The Exceptional Erven in SaMo

Americas - USA West Los Angeles
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Up until a decade or so ago it was easier to smoke in your doctors office than to find a really great, reasonably priced meal in Santa Monica. For real big spenders there were options - Michael’s, Giogio Baldi, Capo, Melisse, Chinois, Josie - but after that, you pretty much dropped down to Gilbert’s, Googies or Hot Dog on A Stick. Then, following the Venice food explosion, along came the Huckleberry-Rustic-Milo empire, Tar & Roses, Belcampo, SMYC, Cassia, Farmshop and others in SaMo.

And now comes the exceptional Erven - in the Real Food Daily space with chef Nick Ervin (late of St. Martha, fundamental).
WOW. I was kind of blown away at how great the meal was. What a fantastic addition.
I don’t think Fred Flintstone wouldn’t mind the lack of meat at all.
In addition to the terrific food, the wine and beer selections are fascinating, well-curated and delicious.

Snacks
Crazy, yummy Donut Holes with Smoky Apple Sauce and Sauerkraut (sounds crazy but the taste was totally unique and for me, mind blowing)

Donut Hole - Outside

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Donut Hole - Inside

Sunchokes with Catalan-Style ketchup

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Small Plates
Guac with Seaweed Doritos, togarashi

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Roasted Carrots with coconut (sorbet, maybe), crispy lentil, Thai herbs and tamarind

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Main Plate
Farro and Black Eyed pea Hot-Pot with braised greens, shishito, preserved tomato and onion jus - really hard to stop eating this amazing concoction.

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Fuzz. Looks great. Nice report.

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Nice report CB. Is this a set of courses? And will the “No Catalan-Style ketchup on sunchokes” trolls climb out from under their el puente/pont? :wink:

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Nope - this report is just what we selected - whole menu below.

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E.: “Do they have anything hearty?”

Me: “Yes! Beer-battered tofu sandwich, you’ll love it.” :wink:

Sauerkraut and apples is a pretty classic pairing. The donut part, not so much. And I’d love to try the seafood Doritos. Vegan stoner food, bring it on, babe

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My wife and I have eaten here over 2 dozen times since it opened. We have never had a bad meal. Chef Erven is making the most delicious, creative, accessible plant based food I have had. So glad it is in walking distance. If you are there for lunch, don’t miss the eggplant toast.

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fwiw, the “day” menu offers
3 excellent, delicate, perfectly balanced soups.

these soups are NOT for folks who need an oil slick atop a highly-salted jumble of strong flavors in order to be happy.

refined is the word that comes to mind.
cooking with finesse.
delish

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Just wanted to write quickly that partner and I went last night for the first time and really enjoyed it it. Completely agree that you won’t notice the lack of meat or dairy AT ALL. Well worth a visit (esp if you’re in the neighborhood). The food is playful, innovative (IMHO), and, most importantly, it simply tastes good. Service is excellent.

Will post more pics and details later.

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Man you need to invest in a camera, you eat at this place twice a week?? You should have their whole menu photographed! =P

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The guilt, the guilt. It’s good I’ll be able to atone for my lack of photography sins next week😊

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Have you seen your own pictures? Lol

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I don’t take pictures of my food very often. It makes me feel phony and pretension, like I’m a Yelper and I want everyone to notice so that I get better treatment. Or something like that.

But I really like everyone else’s food photos a lot!.

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What’s wrong with them?

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They look like they were taken using an iPhone 3s with the “dark as fuck” filter applied.

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I eat late at night pretty often.

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They have a solution for that, it’s called better quality cameras. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Yeah, definitely, a high-quality camera is going to magically produce daylight conditions in a dimly lit restaurant.

I think bringing professional photo equipment including a full fucking lighting setup just to photograph your dinner in daylight conditions crosses the line into absurdity for some food pictures…

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bringing professional photo equipment including a full fucking lighting setup just to photograph your dinner in daylight conditions

That would be great. Thanks!

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Tech note (I’m usually a luddite, but I do know this): Many unobstrusive, portable (read: fits in one hand) cameras nowadays have really excellent ISO ranges which DO digitally create better-than-ambient light conditions for exactly those dark, dimly lit dining room situations.

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Luddite - driving now - I’ll pitch down an extra one tonight.

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