0 
0 The team behind Tao, Beauty & Essex and the Highlight Room opened a new coastal Italian, indoor-outdoor restaurant on the Sunset Strip this week. Lavo Ristorante is a sibling concept to Italian restaurant Lavo — which Tao Group Hospitality operates in New York City, Las Vegas and Singapore — and is serving red-prawn crudo, veal Marsala, fresh pasta, fritto misto, a 1-pound meatball, cacio e pepe pizza, handmade burrata and other dishes to diners (there are 250 seats) under a retractable roof. The group’s chief culinary officer, Ralph Scamardella, oversees the menu. Craig Schoettler (formerly of Alinea and the Aviary) designed the bar program with cocktails such as an Amalfi-inspired gin and tonic (there’s also a 230-bottle wine list). Lavo Ristorante is open from 5 to 11 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday to Thursday, and from 5 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday; brunch service is expected to follow.
