It’s ciao, coming and going

CALL it a velvet revolution. Or maybe just the changing of the lardo.

Whatever you call it, big changes have occurred in the kitchen at La Terza, Gino Angelini’s Los Angeles Italian spot, with what sounds like not so much as a bruised ego.

Heading the new team is chef de cuisine Danilo Angelini -- who is no relation to Gino, but worked for him in the same capacity at Angelini Osteria for the previous year and a half.

Joining him as sous chef is Vincenzo Vertuccio, whom Gino Angelini and partner Claudio Blotta brought here from Rome, where Vertuccio worked at El Toula.

The former chef de cuisine, Jason Travi, left the restaurant last month, apparently with no hard feelings; Travi says he’d like to open his own restaurant.

What’s the concept? Travi says he doesn’t know yet, except that it will most certainly be Italian, it will be in Los Angeles and it will involve salumi, Italian-style cured meats such as salami, soppressata and prosciutto. “I was just in New York, seeing everyone doing their own salumi, and it was depressing,” he said. “I really want to get that started in Los Angeles.”

According to Travi, because of stricter health department rules, producing cured meats is much more difficult for a restaurant to accomplish in L.A. than it is in New York. There, Travi spent some time with Matt Molina, who is in charge of salumi for Del Posto, Mario Batali’s newest restaurant. “They had a whole walk-in devoted to salumi,” Travi coos.

Travi’s wife, Miho Travi, is pastry chef at La Terza, but apparently not for long. “She’ll only be there another week or two,” says Jason. Then the couple plans to go to Italy for their anniversary next month. “And I’m going to end up staying and making salami for a month -- through Gino,” he says. His former employer, he explains, has set up a “stage” for him to work at a well-known salumi shop in Emilia-Romana.

And Miho? “She wants to go to Japan and work in a patisserie,” says Jason.

How is La Terza holding up under all the changes? “We’re sad to see Jason leave,” says Blotta, “but he thinks he was ready to open his own place, which is great.”

Leslie Brenner

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Small bites

* If you’ve been itching to check out “Secret Restaurant,” the invitation-only, cash-in-an-envelope dinner prepared by L.A. chefs-du-moment at Marvimon House near Chinatown, now’s your chance. On Saturday, New York composer-pianist Andrew Shapiro will perform new works there on a Steinway concert grand. The chefs, who host Miguel Nelson says will be “an ensemble from Lucques and Grace and AOC,” are still working on the menu. “They’re actually trying to pair the food and the drink to the music that’s being played at the time you’re tasting,” he says. Shows are at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m.; $65 per person, including cocktails. For tickets, e-mail marvimonrsvp@ yahoo.com. Marvimon, 1411 N. Broadway, Los Angeles; www.marvimon.com.

* Erna Kubin-Clanin of Erna’s Elderberry House in Oakhurst has been named California Chef of the Year by the California Travel Industry Assn. She joins previous honorees including Michael Mina, Thomas Keller, Alice Waters, Julia Child, Jeremiah Tower and others.

* On Sunday the second season of Food Network’s competition/TV series “The Next Food Network Star.” begins. Among the finalists featured is Silver Lake’s Reggie Southerland, 39, of Comfort Cafe, a tiny, gym-adjacent cafe on Hyperion Avenue.