Edoardo's On His Own
by George Christy
As with other sons and daughters of typical_ Italian families, Edoardo Baldi began cooking after school during his youth, and by age 14 visited his dad, Giorgio Baldi, to help outwith reservations when Giorgio was manning the kitchen at the Lido restaurant in Pacific Palisades.Giorgio soon opened his eponymous dining room, Il Ristorante di Giorgio Baldi onSanta Monica's West Channel Road, where theWho's Who of Hollywood, from Steven Spielberg to Tom Hanks, Madonna to Cameron Diaz, hotshot agents and producers, wine and dine, as do we local folks and New Yorker pals.
By age 15, Edoardo dutifully prepped dishes andcooked there, and, like his dad, became a fine chef, even traveling for months to Tuscany's Forte dei Marni to bone up on pastry making atAngelo's. that sought-after pasticerria thereabouts.Enterprising Edoardo soon became an entrepreneur, making the popular sauces for pastas such as marinara and mushroom at Giorgio'sto take home and then stocking them in gourmet stores and top markets in California.
A while back, he married the beautiful Darnell De Palma, the ex-wife of director Brian De Palma - their stunning IS-year old daughter Willa Holland is the "it" girl on The O.C. In months Eames-style chairs. A simple and comfortable dining room best described as a little gem, replete with a wine bar, serving lunch and dinner. Ideal for a meal with a cozy date or before going to a movie or concert or for hosting a private birthday or anniversary party - the dining room,with large windows looking on to North Canon Drive, seats 40.Beverly Hills neighbors stopped by through the weeks, anxious for news of the opening day, and the afternoon I came by a handful of couples, noting the tables were dressed with napery and flatware, were ready to sip and sup, and regretted that they needed to wait one more week.
Edoardo and Darnell decided to partner in their own dining room in Beverly Hills, which Darnell named E. Baldi; and which they opened several weeks ago to high enthusiasm among such locals as the Gersh Agency's Leslie Seibert and restaurateur Jerry Magnin "A huge investment for us, it's ours and ours alone, without any backers," adds Edoardo.
The dining room brings to mind that Ernest Hemingway short story, A Clean Well-Lighted Place, about a Paris cafe thathe preferred to the dark ones - Papa Ernest would have been smitten with there freshing, spanking-clean look of E. Baldi,with its ivory walls and blondewood-----------Knowing Edoardo's background; as I "have these more than 20 years, I'm aware of his concern for quality and consistency, and he doubtlessly is destined for success. At 31.he remains friendly and soft-spoken, looks a tad like Leo DiCaprio, and whips a whisk along with the best of our Italian cooks (also along with the best of our Hispanic locals, for any number of our Italian restaurants employ our hard-working immigrants from south of the border who graduate into top-notch cookers).He'll serve breakfast in time, and when I asked why breakfast when he has a fullday ahead of him, Edoardo's response was that Il Fornaio in Beverly Hills draws a steady breakfast crowd, and he figured there was a need for another dining room.He emphasizes that the menus will change as time goes by, as he discovers what his regulars prefer. "We're very open to change and, as we settle in, what people will want.
For a while, Darnell and I'll play it as it lays to please our guests."