LAReview
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Rustic Canyon
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As quintessentially Santa Monica as Bernedoodles or brisk walks down Montana Avenue, Rustic Canyon is a cozy Westside restaurant best known for its close relationship with the Santa Monica Farmer's Market. For the past two decades, this upscale spot has been turning produce from local farms into gorgeous, snacky dishes that belong in a California tourism brochure. And while we can't say if or when they'll stop discovering more ways to serve us squash, we can say that Rustic Canyon in its current iteration is still great, if a tad predictable.
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
This large windowed restaurant is on the upscale side (read: not cheap), but that doesn't mean pretentious. Rustic Canyon is a worn-in neighborhood spot with scratched wooden floors, bare walls, and dangling Edison bulbs that flood the dark wood space with a warm glow. You could book this place for a nicer-than-usual dinner with friends or perhaps that upcoming anniversary that you forget to make a reservation for, neither of which would feel out of place. And like most reliable neighborhood spots, the food at Rustic Canyon doesn't stray much from its usual style.
The current chef at Rustic Canyon previously cooked at Silver Lake Mediterranean spot Botanica, which might explain why some of the dishes here lean Levantine, from stewed chickpeas with feta, to a chocolate halva dessert, to grapefruit wedges dressed in Persian lime and tahini. And even though they change frequently, the vegetable-focused dishes tend to be our favorite things on the menu. It's where you'll find the best mix of color, texture, and flavor, as opposed to the main entrees that typically hit the same two notes: meat and whatever sauce you're dipping it into. Some assorted highlights include soft-boiled potatoes dressed with mustard seed and a fishy tonnato sauce, tangy, extra chewy sourdough pasta in mushroom sauce, and a gorgeous, pepita-crusted honeynut squash that nearly candies after it's baked twice.
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Seasonal produce aside, if you haven't dined at Rustic Canyon in a while, your next meal here probably won't be that different from the last. But it's that consistency that makes this Santa Monica spot a classic, and a restaurant that still does the farm-to-table thing as well as any place in LA.
The menu at Rustic Canyon changes frequently, but here are a few examples of dishes you might find.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Lavender Almonds
The Garden Of Lettuces
Weiser Farm Potatoes with Trout Tonnato
photo credit: Jessie Clapp