THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED La Cachette Bistro

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED La Cachette Bistro Restaurant Review:

After fifteen years of preparing French fine dining at La Cachette in Century City, chef Jean-François Meteigner made the move to bistro cuisine in Santa Monica, and we like it. The décor here is also a total change from the former restaurant. There is an inviting patio with bistro chairs and green granite tables shaded by a welcoming evergreen tree. The inside has a totally different feel with a third of the space dedicated to the bar, also in green granite, with high tables, separated from the dining room by a wall of liquor bottles. On the other side, original bistro posters adorn the walls over warm red banquettes, where the preferred tables are the booths. We suggest starting dinner with the light homemade duck rillettes served, as they should be, with cornichons, or the perfectly seasoned organic beef tartare with delicate baked potato chips. The issue with ordering the foie gras is that it is so good, you will want to keep the taste on your palate, and just stop eating at that point. But then you would be missing the house cured smoked trout and its warm potatoes and frisée---Meteigner’s interpretation of the herring salad. His California influences are evident with his sashimi tuna seasoned by wasabi, truffle oil and lemon, and his choucroute in which the sausages are made of salmon and the pork has become fish. Diners have quite a large selection of meat: lamb cassoulet, steak frites, coq au vin made of dark meat with veal bacon. Cheeses are listed on the menu at the top, but we prefer them before desserts, which can be homemade baba au rhum, pear bread pudding or the dark chocolate chip “divine” cake. The wine list, composed mainly of French and California selections, is very reasonably priced. La Cachette Bistro also offers takeout ordering online with the option of curbside pick-up.