There are a lot of story angles I’ve wanted to use when describing Drago Centro. The most obvious one would be the number of staff members gunning for wine certification both in front and back of the house. The less obvious one would be the influence of Guy Savoy in Las Vegas that beverage director Michael Shearin brought to Downtown Los Angeles. Ultimately I decided that the primary reason that I feel very comfortable at Drago Centro is that it’s a bar and restaurant that let’s me embrace my inner dork.
From a beverage point of view, wine is king. The glass cage that forms the center pillar of the restaurant looms large, and is one of the most visible connections to Las Vegas. Shearin, wearing his Advanced Sommelier lapel pin, has built an excellent wine program that fits the restaurant and its clientele very well. In addition, the wine expertise extends beyond the usual Piedmontese and Tuscan wines that one’s upscale suburban Italian place may have, and the wine list offers bottles from lesser known regions of Italy.
Cocktails and spirits shine, too, though I would guess that Drago Centro’s ambition outshines their average customer’s palate. Spirit-forward cocktails like the Greco Roman, featuring sherry and amaro, fits right into my wheelhouse, but I may be in the minority.
Drago Centro should be celebrated, however, for being on the front line and daring to be so bold in a part of Downtown that could use a restaurant with some bravado. Where I see this restaurant’s beverage program fitting among the rest of the Downtown spots is acting as a bridge between wine and cocktails. No other restaurant in this part of Los Angeles can truly claim to have such a strong grasp on both. Drago Centro is a place where wine afficionados can enter the world of spirits, and cocktailians can enter the realm of wine.
Foodwise, the bar menu features some of the city’s best deals, truly a pleasant find in Downtown LA’s financial district. My favorites are the smoked salmon crostini as well as the flatbreads (whose toppings rotates seasonally.)
My primary gripe with the food offerings on the bar menu is that there are no salad options whatsoever. The rationale behind this understandable: it’s a pain in the ass to have a garde manger manning the salad station all night long, but I’d still prefer to have something that isn’t fried. To get that, we’ll have to delve into the main dinner menu, which opens up a whole new world.
Of course, in addition to the excellent wine and savory food items, desserts also shine. Pastry chef Corpuz playfully interweaves Filipino and Italian dessert flavors, resulting in combinations that seem quirky at first but make total sense after the first bite.
Drago Centro is able to provide comfort while still maintaining a level of beautiful refinement befitting Downtown’s financial district. The bar menu ensures that people can be served well at all price points, and the restaurant is unique in its position as a font of wine knowledge and a source for good craft cocktails. No matter what dorky aspect of my personality I want to entertain, I’m happy that Drago Centro can oblige.
