and here we are again, steadily plowing our way through la restaurants via jgold’s 99 list. akasha rests in a cute little area of redesigned and gentrified culver city just a few steps from main st (where, of course, there is a farmers market on tuesday nights). on a previous stroll by this unassuming restaurant, we liked the menu and m again asked me out on a date (how sweet!…(is she being thoughtful or does she hate my cooking?)). this time, on 8 oct, we did the dinela menu because many of jgold’s recommended items could be found as part of the prix fixe. we were not disappointed. in fact, we repeatedly exclaimed how tasty it was (much to our surprise because eating out usually ends in disappointment…we can either make it better at home or the execution is poor, poor, poor). we liked appetizer and entree best, but even the pumpkin cheesecake and apple crisp were satisfactory.

akasha focuses on local, sustainable food and their execution was perfect. my pepper seared scallops had corn puree, grilled corn, frisee, niman bacon. m’s niman ranch lamb sliders had sheepʼs feta, wild arugula, tomato chutney. arugula is in my top five fave veggies (my tmobile fave five, so to speak). and it’s become a staple on modern burgers, with the most infamous version being the korean burger nazi’s version at father’s office. i had the barramundi (australian seabass – that must mean it’s not endangered) with romanesco zucchini & parmigiano-reggiano risotto, tomato, pine nuts, golden raisin, olive & caper relish. so simple yet, the flavors were so complex and different flavors came out at different times. mmmmm. m went with the beer braised shortribs (lots of shortribs being consumed these days…i love shortribs but recently they are either superb or horrendous) with crème fraiche potatoes, sautéed escarole, organic carrot fritte.

pics below taken without custom wb so everything looks yellow. lights were neither tungsten or fluorescent and i just wasn’t in the mood to tinker w/ my camera.

lamb sliders

scallops

barramundi

shortribs - i love the yam curls

pumpkin cheesecake

apple crisp

akasha | 9543 Culver Blvd 90232 | 310.845.1700