Los Angeles - December 09, 2004

I'll Be Seeing Yu

Yu Restaurant Opens

Asian fusion. Dark wood. Hip decor. Family vibe. Liquor license. Thirteenth and Montana.

Totally confused.

Sam Nazarian (Shelter, Prey) has done it again — this time on the westside. Yu Restaurant and Lounge in Santa Monica is friendly and Hollywood worthy, preserving the accessibility and convenience of what used to be the Wolfgang Puck Cafe, replacing the menu with Andrew DeGroot’s culinary genius (Pastis, Oceanfront at Casa Del Mar), and wrapping it all up in Douglass Johnson’s eclectic, warm setting.

Perplexed? It gets worse. (Or better.) Yu delivers on DeGroot’s promise of unexpected flavors and elegant presentation. But the food, like the service, is never pretentious and terribly pleasing. Order the rock-shrimp tempura, sweet-yellow-corn-and-lemongrass-shrimp soup, red snapper Bali-style, and braised beef oxtail in rice-noodle pillows. The “tempura” strawberries, rolled in brown sugar and sauteed in Grand Marnier, is a must for dessert.

You’ll feel at home and like you’re in a different world. It’s confusing, we know. But Yu doesn’t mind.

And neither will you.

Yu Restaurant and Lounge, 1323 Montana Avenue, between 13th and 14th Streets, Santa Monica (310-395-4727).