Before opening his Los Angeles restaurant Alimento, chef Zach Pollack worked at a samurai in Umbria, a pig farm in Sardina and a Michelin-starred restaurant in Sicily. At Alimento, he’s combining that expertise with L.A.’s multicultural influences. One example: his tortellini in brodo “al contrario” (below). Filled with a Parmesan-and-mortadella-laced broth, they are an Italian version of the Chinese soup dumplings available all over Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley. “My food is not a direct translation of Italian dishes, or even a reinterpretation,” he says. “I grew up in L.A. It’s bringing two places together.”
