I was familiar with Cafe Del Rey’s name, but had never actually eaten there. That probably had something to do with the `cafe’ part of its name, which suggests a convenient place to drop in for casual fare.
But an email from my editor suggesting I review it nudged me to check out the resstaurant’s on-line menu. One glance at its extensive seafood centric offerings and I bit: I was ready to take on the boss’s orders.
The waterfront restaurant sits on the picturesque Marina Del Rey harbor; picking a window seat on an early Friday evening, watching all those sailboats on the calm water was a pretty perfect way to put the stresses of the workweek behind and let the weekend begin.
We discovered that our server was from Bulgaria, and given how rarely one gets to meet Bulgarians in LA, I had to tell him about my wonderful stay at Rilski Monastery there, while my friend mused that all she knew about the country was yogurt and longevity.
Executive Chef Job Carder is an LA native whose grandfather founded Norm’s restaurant, so he has the restaurant business in his genes. And though he has been an Executive Chef at the restaurant for only about a year and a half, he remembers coming here as a child with his grandfather. He went on to cut his culinary teeth at Joachim Splichal’s Patina restaurant, then founded his own restaurant Dish in Pasadena, and has been receiving accolades ever since. We told our waiter know we were open to the chef’s suggestions, if he could just leave out the turf, and focus only on the surf.
Our waiter started us off with the fresh house made focaccia and a tapenade using two kinds of olives and made distinctive by adding sweet red peppers, onion and garlic. It was definitely a promising start.
Next up was a plate with two kinds of oysters – Kumiai from Baja and Mirada from Washington State. The small Kumiai have a crisp saltiness and a sweet finish. The Mirada oysters have a tough life, clamping tightly during low tides to ward off predators; this makes them plump and hearty. Served with horseradish, lemon, and an interesting scallion and tomato ponzu, they were as oysters should be – very fresh.
The beautifully plated baby beetroot and heirloom carrot salad was a medley of confit baby beets, charred carrots, feta, mache leaves with a vinaigrette of fig balsamic and sherry. Its looks were not deceiving.
The Bluefin Tuna Toro Crudo was a gorgeous garland woven with pickled cauliflower, mushrooms, shaved radish, pea and popcorn shoots, tobiko, and borage blossoms dressed in yuzu vinaigrette and smoked shoyu.
Then there was a mishap involving a long stem flute beside it, and now the crudo had another ingredient as well – champagne. We were perfectly content to have the dish as is, figuring champagne on crudo could hardly do it harm and actually may well enhance it. But our server would have none of that: he was going to make sure we had the chef’s creations as intended, unaugmented by improvisations at the table. Soon, we had another pristine garland, but we did make note to give champagne on crudo a try in the future.
The blue crab cakes were served with a watercress and frisee salad. Made with a piquillo peppper ruille, they were large, but I myself like mine with lumps of crabmeat that I can bite into, rather than have it all disappear into the rouille.
The branzino, served with haricocots verts was a masterpiece of plating. Crisp, with a sweet amaretto butter sauce and topped with pickled red currants and toasted almonds, it was the kind of dish that makes you blow a kiss. My friend who is quite the whole fish fanatic said she was blown away, declaring this was as good as any she had ever had. She told our server that she hoped the dish wouldn’t be removed from the new seasonal menu coming up, while I reminded her that that was going to be the restaurant’s business decision. But she didn’t have to worry, we learnt that it was in fact one of the restaurant’s most popular dishes, and there was no danger of it going away.
Next up was a dish from the new upcoming seasonal menu – mussels with chorizo strips in a paprika broth. The mussels from British Columbia were plump and meaty, and the rich, flavorful paprika broth was great for scooping up with the accompanying sourdough – which we did till there was no more.
The Bouillabaisse Blanc was a hearty dish with Salt Springs mussels, clams, prawns and fresh fish along with fingerling potatoes, baby turnips and carrots in a clam cream broth. More to soak up with bread and keep slurping!
Being too full, we felt proud of ourselves to skip dessert and close off the meal with just with a decaf mocha. But that didn’t last long, as the chef had other plans, sending out a sampler. I do not consider myself a dessert person – generally finding them too sweet and greasy. But these had subtle, nuanced flavors. The Key Lime bar which came on a graham cracker crust topped with strawberry frozen yogurt, macerated strawberries and rice puffs, was excellent. But it was the chocolate mascarpone cake that stole the show. With a bourbon caramel sauce, chocolate ganache, and chocolate feuilletine, it had a delicate chocolate taste augmented by the flavors and textures of its accompaniments. Our protestations to the contrary, we were secretly glad we tried them; clearly, the chef knew our minds better than we did.
As we walked out happily, we couldn’t help but think how much the restaurant belies its name: it is less of a cafe than a a serious, destination restaurant.