Kali crew opens elevated neighborhood seafood restaurant
By Desmond Garvey
“So this is what an elevated fish house looks like,” you might think as you approach the front door of Koast. We have a new seafood restaurant from the people behind Kali, the longstanding one-star Michelin restaurant on Melrose Avenue. All the while, your brain slowly comes to terms with the fact that there is indeed a glass pane over the burbling stream of water coursing over rocks that you need to cross in order to enter the restaurant. The hostess smiles and beckons at you as if to say, “It’s safe.” Despite your trepidation, maybe it’s best you keep your shoes on your feet and unroll your pants, which, by now, are hiked up to your belt line.
BAY SCALLOP CEVICHE
CRISPY SCALLOP CAKE
LOUP DE MER
Chef Kevin Meehan’s Kali stood the test of the pandemic and has been a Larchmont staple since 2016. When I first caught wind that Meehan, Executive Chef Micheal Kerner, Sommelier Drew Langley and General Manager Jessica Tripp were opening a relaxed California seafood restaurant offering crispy scallop cakes, seasonal seafood chowder and potato chips with a sour cream and onion dip, I did not envision what I walked into. A low-lit dining room joins the surgically sterile kitchen, the low-slung wraparound seating and chairs resembling the ribs of a ship all dressed in indigo cushions. It’s as though Meehan can’t quite shake his addiction to the finer details. Despite the elevated environment, children doodle on their menus with crayons. The neighborhood has noticed this new spot and they’re here for it.
For the vast majority of diners, the words “interesting’” or ‘“innovative” aren’t at the top of their minds. These days they simply want “good.” What people look for in good casual food in Los Angeles has changed in recent years. Many diners have grown tired of restaurants toting small plates that will pair perfectly with that new California natural pear sparkling wine. The novelty of the California restaurant with locally sourced produce and wines, while cool and noble, has worn off for many. Favor is shifting toward restaurants that ditch the intricate plating (which may get you some kudos from others in the industry, or simply those in the know) and instead focus on a consistency of pumping out fulfilling dishes.
This being said, Meehan balances his loyalty to tweezer food with the food that people want to eat.
Starters at Koast are broken down into three sections. The “raw” section is, well … raw. So you’ll find littleneck clams, Morro Bay oysters on the half shell, crudos and the like. The “lightly touched” section is all things cured. Finally, the “cooked” section is, as the name states, proteins, mostly fish, touched by fire.
You order, and yellowtail crudo hits the table. It’s piled high, topped with edible flowers, sorrel and shaved radish and dressed in a buttermilk nage (used to poach seafood). This is more the Meehan I know about. The rich fish serves as a perfect vessel for the tangy buttermilk nage to hitch a ride. You order the scallop ceviche and it comes to you resting in a clamshell, on a pink folded napkin, on a plate. Fried rice puffs, charred lemon, edible flowers, thinly sliced Fresno chilies, chives and microgreens deliver varying flavors that change with each bite — first bright, then sweet, then spicy.
The crispy scallop cake was perfectly sold to us by our waiter, Chris, who understands the East Coast fish house inspiration behind the dish. “It’s deserving of being served in a damp Styrofoam container surrounded by far too many thick-cut fries,” he said. The dish is plated simply with a lemon wedge on the side and a topping of mustard frills. The fritter looks back at you from its cushion of tartar sauce and capers. The texture is borderline — how can I say it? — slick, unctuous and slimy, but in the very best way imaginable. It mocks you for liking it so much. It pokes fun at you for liking it more than the previous two dishes. “Really?” it says, “Your favorite dish here is the one seasoned with Old Bay?” It calls you on your snobbery! It teases you for ordering another. The batter is simple and provides the right amount of crunch, by way of what appears to be crushed-up cornflakes and the aforementioned Old Bay. The tartar sauce possesses a lexicon of depth and just the right amount of tang.
Continuing the trend of perfecting the simplest things, the chips and dip are the younger sibling to the crispy scallop cake — greaseless, sliced razor-thin, delicately fried and perfectly salted. While most restaurants take the easy road and serve soggy chips while they’d be better off offering kettle chips right out of the bag, Koast doesn’t and they nail it.
The little gem salad was underwhelming.
Mains range from angel hair pasta with octopus to grilled prawns. There is also the obligatory cheeseburger for the non-fish folk, dry aged of course. The market fish has a delicate beurre blanc, with roe ladled over it for added brightness and is topped with fried spigarello leaves. I won’t go screaming to the rooftops about this dish, but it is a safe choice.
Meehan has been criticized for not letting go of his hyper precision when it comes to larger plates by dressing them with flowers and infused oils as if they were on a tasting menu. At Koast this doesn’t seem to be the case. Of course, smaller plates from the “raw” and “cured” sections come out intricately decorated, but as you move to the larger plates (and as is seen with the market fish) Meehan practices far more restraint.
When thinking of a Larchmont neighborhood restaurant with something for everyone, the mind goes to places such as Great White with its varied menu. Koast takes a more personal and idiosyncratic yet equally satisfying approach. You still want the cool California fine dining experience? Maybe you’re really jonesing for a rich, artery-clogging homage to the classic Americana fish shack of your childhood? Or maybe you just want a burger. Koast does it all, does it with passion and excellence and guarantees you’ll come back for more.
Koast is at 6623 Melrose Ave., koastrestaurant.com.
Category: Entertainment
