On Main Street in Santa Monica, Bar Fortuna opens on 21 October — a small forty-seat establishment where chef Brian Bornemann, who grew up in the Ocean Park neighborhood, brings to life his memories of the Italian bars where he learned to make pasta.
Everything here is built on local products: flour from the Mojave Desert by Tehachapi Grain Project, broncha cheese instead of Parmesan, vegetables from the Santa Monica farmers' market. The pasta is made on site and changes with the season — picci with broncha and freshly ground pepper, spaghetti with Venus clams, fusilli with pesto.
Bornemann, together with chef de cuisine José Morales, who has worked with him for more than ten years, creates a menu where the technique of Italian pasta meets California ingredients. There is no imported olive oil or cheese — only what the local land and farmers provide.
Bartender Noah Castellanos has devised five variations of the negroni, among them La Fortuna with Gray Whale gin and the California aperitif Atost, as well as a Spritz with bergamot. The wine list was assembled by JD Plotnick — from affordable California and Italian wines to rare bottles.
The space, with a long marble counter, a terracotta facade and the yellow Fortuna flag, recalls historic Italian bars but breathes with California ease. Bornemann wanted to make the place accessible: not thirty dollars for a portion of pasta, but quality food in his own neighborhood, where you can stop by during the day for an espresso or in the evening for a glass of wine.
The full menu is served Wednesday through Thursday from 17:00 to 22:00 and Friday through Sunday from noon to 22:00; late snacks and the bar until midnight. Address: 2917 Main Street, Santa Monica. Reservations via Seven Rooms.
At Bar Fortuna, pasta and cocktails become a way of bringing back into everyday life in Santa Monica what the chef once found in Italy, but grown here and now.
