Fraiche
Culver City, CA 90232
Phone: (310) 839-6800
- Price:
- $$$
- Cross Street:
- Washington Blvd
- Hours:
- Mon-Sat 11:30am-2:30pm, 6pm-10:30pm, Sun 6pm-10:30pm, Bar open daily until 1am
Editorial Review for Fraiche – by Alison Kramer
In Short
With exposed cobblestone walls and warm wood paneling, the indoor-outdoor space celebrates the rural, hospitable charm of Southern Italy and France. The restaurant's name--meaning fresh in French--parallels its market-driven menu of herb-laden seafood, pastas, and meat dishes. Signature plates include fruits de mer, a braised rabbit and artichoke tortellini, and roasted veal cheek with semolina and pickled lipstick peppers. Bountiful plates of handcrafted charcuterie are also available.
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Insider Tips
Where to SitSit near the open kitchen, and the red bandana-clad chefs will gladly chat you up about the cuisine. Those seeking more intimacy should head outside to the garden patio. Bar menu served until 12am
ParkingCovered parking is available just west of the restaurant on Cardiff Avenue. Cost is free for the first two hours, and one dollar for each hour thereafter.
What to DrinkOrganized mostly by region of Italy and France, the extensive wine list offers over 200 bottles and two dozen by the glass. Bar is open daily until 1am.
User Reviews for Fraiche
05/17/2008 Posted by firelight215
I made a reservation for my husband's birthday dinner through the restaurant's website, and received a confirmation phone call. When we arrived for the reservation, we were told (shouted at, actually) that our reservation had been 30 minutes earlier, we were no-shows, and they'd given away the table. Despite showing the owner/manager/maitre d' our confirmation and explaining that we'd gotten a phone call from the restaurant confirming the time, we were screamed at and told that he "never lies," that we must have misunderstood the phone call, and that he was not responsible for the online service. The hostess, who was slightly more sympathetic, gave us the phone number for the online reservation service, which we called. And whose rep told us that the restaurant had changed our reservation earlier that day (and not told us). We handed the phone directly to the owner, who proceeded to scream at the customer service rep for the reservation service... Finally, after about 20 minutes, he came back and shouted at us that he was going to give us a table (as if we should be grateful), but he wasn't happy about it. I could have cared less at that point, but it was my husband's birthday, and he wanted to try the restaurant. So we took the table, which should have been ours in the first place. After all that--the food was fine, fresh and pleasant, if a little boring, although admittedly a nice change from all the other French restaurants that tend to over-salt their food. The dessert was lovely (the only dish I had that seemed truly worth the hassle). The waitress we had was similarly lovely. But I can't say I'd go back. There are a lot of restaurants in this town where you can get great food and great service in an environment that's classy enough to not employ an abusive maitre d'.
Pros: friendly wait staff, great desserts
Cons: an appallingly poorly behaved owner; need to fight to keep a reservation
05/15/2008 Posted by hawnk
Went there for lunch today. I really like the layout. Unlike some of the previous reviews of rude staff, I had a very pleasent encounter there. Maybe that's the difference between the lunch and dinner staff... I had the chopped salad which was well portioned with greens, cured meats and a nice provolone. My boss had the B.L.A.T sandwich which is Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado and tomato. He said it was nothing special and the fries were cold and kind of soggy. Client had the chicken pita and that looked pretty darn good. All in all a nice lunch. Bad construction noise from outside so if you are planning to eat there in the next week I would inquire before going.
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