & Vinoteca is located at the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills at 300 S. Doheny Drive. The New Pronto Market Lunch is served Monday through Saturday from 11:30am to 2:30pm. Sunday Brunch Buffet is served from 10am to 2pm. Call 310-860-4000.

Story By: Jose Martinez

Photography Courtesy Of: Culina & Vinoteca