Los Angeles - July 08, 2009

Eight Is Enough

The Tasting Kitchen

Two, four, six, eight. Whom do we appreciate?

Chef Casey Lane for swooping in and taking over the stoves at the former AK space in Venice. Hailing from Portland, Lane and his dedicated staff (all former ClarkLewis employees) bring a genuine, Northwest-style passion for food to the space now known as The Tasting Kitchen.

Wednesday through Saturday for the next eight weeks, the experimental menu will consist of eight dishes and eight perfectly matched wines and cocktails. Addictive clams with fennel and tomatoes whet the appetite for crisp green beans topped with almond aillade and Iberico ham (your server will lovingly note the acorn flavor of the pig). Move on to well-portioned, ingredient-driven mains like flat iron steak and striped bass with cannellini beans and rapini.

Come fall, the design, menu, and name of the place could all be new.

Whatever the outcome, we’ve got their number.

The Tasting Kitchen, 1633 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, between Palms and North Venice Boulevards, Venice (310-392-6644 or thetastingkitchen.com).

Photo: Courtesy of The Tasting Kitchen

  Neighborhood Gem