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Crudo e Nudo

Aug16

Location: 2724 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90405. (310) 310-2120

Date: January 20, 2023

Cuisine: Raw bar & crudo

Rating: quite tasty!

I’ve been meaning to try this place since it opened. They serve very fresh modern seafood, mostly raw. But it’s not Japanese at all.

The seating is basically outside (although weirdly I’ve heard that recently they got rid of that, maybe stupid rezoning).

Inside there is nothing but a counter to order at.

The menu is on the board.

Striped bass. Smoked oil, za’atar, cilantro blossom. Very soft perfect fish. Interesting blend with the za’atar, but nice. Oil lent a silky quality.

Big Eye Tuna. Aleppo, Colatura, orange. Just a bit of kick. Quite lovely.

Kanpachi. Calamansi vinegar, piment d’espellete, pickled onion, sunflower. Bright citrus notes. These crudos were all good but this was the best.

Abalone. Rose, bay leaf, fennel pollen, yuzu oil. Super tender with interesting flavors. Great chew. I loved this.

Tuna Tartare Toast. Onion confit, shrimp stock, yuzu, sesame. Slick with a bit of an “interesting” taste. Not off at all, just different. Maybe it was the sesame as we had a version with and without the stock and it was the same.

Caesar goes Vegan. Little gems, scrappy croutons, avocado, furikake. Nice for being vegan. Great texture and very fresh. The nori added an interesting quality.

Chicory Salad. Apple, squash, miso maple dressing, hazelnuts, sesame. A little on the sweeter side but great texture and flavor.

Market Mezze Platter. Santa Monica Farmer’s Market veggies, black garlic hummus. The Za’atar took this up. Mostly bitter veggies which was great. Lots of pickles too.

Prawns a la plancha. Diavola, sesame, sunflower. Awesome prawns. Very fresh and full of flavor.

Squid Ink Fried Rice. Sofrito, shrimp stock, chili oil, herbs. Super addictive crunchy texture with a great brine quality.

Steamed Mussels. White wine broth, fregola, herbs, bread. Very nicely cooked with a delicious white wine broth.

Overall, extremely tasty. The outside patio (if they still have it) is very cute. Inside, not so much. I wish they took orders at the table — as I’m not a fan of counter ordering — but the food was very good.

Having a crudo focused restaurant is an interesting concept. Essentially it allows operating with a much smaller kitchen and possibly in spaces without a normal hood, or at least a much smaller hood. Plus it’s pretty protein forward instead of leaning on the carbs.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Crudo, crudo e nudo, fish, lunch, raw

Quick Eats – Savida

May24

Restaurant: Savida

Location: 1303 Montana Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90403. (310) 310-3772

Date: October 8 and 15, 2022

Cuisine: Crudo

Rating: Hit and Miss

This brand new place is close to our house and so we went two weeks in a row (and haven’t been back since actually). It was fast and fairly tasty, with a good selection of low carb options, but a tiny menu that changes constantly. This “crudo” concept is kinda in, perhaps because it works in a small place without a proper hood. I think you could run it out of a “food retail” space.

Inside was tiny and unappealing, but the patio was nice.

The menu.

SUMMER GAZPACHO. Seasonal fruits & vegetables, balsamic whipped cream. Weirdly thin. Tasted good, but the almost water-like texture with the glops of cream bothered me on some visceral level. And besides, they brought this with desert due to staff “confusion” (they were very confused).

CEVICHE. flounder, aji Amarillo, red onion and cilantro. Very bright flavors which I enjoyed. Almost yuzu-like marinated. Even the onions were good soaked in the marinate.

Uni sashimi. This was actually inedible. There was no flesh in there and it tasted off — I wasn’t going to eat off uni.

TOMATO & NECTARINE. burrata, arugula, marcona almonds, balsamic vinaigrette. A nice little salad. Cheese made it but the rest was good too.

Crab Salad. Not so great.

Arugula, pistachio, pomegranate, cheese salad. This salad “replaced” the peach salad on our second visit.

Truffle Burrata. The cheese was good but it was that canned truffle — not a fan.

SALMON. avocado, cucumber aguachille, sesame. This could have used a little more acidity but was plesant. The “sauce” underneath tasted a bit like tomato water.

Salmon toast. This replaced the better salmon from our first visit.

Hamachi. Tomato soy yuzu koshu dressing, cilantro, mint, dill, crispy shallot.

