Neighborhood Gems: Maximiliano | Andre Guerrero Does Italian His Way In Highland Park | Tasting Table Los Angeles

Andre Guerrero does Italian his way in Highland Park

The sign at Highland Park's Maximiliano promises "kinda old school Italian."

For owner Andre Guerrero, a chef who has launched many of L.A.'s most formative restaurants over his 35-year career (including Oinkster), specificity seems less important than great food.

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"I grew up in Glassell Park eating at places like Casa Bianca," explains Guerrero. "People in this neighborhood know spaghetti and meatballs. I wanted to offer more than they expected."

At Maximiliano, named for one of Guerrero's sons, Italian-American red-sauce cooking is merely a jumping-off point: Jalapeño slices add kick to pasta puttanesca ($15), while the fingerling potato pizza ($12), a crowd favorite, comes loaded with garlicky clumps of ricotta and spinach on a crispy crust. Pasta is made fresh daily; pâté and coppa di testa are cured in-house for the charcuterie platter.

"We can do anything that any other Italian restaurant in L.A. can do," says Guerrero intently.

Charcuterie board (Photo: Maximiliano)
The combination of craftsmanship and affordability makes an open table hard to come by on a weekday night. The neighborhood's younger couples and older families share plates of baked eggplant with mozzarella ($7) and sautéed rapini ($6) surrounded by walls splashed with modernist green-and-red designs.

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Guerrero plans on opening an adjacent bakery and deli called Sugar and Bone next year, which will offer pastries and house-made Italian meats.

Guerrero says, "I imagine it being like a little Bay Cities for Highland Park."

How's that for "kinda old school"?

Other Highland Park Neighborhood Gems: Sonny's Hideaway, Ba Restaurant, The York, My Taco

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