Craig’s Heirloom Margherita pizza
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| 31Ten’s Californication cocktail |
31TEN
We’re all about hybrids: fuel-efficient cars, celebrity nicknames and especially bar-lounge-restaurants like 31Ten on Santa Monica’s Main Street. Ado partners Paolo Cesaro and chef Antonio Muré have renovated Caché Restaurant & Lounge, transforming it into 31Ten, “a Hollywood nightclub for Santa Monica,” as Cesaro puts it. The dining tables have been replaced by leather furniture and bar counters, a central fire pit, an indoor-outdoor bar and three private cabanas.
Muré showcases his kitchen skills with such starters as warm lobster salad with shaved asparagus in a white-wine and black-truffle vinaigrette, and main courses including bacon-wrapped sea scallops on rosemary skewers served over braised cauliflower. But he also simplifies things with a selection of crispy wood-fired pizzas (the only food available after 10:30 PM). There’s a full Italian-dominated wine menu, but the experience here is more about the regularly updated all-organic cocktail list; recent specials have included the Californication, made with vodka, St-Germain, Thai basil, black grapes, pomegranate juice and Prosecco. There’s also bottle service for those looking to make a night of it on the Westside. 31Ten is open Wednesday through Saturday, with DJs after 10 PM and a bimonthly Beatles cover band. Guess Hollywood really has moved west. 3110 Main St., Santa Monica; 31tenlounge.com
GO BURGER
Claiming the last ground-floor space in the soaring Sunset Vine Tower, Go Burger doesn’t look like your average burger joint. Instead, it has high ceilings, ebony-walnut and white-oak paneling and a bar serving old-fashioned bottle sodas as well as cocktails, wine and beer. What else would you expect from the enterprising folks behind the BLT restaurants?
Black Angus burger iterations include the bunfree Sunset Stripper with arugula, marinated cherry tomatoes, pickled shallots and an olive-cornichon remoulade. The Kobe Dog is garnished with spicy German mustard and pickled jalapeños. But the cholesterol-boosting signature sandwich is the behemoth UltiMelt: a hamburger patty topped with caramelized onions and bacon between two grilled Gruyère cheese sandwiches on rye.
