Il Piccolino

Silvio De Mori has had more restaurants than Elizabeth Taylor has had husbands. But he loves every one of them. After his last, the ill-fated De Mori in Beverly Hills, was done in by an abysmal below-ground location, he teamed up with former Le Dome owner Eddie Kerkhofs, who missed having a restaurant too. They searched high and low -- but not east or south -- for something that felt familiar and would have a certain je ne sais quoi.

One day De Mori got to talking to someone at another table in the local coffee shop and somehow the subject of Il Piccolino on Robertson Boulevard came up as just the kind of space De Mori had in mind. It was, unfortunately, not for sale.

But this person knew the owner. A meeting was set up. They talked. De Mori and Kerkhofs made an offer, and presto, change-o: Il Piccolino had two eager new owners.