Amiga Amore is a cozy Highland Park restaurant brilliantly fusing Mexican and Italian flavors, serving delightful dishes like elote agnolotti and chorizo y clams in a charming, intimate setting.
"When it comes to great fusion restaurants, Amiga Amore sets the standard. The chef couple behind this tiny spot Frankensteins together an impressive lineup of Mexican-meets-Italian dishes inspired by the stuff they grew up eating: plump elote agnolotti, a caprese with diced cactus, and a bowl of chorizo and clams with thick slabs of chile de arbol toast. Whether you drop by the bar with a date or sit at a big round patio table with a group, it’s the food that’ll linger in your mind for weeks. And even if you would never have thought to make pasta dough out of masa or make a caprese salad with nopales, you’ll leave here glad someone else did." - brant cox, sylvio martins, andrew ryce, cathy park
"A Los Angeles-based restaurant helmed by chef Danielle Duran Zecca, recognized for its vibrant flavors." - Rebecca Roland
"This fantastic Italian/Mexican pop-up is currently operating on a secret back patio in Highland Park every Friday night and Sunday afternoon for brunch. Expect copious amounts of space, free-flowing wine, and some of the most interesting and exciting food being served in LA right now. Think elote agnolotti and carnitas calzones at dinner and churro griddle cakes and sweet potato ceviche. Parties are capped at six people and tables do get snatched up quickly, so be sure to make a reservation well in advance." - jess basser sanders, brant cox, brett keating
"Danielle Duran-Zecca and her husband Alessandro Zecca opened Amiga Amore in Highland Park in 2023. The restaurant’s menu brings together Mexican and Italian flavors with an outstanding selection of original pasta dishes. The signature elote agnolotti is filled with corn and cotija cheese and finished with housemade Tajin and finger limes. The huitlacoche cacio pepe melds the Roman classic with earthy corn smut and a 63-degree egg." - Cathy Chaplin, Eater Staff
"Danielle Duran-Zecca introduced Amiga Amore to Highland Park in 2023. The chef came into her own in recent years while working in partnership with her husband Alessandro Zecca to meld Mexican and Italian flavors with chorizo-crusted cod, confit chicken with mole blanco, and cavatelli with chile de arbol and a guajillo-braised beef shank. It’s a cozy transformation of a former shop that’s delicately lit with a patio for overflow." - Cathy Chaplin, Eater Staff
