Piero Selvaggio, in English, would translate Peter Wild, and absolutely wild must have seemed to the local scene the changes he brought about not only to Italian dining in LA but also to the products used to make those recipes. Piero’s restaurant is such a landmark in Los Angeles that one letter suffices to identify this temple of wine and Italian cuisine. It all started in 1972 when Piero and his friend Gianni Paoletti took a former depressing looking beer bar and decided to open their own place, Valentino.

“How did you choose the name Valentino for your restaurant?”, we ask Piero. “We were looking for an elegant and easy to remember name, we wanted to connect it to the idea of Hollywood and movie stars but at the same time connect it to Italy. We thought of Rodolfo Valentino, the most famous Italian actor, hence the choice”. Here, in this corner of the city, took place an authentic revolution in Italian dining and wine in Los Angeles.