Living in North Hermosa, walking distance to downtown Manhattan Beach, I have been a frequent beneficiary of the exceptional cuisine and hospitality of Chef David (LeFevre) and his incredible managers and staff at MB Post since they opened their doors two years ago. So, when I learned that the Team from MB Post was opening a new seafood place next door (actually two doors down), I couldn't wait to try it.
They don't take reservations -- walk-ins only -- so I made plans to get there shortly before they opened their doors at 5pm on opening night (April 30) so I could grab a seat at the Raw Bar and enjoy their new venue. What an incredible and inspirational meal I had that evening. I am so glad that I was able to attend their grand opening and can't wait to come back and watch the development of this fantastic new restaurant just as I have been fortunate to experience the evolution of MB Post over the past two years. Whether intentional or not, the name "Fishing With Dynamite" is such a perfect moniker for this new venture of Chef David and Mike Simms (of Simmzy's and Tin Roof) -- these guys make restaurant success look so easy in a town where long term survival for great restaurants has, historically, proven to be beguilingly difficult (just ask John Rivera Sedlar). They have it dialed in -- striking a culinary chord with this town (and with me) and thank goodness for that -- it's long overdue. They make it look so easy -- like fishing with dynamite! The place was packed by 6pm on a Tuesday night, and on opening night, no less! Wait until people have actually heard of this place!
I ordered quite a variety of things considering I was dining solo tonight. I started with the half-dozen Oyster Sampler. I am not sure what possessed me to order oysters -- don't get me wrong, I love oysters, but I really wanted to see what Chef David was "cooking" at his new restaurant and, my normal naive way of thinking is that "oysters are oysters" and wouldn't really give me any insight into what Chef David was doing here at FWD. But something compelled me ot order the sampler and I am so glad that I did -- these were by far the best oysters I have had in LA (or anywhere) in a decade or more. Plump, juicy, briny and incredibly fresh and vibrant. Sitting at the raw bar, I enjoyed watching the all of those mothershuckers (including David all night!) work really hard to pry open these stubbornly fresh mollusks right in front of me. they were on a different level -- hard to explain, you just have to go there and try some with their mignonette sauce (please don't down them in cocktail sauce or anything else that would obscure the beautifully fresh flavor of the sea that these oysters have to offer.
Next up was the Thai Shellfish soup, a wonderfully fragrant Thai coconut curry soup with shrimp, mussels, rice vermicelli and aromatic thai herbs. It was amazing perhaps even surpassed the exceptional shrimp and chorizo soup at MB Post (one of my favorite dishes there). The albacore tuna tartare was probably the best tuna tartare I have had in ages -- like the oysters, I ordered this dish reluctantly and only at the urging of a friend who had been to a soft opening dinner. My culinary prejudice almost reflexively causes me to skip over the words "Tuna Tartare" on virtually any restaurant menu -- a dish that 20+ years ago was once one of the more compelling and alluring of appetizers at some of the better restaurants in town serving contemporary or "pacific rim" cuisine, but has since become a dish that is far too overdone and tired, devolving into something all too often rendered poorly at restaurants that have no business serving raw fish. But this version at FWD was a revelation -- a re-interpretation of the great classic tuna tartares of yesteryear and a re-validation of what was once an appetizer to get excited about -- and is now once again. Bravo!
My final entree was their sauteed Loup de Mer, an outstanding filet which was expertly prepared -- sauteed to an almost sizzling crispness on the outside while wonderfully moist and tender inside, served on a bed of braised fennel and caramelized onion and accented with a red wine reduction. Yum!
I finished with a dessert of pretzel and chocolate bread pudding. Though I am not usually a big fan of dessert, I love bread pudding and this was a truly exemplary version with the pretzels adding layers of complexity in both taste and texture -- brilliantly bringing a welcomed salty crunch to counterbalance the otherwise smooth buttery sweetness of the chocolate bread pudding . I loved it.
I can't wait to go back with my wife and try the poached Atlantic lobster with pernod butter and aromatic vegetables, the grilled octopus, black miso cod with Japanese eggplant, and steelhead trout with lemongrass yogurt.
Awesome! read more