Unpolished pearl
Salt & Pearl is on the way to being a great restaurant
While dining at the recently opened Riviera Village restaurant Salt & Pearl, I enjoyed a conversation with a longtime local, and we reminisced about neighborhood seafood restaurants long gone. We both had fond memories of The Windjammer, a cavernous relic more famous for their collection of nautical bric-a-brac than the creativity of their cuisine. They offered little more than chowder and fried clams, followed by a variety of fish, grilled or fried. With the exception of sand dabs and abalone, which were sometimes bought from local fishermen and divers, everything served had arrived frozen rather than fresh.
The restaurant in which we had this conversation could have hardly been more different from that long-gone local haunt. The décor in the cozy Salt & Pearl dining room ditches the nautical kitsch in favor of a style that resembles a living room. The menu offers fresh seafood, either raw in sashimi and crudo or cooked in global styles. Enthusiasm for modern ideas, not nostalgia, is the draw.
Salt & Pearl, named after two things you find in the ocean, is a project of Mickey Mance and Justin Essman, who also own neighboring restaurant Vida. Mance also owns Mickey’s Deli, Salt & Pearl is his first foray into fine dining. It’s fine dining Riviera Village style, which means a loud room, well-stocked bar, and eclectic menu. As the name suggests, the emphasis is on seafood, but steaks, a burger, and a chicken item are also on the list.
Rhode Island calamari with wasabi slaw and Thai hot sauce.
We didn’t try any of those on two visits, because the seafood beckoned. Among the starters, we tried fried Rhode Island calamari, oysters natural and barbecued three ways, and wild red Patagonian shrimp, cocktail style. I had been curious about the Rhode Island calamari because with few exceptions, most squid are very mild and taste pretty much the same. There is a Rhode Island style of frying squid with cherry tomatoes and banana peppers, but that’s not what’s being served here — it’s squid from that state in a standard style, with sides of wasabi slaw and mae ploy Thai hot sauce. The squid is unusually crisp and tender but has no distinctive flavor, and in this case the sides were not perfectly chosen, because both were extremely spicy. Either a less peppery sauce or less assertive cole slaw would have been fine, but amping up both was excessive.
Barbecued oysters three ways are available New Orleans style, top, Spanish, right, or poached with compound butter, left.
The barbecued oysters are offered poached with compound butter, New Orleans style with garlic and parmesan, and Spanish with chorizo, roasted peppers, and Calabrian chili. While two of the versions were very good, the Spanish had so much hot chili that the taste of the oysters was lost. If you don’t like peppery spices, it’s best to let your server know when you order so the kitchen can tone them down. We were grateful the cocktail sauce for the shrimp was on the side, because it too had a healthy hit of horseradish. The shrimp had been poached in olive oil with herbs and were excellent with no other adornment, so after a tiny taste of the sauce we enjoyed them as they were.
We also tried two salads, the warm kale with shaved dried fish and pomegranate, and the beet with thyme, pistachio, and preserved lemon creme fraiche. Beet salads are usually made with goat cheese, and the crème fraiche infused with lemon was a nice innovation. Both salads included dates rather than the more conventional dried cranberry, and in both cases it was a good fit. I slightly preferred the kale for its more complex flavor profile but would have either again.
Beet salad on the left, Sautéed kale with dated and pomegranate on the right.
With our starters we tried a few items from the cocktail menu, which offers both the standard and modern versions of classics. I asked so many questions about them that Beverage Director Ken Gray came to our table to answer them, and our short conversation was illuminating. Gray approaches cocktail flavors like a gourmet alchemist, using an arsenal of techniques to craft beautifully balanced drinks. The negroni variant using Old Tom gin and mezcal as base spirits was my particular favorite, as it maintained the concept of the original while adding a unique character.
Among the mains, we tried mahi mahi with a cumin crust and black-eyed pea succotash, seared ahi with Japanese pickles, a Maine lobster roll, and the sole vegan option, portobello mushroom caps topped with other wild foraged mushrooms with shallots, garlic, vinegar and sage. On the visit where I tried this I was having lunch with a chef, and after the first taste he remarked, “These people take mushrooms seriously.” And they do. The mix of maitakes with crimini, beach, and enoki had layers of flavor complemented by subtle seasonings. It was completely successful. Consider ordering it as an appetizer, for two or more, because the portion is substantial, but do order it.
Entrees at Salt & Pearl include seared ahi, top, and cumin-crusted Icelandic cod, bottom.
The Maine style lobster roll showed that they know when to leave a classic alone, it was the traditional item very well made. This chef obviously loves to innovate, but it’s just fine that he didn’t in this case.
I had ordered the mahi partly because I associate a cumin crust with Asian items like Chinese toothpick lamb, and partly because the blackeyed peas and leek succotash sounded interesting. The succotash did not disappoint. Unfortunately, the cumin crust overpowered the delicate flavor of the fish. The idea was sound, but the spice was used a bit too exuberantly. There was no such problem with the ahi, which was fork tender and enhanced by the pickles and cabbage that arrived with it. There was a slice of lemon on the plate, but I thought the tartness of those pickles was perfect just as it was.
We asked Ken for a wine recommendation, and he suggested the Craggy Range New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc with the ahi and Dierberg Chardonnat from Santa Ynez. The Craggy Range was atypical for New Zealand, with mild acidity and pear tones, while the Chardonnay stood up as well as anything could to the cumin.
We only tried one dessert, the nocciola chocolate sponge cake with hazelnut. If you think of a Nutella cake for adult palates, with dark chocolate curls and a dusting of cocoa powder adding a dimension to
A special dessert at Salt & Pearl is Nocciola, an Italian chocolate hazelnut sponge cake.
the sweet dish, you’re there. It’s a very rich dessert and one can easily be split between two people, but if you’re a real chocolate hound then you could order another as soon as you finish the first one.
Dinner for two at Salt & Pearl ran us just over $100 a person before tip. Given the expense of fresh seafood and the ambitions of the kitchen, it was reasonable for the price. They’ve only been open for a short time and it seems that they’re still calibrating some items, but there is a lot here to like already.
Salt &Pearl is at 1719 S. Catalina in Riviera Village. Open for lunch 11:30-5 daily except Monday. Dinner daily 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. Street parking, full bar. Loud inside (85-90 Db), patio is quieter. (310) 372-0122. saltandpearlrb.com. ER