With an ineffable devotion to traditional handmade methods, Angeleno toque Evan Funke has mastered the craft of pasta making and shaping. At the new Hollywood dining room Mother Wolf, Funke’s talent for storytelling through a menu of ancient Roman dishes and a cinematic atmosphere are reverberating from coast to coast, making the restaurant one of the country’s most coveted culinary experiences.

His fanatical obsession with pasta is like the Beyhive and Beyoncé or Tom Brady and winning. It’s not passion as much as it is religion. The love affair began early in his career at Spago, the Wolfgang Puck institution, and continued at the acclaimed, now-shuttered Bucato in Culver City. After a couple-year sabbatical, Funke took things to the next level with the opening of Venice’s Felix Trattoria, in 2017, where he and his team crimped, folded, and shaped noodles like origami from a temperature-controlled pasta lab presiding confidently right smack in the middle of the dining room.

Funke’s zeal for Old World pasta craft is the stuff of lore. While training with a pasta master in Italy, he once ate cacio e pepe for 25 days straight, three times per day, on a quest to discover its true essence. He’s rolled tortellini approximately 35,000 times and mastered 155 different shapes. In an eponymous 2018 documentary about the chef, his contemporaries marvel at the intensity of his dedication—some say insanity—when it comes to texture, flavor, geometry, and even the way water moves when noodles are dunked. “I’m a little nuts,” he admits. “Pasta is an animal. It lives, it breathes. It’s affected by its immediate environment and by your energy and intention. So I’m still figuring it out. Where that comes from, I have no idea.”

Funke’s latest venture, Mother Wolf, is an ode to Roman cuisine. Designed by Swedish architect Martin Brudnizki and located in Hollywood’s landmark Citizen News Building, the ornate space has been an epicenter of Tinseltown buzz since debuting earlier this year. The interiors are bathed in Italian glamour: Murano lighting fixtures, a trompe l’oeil depiction of the riviera’s lemons and pomegranates, and furniture inspired by midcentury masters like Gio Ponti and Carlo Scarpa. The menu is full of Eternal City classics like cacio e pepe and spaghettone alla gricia, while a vintage amaro cart meanders through the crowd of celebrities and industry power brokers.

We visited Funke at the site of his latest triumph to learn about his inspirations, the art of hand-rolling pasta, and how Mother Wolf transports guests to a place beyond the boundaries of Los Angeles.

Have a news story our readers need to see? Submit it here.

Surface has long prided itself on celebrating the creativity of the hospitality industry, whether it be through incisive coverage of hotels, restaurants, and bars, or recognizing our favorite spaces, meals, and experiences via the Surface Travel Awards. If you’re a fan of dining out, you’ve likely noticed that getting a prime table at a top restaurant is nearly impossible these days, which is why we’re excited to announce a partnership with Dorsia.

Dorsia is a new platform that offers its members access to coveted reservations at in-demand restaurants by committing to a guaranteed minimum spend. Dorsia recently launched in New York with hospitality partners Cote, Cosme, Estela, Crown Shy, Ito, Corner Bar, and more. In The Hamptons, local favorites such as Highway, Kissaki, and Moby’s are now live. Coming this fall: marquee culinary markets including Miami and L.A.

Download the app and apply for membership here. Surface readers will be fast-tracked for approval; just be sure to write “Surface” in the referral field.

Tarini Jindal Handa grew up surrounded by the arts. “My grandmother started India’s first art residency and my mother founded the Art Magazine of India,” she says. “I knew very early on that I wanted to continue their legacy.” She’s poised to follow suit by opening æquō, India’s first-ever collectible design gallery, which seeks to introduce Western designers to the country’s deeply rooted handicraft traditions, invite them to work collaboratively with the gallery’s extensive network of skilled artisans, and open up a dialogue between cultures.

Founded with creative director Florence Louisy, the gallery opened earlier this year in a sun-drenched historic building in Mumbai’s bustling Colaba neighborhood reimagined by architect Ivan Oddos. Every material has been sourced locally, from teak wood cladding Parisian-style interior glass doors to Kota stone and red terra cotta. Louisy is kicking off the gallery’s programming with her own diverse assortment of sculptural pieces, which range from curved oak furnishings built in Mysore and silver-plated tables made in Jaipur to linen rugs hand-knit in Uttar Pradesh.

When: Until Sept. 25

Where: Design Museum London

What: By 2040, a quarter of the U.K.’s population will be more than 60 years old. With forward-thinking prototypes like a self-balancing two-wheeled electric vehicle, a hands-free cargo-carrying robot, and a digital audioscape app that uses birdsong to gauge hearing health, this show celebrates how design can enhance the experience of later life through prototypes and research from projects developed by Design Age Institute and its partners.

Intended for all skin types, Cultus Artem’s Hydration Elixirs are botanically derived moisturizers packed with premium ingredients and made with traditional, labor-intensive techniques. Each variety—Moisture Milk being our favorite—is designed to be layered for maximum hydration or used solo, addressing specific hydration needs in blends of pure botanical oils, vitamins, antioxidants, potent actives, and plant extracts containing anti-inflammatory components.

Fashion has never offered more transparency into its environmental impact than it does now, and recent statistics aren’t pretty. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the United Nations Environment Programme, the industry is responsible for 10 percent of annual global carbon emissions—more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. Each year, 100 billion garments are produced using 3.3 trillion cubic feet of water. Half a million tons of plastic microfibers are dumped into the ocean (the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles) that break down and leach microplastics into the water supply.

Some may be quick to point fingers at millennials for popularizing fast-fashion juggernauts like H&M and Zara, whose business models rely on copying runway designs, replenishing stock at lightning-quick speeds, and keeping prices reasonably low. Both brands have since attempted to publicize their environmental initiatives and right their wrongs, only to be met with skepticism. Given that Gen Z-ers are the most environmentally conscious generation with access to a wealth of information about the onslaught of climate change, it’s safe to say they’re moving the needle on making fashion less wasteful, right?

Reach the design world every morning. Find out more about advertising in the Design Dispatch.

Helena Clunies-Ross Design is a New York and London-based international design studio. With over a decade of experience, Helena specializes in high-end residential and hospitality design, delivering projects from concept design through to completion. As former design director of Anouska Hempel Design, Helena has collaborated on some of the most prestigious hotel and residential projects around the world, working closely with renowned hoteliers and operators.​ She combines a love of art with her passion for interiors and architecture to create spaces that exude warmth and sophistication.

Surface Says: Interiors by Helena Clunies-Ross are united in their contemporary elegance, which is particularly fitting for the several reimagined, landmarked residences in her distinguished portfolio.

The CGI and editing in Marvel movies are coming under increased scrutiny.

Beverage brands jump on the minimalist bandwagon with mixed results.

Studies show that parents around the world speak to babies in similar ways.

A cheeky student swipes an honorary degree that was intended for Banksy.