Rustic Canyon

Rustic Canyon Wine Bar and Seasonal Kitchen is a cozy little place on Wilshire in Santa Monica with a perfectly sized menu that focuses mainly on items that can be found in the local farmers market. Every Monday evening they feature a specialty burger or two in addition to their house Meyer Ranch Burger (cheddar, onion fondue, bread and butter pickles, herb remoulade) and since this last Monday happened to also be my boyfriend's birthday we thought it would be the perfect place to celebrate for dinner.

We started the evening with their trio of crostini and soft shell crab. The trio had three very different flavors: spinach with golden raisins, roasted red peppers with burrata cheese, and olives with goat cheese; all were unique and delicious. The soft shell crab was huge and perfectly deep-fried. It was served with a sort of pesto sauce, very Mediterranean overall. I loved that it was anything but Asian in flavor profile, as most of the soft shell crabs that I eat tend to come from Japanese restaurants.

One of the two burger specials for the evening was a "breakfast" burger topped with cheddar cheese, crispy hash brown potatoes, bacon confit, a sunny side up egg, and peppery arugula. Along with the house-cut fries served with garlicky herb remoulade and ketchup for dipping...it was so perfect.

They also had one of my new favorite beers, Hitachino Nest White Ale, a creation from Kiuchi Brewery (based out of Japan).  If you have not had a chance to try this beer before, it is cloudy and golden straw-like in color, smells like lemons, and tastes like lemongrass, ginger, pepper, and grass...almost a tad tart even?

We finished the meal with a scoop of blackberry sorbet and a scoop of corn vanilla bean ice cream. The corn flavored ice cream might have been the best ice cream I have ever tasted, no joke.




1119 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90401(310) 393-7050    

Rustic Canyon Wine Bar