Chef Jackson Kalb, who appeared on season 19 of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” and his business partner/wife, Melissa, will open a new spot in Costa Mesa this fall. Ospi (short for “ospitante” in Italian, meaning “host”) will land inside the Paseo 17 complex off 17th Street.
Menu highlights at Ospi will include crispy provolone, an evolved take on mozzarella sticks wherein a disk of provolone is breaded and fried; pork and black truffle cavatelli; a raschiatelli with spicy pork sauce and pecorino cream; pizzas (like margherita and cacio e pepe), cannoli, Nutella mousse and more.
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Kalb started working in kitchens at the age of 13 at two-star Michelin joint Melisse in Santa Monica, where he worked weekends and holidays during his middle school and high school years. Before graduating from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, he landed at a handful of other Michelin-starred sparklers, including L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas and Alinea in Chicago.
The chef met his future business partner and wife, Melissa Saka, while working as the culinary manager for Houston’s with the Hillstone Restaurant Group in 2013.
In 2020, food writer Stephanie Breijo described the chef-turned-reality TV contestant as “one of LA’s best pasta chefs.“
The Kalbs are also the founders of Memento Mori Hospitality, the LA-based company that includes Ospi, Jame and Jemma restaurants in its portfolio.
Appearing on “Top Chef: Houston” in 2021, Kalb, who was eliminated in episode eight, competed without his taste and smell senses resulting from catching COVID shortly before the series began filming. (Rest assured; both senses have since returned.)
The Kalbs’ upcoming eatery will join Milligram Coffee and Kitchen inside Paseo 17, formerly known as Plaza Sereno, the eastside shopping plaza noted for its Mission Revival/Spanish-Mediterranean design and arboreal, outdoor setting.
Ospi will be open for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch. It replaces Greenleaf Kitchen and Cocktails.
This will be Ospi’s second location; the first one opened in 2020 in Venice.
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