Mr. Wilson's Kitchen of Wonder

The new Culver City has arrived.  Along with more folks wearing Corbu specs than any other part of town, its five square miles is suddenly packed with places to eat.  I never thought I'd be jealous of neighborhood amenities over in that once sleepy suburb, but I am.

Wilson is part of this new crop, and one of the restaurants where it's  easier to plan ahead for a civilized meal for those of us who can't wait an hour for a seat down the street.

There's little to not love here if you're partial to functional furniture that looks like Paul Smith designed it, and if you prefer some Dwell mag style mixed in with an Alice Watersesque kitchen vibe.  The cooking is delicious with some hidden surprises that aren't annoyingly wacky.

I've had a lot of versions of grilled octopus, but never with equally charred green beans and smooth almond slivers.  The gluttonous slow roasted pork has its requisite sweet and savory components, and the grits are studded with corn kernels to give the meltingly soft stuff on the plate some bite, plus a generous pile of greens.  Arctic char reminds me of the firm, sweet ocean trout I had at Bouchon in Santa Barbara.  I bet this dish with soft leeks, tear drop tomatoes and cockles will be ordered more as summer nights warm up.

Not everything is pitch perfect. We're stuck with one damn bad waiter.  We have to wave our arms wildly to get anyone's attention.  He pushes the most expensive wine on the menu -- one of my most hated service tactics.  When asked for wines by the glass, they're recited only by their grape.  Um, we'd like some more information, thank you... 

And when the couple next to us are confused by their still-frozen mousse, he grabs a utensil, crudely carves the offending dessert into more manageable chunks, and walks away satisfied, as if he's done them a favor.  I know it's a really difficult and often thankless job, but that's a pretty funky approach to customer service.

Desserts are the least interesting part of dinner.  The aforementioned hard strawberry white chocolate mousse feels like a semifreddo because it's served too cold.  A lot more effort is put into its whimsical blooming flower presentation than flavor (gelato cones in Parma are spread for a similar effect).  The cookie covering the creme brulee ramekin gives a satisfying extra crunch, and dark chocolate blackberry cake is the densest of the three sweets.

Hollywood, busting at the seams with clubs and not enough exciting new restaurants, needs to take a page from Culver City's book. 

Wouldn't it be nice.

Wilson
8631 Washington Blvd.
Culver City 90232
310.287.2093

Comments

[erin]

I'm so bummed that my office moved from Culver City to K-town right as the restaurant boom was getting off the ground. Oh well. Personally, I don't think you're missing much at Ford's--they have a great charcuterie plate and some good beers on tap, but the last time I ate there I thought the food was nothing special. The pork sounds yummy.

[Jessica]

That doesn't sound like too bad a trade. On a day-to-day basis for cheap lunches, I'd much rather be in K-Town!

[Anne]

I have been to Wilson 4 times, each time the food was interesting and excellent. Located close to Sony Studios, it is a wonderful place to take out executives. However, last time I was there, the waiter told us that the desserts were complimentary, 3 of them. When the bill arrived, I was charged for the 3 desserts. I did not say anything in front of my two guests, but that certainly was not right. I thought the desserts were offered complimentary,perhaps because during our lunch on the patio there was filming next door, and we had to be more quite then the norm. I will go back to Wilson, but will make sure if the waiter offers something complimentary, it better not be on the bill.

[m]

I also had bad service at Wilson: a waiter who claimed to have no idea what a particular Santa Barbara wine was like on the small wine list. He also said that nobody on staff would have any information either. I found the prices to be on the same level as Lucques or A.O.C. without their excellent service. The food was good but not earth shattering.
My wife and I shared a salad and an appetizer; we each had our own entree and shared a bottle of wine. The bill was $195 with tax and tip and awful, lazy service. Not sure what's going on. Is it the architect bill they are trying to pay off or if you're the son of a Beach Boy does that entitle you to charge absurd prices for just an OK dining experience?

[m]

oh and one more thing:

the waiter handed the bill to my wife while she was standing in line to get into the bathroom. can you imagine a waiter at Lucques or A.O.C. giving you the check as you were waiting to use the bathroom?
Maybe he thought she needed some reading material.

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