LOBSTER ROLL SLIDER. crème fraiche, coconut cream, lemongrass, celery, crispy shallots. Surpirsingly nice. The bread was really savory (and slightly greasy in a good way). Some big hunks of lobster claw.

SPECIAL OF TUNA SCHWARMA. Seared tuna with pinenuts, onion, and tahini on a warm pita. Actually kind of delicious. There was some acidity to offset the heaviness of the sesame.

Dessert Menu.

A FIGMENT OF MY IMAGINATION. figs, mascarpone, candied walnut, honey, fresh oregano. This dish lived in an odd intersection between the savory and the sweet. However, it was tasty, particularly the cheese with the nuts and honey, which at times seemed almost savory. Really nice, but wasn’t there the second time we went.

Service was extremely confused in these early days at Savida — don’t know if it has improved. I do need to go back and try it out again. It seems like it’s aping Crudo y Nudo a bit to the south on Main Street. That place is better. But still I like the concept and Savida is very close to our house. Their execution, however, is very hit or miss.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Crudo, Montana, raw, Santa Monica, Savida, Seafood

Eight Legs at Il Grano

Jul04

Restaurant: Il Grano [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]

Location: 11359 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. 310.477.7886

Date: June 16, 2014

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Modern Italian to die for

After my stellar birthday meal at Il Grano, and with the closing of Drago, Il Grano has become one of my favorite westside Italians. You can tell by the number of reviews (up to 8!) I also frequently bring out of town guests here, like tonight.

The sleek interior space.

We didn’t order off the menu but instead asked Chef Sal Marino to make us a 9 course tasting menu. He through in a couple of bonuses!

From my cellar: 1990 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. Burghound 93. A truly wonderful nose of simply knockout complexity features notes of yeast and baked bread along with now fully mature aromas of a variety of floral notes and spice hints that gives way to mineral-suffused, round, intense and detailed medium full flavors that also offer outstanding depth on the sappy and mouth coating finish. This is drinking perfectly now and I wouldn’t hesitate to open one anytime as there is no further upside to be had. A beautiful effort of real style and grace.

Spoons of Tuna Tartar as an amuse.

Crudo. Chef Sal Marino is famous for his crudo. From left to right: big eye tuna/toro, yellowtail, snapper, Hokkaido scallop with cherry, and octopus.

Arugula and porcini salad. With parmesan.

Arugula, endive, and salmon salad.

Burrata and grilled peach. A lovely summer combination.

Pizza Del Re. white truffle crema, fontina, shaved white truffle. Yum!

Beef tartar with olive oil and caper. I love beef tartar. This one was good, but perhaps a bit too much of the caper.

From my cellar: 1995 Elia Pasquero Barbaresco Sori Paitin. Parker 90. A terrific 1995, this complex, fully mature, multidimensional Barbaresco is a beautiful wine. The color is deep ruby with some lightening at the edge. The knock-out nose consists of cherry liqueur intertwined with aromas of tobacco, wood fire, dried herbs, and roasted meat. Deep and lush, with no hard edges, a plump, succulent texture, medium to full body, and layers of glycerin and sweet, jammy fruit, this hedonistic, seductive Barbaresco.

There were two large parties tonight, one of Japanese gentlemen diving through a 21 course tasting menu. One was this giant stewed octopus done Southern Italian style. This big boy was cooked for a long time.

Here the chef is snipping off bits.

Octopus. My slice of tentacle. It was chewy, but fully of great flavor.

Lobster risotto. I love a good risotto and this definitely qualified!

Cheese ravioli. Not your everyday version, but a lovely homemade variant.

Spaghetti funghi. Mousserons, chanterelle mushrooms, mushroom stock. A very smokey flavor.

Spaghetti Octopoda. The octopus juice and bits were used to make a delicious briny pasta.

Wild salmon with pea puree, kale, and asparagus. Very soft and delicate.

Halibut crusted with squid ink with farmer’s market cauliflower.

Anatra. duck breast, caramelized maui onions, greens, pomegranate reduction, candied fig.

Apricot crumble. Warm, soft, and very apricot. Delicious.

If you like higher end Italian cooking (and who doesn’t?) you should absolutely rush over here. Make sure you get a tasting menu. I don’t think appetizer and entree selected off the regular menu would do the place the justice it deserves. I’m sure the dishes would be great, but this cuisine is about more than just two notes. I’m not sure why Il Grano isn’t always mobbed, as folks flock to overpriced mid-quality trattorias. I guess people are just clueless.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or experience my gluttonous month-long journey through Northern Italy.