Nancy Silverton's New Food Adventure

Curing for What Ails

Charcuterie from Chi Spacca’s in-house cure room.

Chi Spacca Specialty

The genesis of Nancy Silverton’s new Chi Spacca (6610 Melrose Ave.; 323-297-1133; chispacca.com), located next door to Osteria Mozza, began a couple of years ago when one of her proteges, Chad Colby, became obsessed with curing his own salumi.

Puck Protege

Aside from her mentor Wolfgang Puck, Nancy Silverton is arguably the industry’s most idolized L.A. chef.

Starting the Meal

An appetizer of affettati misti.

How's It Hanging?

Opened Feb. 4, the 30-seat Chi Spacca — pronounced kee-SPOCK-uh, meaning “the cleaver” — focuses on salumi made exclusively in-house.

The Executive Chef

Chi Spacca’s executive chef Chad Colby beside the restaurant’s cure room, the first to be officially sanctioned in L.A. County.

Pork It Over

Before launching Chi Spacca, she delved into pork with the same intensity and curiosity she'd had with bread and pizza.

The 42 Ouncer

The 42-ounce Tomahawk pork chop ($75).

High Praise

The latest entrant is yet another act for Valley-born culinary trailblazer Nancy Silverton, 58. She transformed the city’s baseline for bread in 1989 with La Brea Bakery, promptly earning her a James Beard Award for best pastry chef (the Oscars of the food world) and accolades from no less than Julia Child, who once described her creme fraiche custard brioche tart as “the best dessert I’ve ever eaten.”