Wild, But Civilized [restaurant review]
Cafe Wild owners Erin and Phil Shipley enjoying their ahi tartare. Photo Sometimes I’m delighted to be proved wrong. Usually that’s when I’m being pessimistic, as was the case when a restaurant in North Manhattan Beach closed and someone asked me to speculate about what would move in. “Something more expensive and aimed at an upscale crowd,” I answered. It was a safe bet based on present trends, but every once in a while the safe bet loses and a long shot pays off. Café Wild recently replaced Four Daughters Kitchen, was one of the few relatively inexpensive family restaurants in the area. Based on the name one might expect that whatever replaced it would be more pricey and aimed at an audience that came to party. The food would of course be esoteric and challenging, which explains the use of the word wild in the name. Anyone who made those assumptions would be wrong on all counts. Café Wild got its name because Phil Shipley, the cheerful English expat who owns the place with his wife Erin, is a Beach Boys fan. Their café was going to be called Wild Honey, but the name was shortened to Café Wild, presumably to avoid confusion with any apiary with a similar name. The freshly…
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