New Restaurant in La Quinta, Kiki’s Serves Modern Italian

Truffle pasta at Kiki's.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MOLLIE KIMBERLING

When the group of hospitality vets behind the stylish Italian eatery Kiki’s in La Quinta first started conceptualizing their dream restaurant, they knew they wanted to combine the best of some of their favorite spots around the world.

“We’re trying to blend Cipriani with Jon and Vinny’s. We pulled from real experiences from travels and life and home,” says managing partner and co-owner Nick Iattoni. “We wanted to create the kind of good, clean food that we’d be happy to share with our friends.”

The result is a menu that puts a modern spin on traditional Italian fare while utilizing the best seasonal ingredients the kitchen can find, including as much local produce as possible. The same goes for the robust bar program, where classic cocktails get a fresh spin with unique Italian spirits and liqueurs.

Some of Kiki’s signature dishes created by executive chef and co-owner Jon Butler, former sous chef of the acclaimed République in Los Angeles, include butternut squash arancini, sunchokes in a creamy cacio e pepe, crispy-skin barramundi piccata flecked with fried capers, and an array of housemade pastas like a pancetta-laced rigatoni Bolognese and a decadent linguini done in a butter sauce with parmesan and shaved fresh white alba truffles, a delicacy sourced from the same purveyor who provides them to The French Laundry.

There’s also a menu of Neo-Neapolitan pizzas, baked with a three-day cold fermented high-hydration dough derived from Italian-imported flour and topped with everything from pepperoni and chile honey to spicy fennel sausage and garlic ricotta.

As for the space, it’s meant to feel as welcoming as the food, with plush green-and-white-striped banquettes, vintage framed photographs, olive trees, and an outdoor patio centered around a bubbling fountain. “We want it to be comfortable and deliver an upscale elevated style of service in a very casual package,” says Iattoni. “We don’t take ourselves too seriously.”