For some reason, restaurants have experienced a greater than average turnover in Culver City. I find this odd when many of these restaurants are solid, get good reviews and have lots of customers. Despite an endorsing review by Jonathan Gold, Sambar, became a recent casualty and since I missed eating there, I didn’t want to repeat that with AR Cucina.
In an amazing 30 days, Sambar chef & owner, Akasha Richmond, converted the restaurant into AR Cucina, an Italian eatery. In doing so, she collaborated with her chef at Sambar to create an Italian menu featuring rustic cuisine.
My wife and I hadn’t seen our friends in quite awhile. I’m glad that they were seated on the patio as the music inside wasn’t conducive for quality conversation. We ordered a carafe of wine for the table and quickly started catching up.
The menu offers many different types of plates: antipasti, house baked pizza breads, salads, vegetarian plates and small and large entrées. Best of all, they make their pasta in-house daily.
The beverage menu has a suite of craft cocktails – all of which looked appealing to me. The wine list is comprised of Italian whites, reds and bubbly’s are are available by the glass or carafe. While I didn’t inquire, I think the amount in our carafe was slightly less than you would receive in a standard 750 ml bottle.
Fritto Misto dusted with rice flour
We started off with a fritto misto appetizer. Strips of squid, red peppers and red onions were combined with Laughing Bird Shrimp, dusted with rice flour and lightly fried. While it was accompanied by fresh lemon slices and tomato sauce, I preferred eating it as it.
Lasagne Verde with short rib & mushroom ragu
The Lasagne Verde was named because it was made from spinach noodles. It was filled with a hearty short rib and mushroom ragu and fonduta and was dusted with pecorino romano. This was very different from a typical lasagne because it was much more dense and quite filling. In fact, I brought half of the serving home.
Valdostana – Heritage Farms Pork Chop stuffed with fontina & prosciutto
I came here to try Kirk’s Porchetta. Perhaps it was removed because the chef de cuisine is now Chris Keyser. Instead the menu had Valdostana. This was not an Italian goat, but a thick cut pork chop stuffed with fontina and prosciutto. It included a side of sauteed spinach. The pork was prepared extremely well – crisp on the outside and moist on the inside.
Strozzapreti Con Pesto
Pappardelle with braised lamb sausage ragu
With rustic Italian cuisine, simple is sometimes the best and their Strozzapreti Con Pesto was an example of this. Both the pasta and the pesto were fresh making this a delicious dish. My wife is a big fan of pappardelle and she liked the braised lamb sausage ragu.
Eggplant Parmigiana with Nonna Giovanna’s tomato sauce
Their Eggplant Parmigiana is another example of simple food prepared well. Nonna Giovanna’s tomato sauce is a carry-over from Sambal and I can see why they they are still using it. It is thick, rich and delicious.
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- Salted Caramel
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- Chocolate
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- Pistachio
For dessert, we each had a sorbetto: chocolate, salted caramel & pistachio. I’d have to say that the chocolate was rich and decadent.
We had a fun evening with good friends, conversation, food and service. You can’t ask for more.
AR Cucina, 9531 Culver Blvd, Culver City, CA
http://www.arcucina.com/