Chef Brian Bornemann opened Bar Fortuna on Oct. 21 at 2917 Main St. in Santa Monica's Ocean Park neighborhood, according to Patch, bringing handmade pasta, Italian-inspired cocktails and a deep wine list to the area where he grew up near Bay Street and Lincoln Boulevard.

The intimate, nearly 40-seat dining room sits a short walk from Crudo e Nudo, his sustainable seafood restaurant, and Patch reports he runs both without outside investors or corporate backing.

He told the outlet that operating a restaurant today is difficult, and that the modest size, practical layout and proximity to his first restaurant made the property especially attractive.

The surprising twist in Patch's report is that Bornemann refuses to import ingredients to cook Italian food.

He spent years cooking in Siena and outside Milan, starting in a small osteria where fresh pasta, local olive oil and wild game were daily staples, and told Patch the experience 'taught me the respect for location and the kilometer-zero style of sourcing.'

Rather than replicate familiar Italian dishes, he applies an Italian ethos to California produce and meats: the kitchen works with whole pigs and lambs, folding every portion into meatballs, sausages and ragù to minimize waste and let ingredients shape the seasonally changing menu.

Patch details the menu: gemelli with Italian sausage, fennel pollen, grapes and rosemary; paccheri with guanciale, tomato conserva and Broncha cheese; and spaghetti with Venus clams, fennel and chili. Wine director J.D.

Plotnick emphasizes California and Italian producers, while bar director Noah Castellanos oversees Negroni variations and other Italian-inspired drinks.

Bar Fortuna is open Wednesday and Thursday from 5 to 10 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from noon to 10 p.m., with late-night drinks and food until midnight; dinner takes reservations while lunch is walk-in, per Patch, which promises a full review to come.

In a separate development, NBC4 Washington aired an interview in which Tae Strain, chef partner at the acclaimed Clarksburg restaurant Burnt Hill Farm, spoke with News4's Eun Yang about overseeing all of the property's culinary endeavors.

According to NBC4, even diners who cannot secure a seat at the intimate chef's counter can experience his cooking through a reservation for A Taste of Burnt Hill, and the conversation also touched on his identity as an adoptee.

For food followers, the interview offers a rare look at how a chef runs every kitchen within a single farm-restaurant destination.