Simply Delicious

Rustic Canyon Wine Bar & Seasonal Kitchen grew from a series of dinners that founder Josh Loeb held inside his family’s beautiful tree house of a home nestled in Rustic Canyon, an intimate neighborhood carved into the mountains of Santa Monica. The restaurant opened in 2007 and is an extension of those get togethers, offering a regularly changing menu of Farmers Market inspired dishes with ingredients that come from local farmers, ranchers, and fishermen who practice sustainable agriculture. Along with Loeb’s business partners that includes his real-life partner Zoe Nathan, a pastry chef who came from Jardinere and Tartine in San Francisco, the restaurant group also owns Sweet Rose Creamery, Milo & Olive, and Huckleberry Cafe. And if you live on the Westside like I do, this is everything.

Having lived in different neighborhoods in New York, Loeb- who is originally from Santa Monica- chose the Westside for his restaurant and cafes due to a lack of great food options there- most of LA’s exciting fare seemed to be further east, and now downtown. The stylish yet casual setting is usually packed solid for Executive Chef Jeremy Fox’s outstanding menu and the restaurant’s stellar cocktail program made with seasonal ingredients- as well as a rotating selection of over 500 bottles of wine to choose from. Fox joined the eatery in 2013 and is known for doing amazing things with fruits and vegetables. He garnered a Michelin star during his time as Executive Chef at Ubuntu in Napa, which is now closed but was once the most important haute vegetarian restaurant in the US- I happen to agree. Rustic Canyon has recently taken the #6 spot on Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list, where savory dishes like beets with berries and the famous Ubuntu bowl of almonds roasted with sugar, lavender, and sea salt reign supreme. Along with everything else.  www.rusticcanyonwinebar.com