Culinary Time Capsule of Old Hollywood

In The Mood For California

Today we’ll feel and experience Musso and Frank Grill featuring an interview with wonderful Andrea Scuto! Andrea has the honor to serve as the General Manager for Musso & Frank Grill and has been with the company since 2018. He considers Musso’s the pinnacle of his career as a restaurateur. Andrea Scuto was born and raised in Rome, Italy and moved to Los Angeles in 2006. Interestingly enough, Andrea’s background is in music, he used to be a professional guitarist and very early on in life he studied Anthropology. He really wanted to play guitar, but his dad told him there was “no way” unless he graduated from University and… unless he learned “wine”. Thus, at the tender age of 16 Andrea was sent to a very famous “enoteca”, a wine store that had a resident French sommelier. Andrea diligently followed his classes, because he really wanted to play guitar. Once guitar and music became Andrea’s main profession the learning curve flattened and, being a very curious person, he turned his curiosity to food and wine. Andrea had always been the one in his Grandma’s kitchen trying to steal cooking tips and learn how to make things. He also enrolled in a professional cooking class at a very prestigious school in Rome, studying for a year all basic techniques that really helped him become a better cook allowing to work in a few restaurants to get school credits and consulting, and later on, to develop wine programs. During all of this Andrea kept traveling for his music business, and ended up coming to LA pretty often. Andrea loved it so much that after more than a decade he abandoned his music career and focused on hospitality. Andrea ended up working all stations, tending bar, serving and being a captain, a sommelier and then wine director. Later in his career he learned how to manage, how to deal with multiple operation, how to open a wine bar based on his concepts and kept learning and learning. Andrea judged wine competitions and took part in some of them, learned how to make wine and consult with different organizations. The experience at Musso’s has been exciting, humbling, intense and full of incredible people. From the 40 year old tenured staff, both in the dining room and in the kitchen, to Chef JP and Danilo, Mark and his dad John and the rest of the Family, the wonderful regular guests… some of whom Andrea had already known for a long time and they were happy to see him in their favorite restaurant… And then the food: Andrea’s favorite is having a tender Filet Mignon broiled on their 1930’s grill under hot flaming mesquite charcoal from their Grill Master and served Au Jus to maintain the steak texture with a side of legendary creamed spinach. Their Chicken Pot Pie, Prime Rib… the menu is too long and delicious to list, you need to come and try. Long lasting relationships: this is what Andrea’s job is all about and that’s the best part of what he does. www.inthemoodforcalifornia.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maria.korpacheva.3 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inthemoodforcalifornia/ Twitter: @InTheMoodForCA