"Il Fiore quietly began serving last week from its ground floor space at 819 S. Flower Street, the base of the O Hotel. The restaurant’s unique setup means there’s actually two chefs on site: Joel Stovall (who worked for Josef Centeno for years, most recently at Orsa & Winston), and Clay Cassis, who has worked at Vespertine and Bestia. Together the pair is turning out everything from daily breakfast and lunch for the hotel, with options from granola and avocado toast to house-smoked lox and focaccia de recco. Dinner is a more robust turn, featuring classics like cacio e pepe and braised short ribs along with vegetables roasted in nori butter and a pork cheek papardelle with papaya and heirloom tomatoes. Stovall and Cassis will even be growing some of their own ingredients from a nearby garden, and foraging for others around the region." - Farley Elliott
