Antonio Tommasi,
Ca' Brea Restaurant Owner



Restaurateurs of the Year-Antonio Tommasi & Jean-Louis De Mori
Californian Restaurant Writers Association 1994


Chef of the Year-Antonio Tommasi
Californian Restaurant Writers Association 1990


Chefs in America
America's Outstanding Chefs - Antonio Tommasi


Californian Restaurant Writers Association
Three Stars


Epicurean Rendezvous Award
1988-1996


Best of the Best
Five Stars Diamond Award 1991



Anyone who has followed the career of Antonio Tommasi, started over 20 years ago at Chianti Cucina here in Los Angeles, knows him as a sort of Leonardo Da Vinci of the Italian Restaurant World - both scientist and culinary artist in one. As a six year-old he was forced to help in the Venetian Kitchen of the Cipriani Hotel where his father was the Chef. Later, as a teen-ager he attended the Padova Hotel School becoming cooking apprenticeships in Italy and Switzerland, and the National Golden Spoon prize awarded to outstanding chefs. His experiments in the kitchen brought him closer to his natural passion for discovery. He bacame the inflammed kitchen alchemist, using classical cooking methods as a springboard for his imaginative concoctions, making his own prosciutto and salami and fermenting his own wine.
Antonio Tommasi arrived in United States in 1979 under the sponsorship of the Orlando-Orsini restaurant. He moved on to Cafe' Roma, then Rex, and spent a year at the Rodeo Collection's Excelsior Restaurant, which foolyshly, he thinks, featured both Italian and French food. After that he finally settled down at Chianti Cucina on Merlose Avenue.
In 1988 Antonio Tommasi and his partner Jean Lous De Mori opened their first successful restaurant: Locanda Veneta. The place was so small and crowed that three years later they opened the larger Ca' Brea in Hollywood and Il Moro in Olympic Boulevard. Yet not satisfied, Antonio and Jean Louis in the 90's decade opened three more restaurants: Allegria, I Padri and Ca' Del Sole.
And still now, after over 40 years of honorable career in Italy and Usa, you can often see him at Ca' Brea behind the kitchen prepering and experimenting new dishes. For someone the art of cooking last forever.
lunch >> mon-> fri 11.30am - 2.30 pm
dinner >> mon -> thu 5.00 pm - 10.30 pm
fri < > sat 5.00 pm - 11.00 pm