dining at étra

first dinner stop in la

i am writing off the cuff here, while sitting in bed at our airbnb somewhere in silverlake. i didn’t bring my laptop so i am writing this from my phone. the airbnb is up a windy road where it seems really too narrow to have such big houses on either side of the street. the view is nice, from the patio, i can see the hillside scattered with what looks like confetti but are really just other large homes. i’m in la for only a few days; a long weekend really. i feel like the only thing in la i enjoy doing is people watching, going to a museum or two and eating. the meals have been so good so far but one that i really loved was étra.

we left berkeley at 8 am on thursday and took the 101 down to la. i had plans of finding somewhere nice to stop in santa barbara but quickly realized i just didn’t care enough so we stopped at a panda express in santa maria for lunch. it was honestly fine and only a little depressing. the drive itself was longer than if we were to have taken the 5 but at least it was beautiful. it was overcast and the skies were grey which made me question if la was going to have the heat and warmth i was desperately counting on. but the mountains were green and lush and we zoomed by pastures that were thick with green and the cows were grazing happily. when we reached the coast, we rolled down the windows and the salty coastal air flooded the car and strangely made me feel less depressed about the panda express.

we had dinner plans later in the evening with chloe and andy at étra which i had been really wanting to try since i first saw photos on instagram of their sleek interiors. the ambience looked sophisticated and moody enough to attract hot people which could mean that even if the food wasn’t great, people would still go back. i knew nothing of the food (like whether it was actually good or mid) but that didn’t influence my excitement. i think that’s the difference between the food scene in la and in the bay area. in the bay area, you’re kind of really lucky if a place is both aesthetically cool and the food is good. you expect if a place is cool, the food will most likely not be great. if the food is good, the ambience is most likely not great. visiting la, sometimes mediocre food can almost be forgivable if the vibe and scene is great because that can be so lacking in the bay area (although of course good food + ambience is ideal).

our uber driver dropped us off around the block from the restaurant so we walked around the corner and walked past cafe telegrama (another place i was excited to try) and discovered that étra is tucked away right next door. the outside is unassuming with some cafe tables and chairs for outdoor dining but inside is kinda giving sexy sea ranch with the austere plywood walls, minimal artwork, sculptured modern wooden light fixtures, and very dim lighting. the lighting reflecting off the wood interior made everything seem to glow like ember which i loved because it made everything immediately more intimate and welcoming. one thing about me is i absolutely fall in love with spaces that encourage you to share secrets and one too many bottles of wine between friends, or share a kiss with tongue with your date at the table in a dark corner. because of the minimal color and the moodiness of it all, the neon green exit sign above the entrance seemed to be extraordinarily neon like a beacon or like the green light in the great gatsby which i know is so dramatic.

another thing i notice about dining in la is that the newer and cooler spots don’t just have cool, young hot people dining. i love seeing cool and stylish parents bringing their awkward-phase teenager to dinner and while their kid has their hoodie covering their head the whole time, the stylish waif-ish mom with her perfectly stacked bracelets and thick gold rings on almost every finger and the good looking but bored dad are throwing back glasses of wine and eventually the hoodie comes off and the kid is also enjoying the prawns with nduja.

we ordered a variety of dishes to share as a table: meatballs in a tomato sauce, hamachi crudo, beef tartare, chicory salad with cured egg yolk, their version of scampi which were prawns and nduja, rigatoni with peas and ramps and guanciale, ny strip with maitake mushrooms, dorade with brown butter and sichuan peppercorns and a lemon posset and chocolate caramel cake for dessert. by the end of the dinner, i was verging on drunk but i remember the dorade being good enough to say that sometimes fish really outdoes any meat dish and why don’t i order fish more often????? maybe because not every fish is prepared with brown butter and sichuan peppercorns and cooked to perfection, i don’t know.

a pasta dish of theirs that i could have ordered 2 more of if i would been just a little more drunk was the rigatoni in a sauce of ramps, snap peas and guanciale. it was a silky green sauce that was mild and light and delicate but so savory and just so fucking enjoyable. it was so simple and at the moment i was convinced it was something i could easily make at home if i could get my hands on some ramps but that’s the illusion of the most simple and delicious dishes you have at a restaurant. they make you think you can replicate it at home and maybe you can but it will take at least ten attempts and 2.5 mental breakdowns!!!

i also have to mention i am not a beef tartare girl. not to sound immature but it makes me very nervous (texturally) and the thought of it, if i think about it too much which i will, grosses me out. it makes me paranoid about worms and i think of those instagrams dedicated to men who just bite huge chunks of raw ground beef straight out of the package while downing raw milk with five egg yolks floating in it while posted up in the parking lot of their local whole foods. but andrew, the owner of étra was kind enough to bring out their tartare as a gift from the kitchen and tell me why i absolutely loved it to the point i was ripping off chunks of bread to stuff my mouth with more beef tartare??? i can say that i actually truly enjoyed it and i am not saying i am going to be ordering tartare all the time when it’s on a menu but i did enjoy this enough where it makes me think maybe i shouldn’t be so repulsed by it and grow up a little.

i think i enjoyed étra so much because it a place that sums up why coming to la as a bay area girlie is so fun. étra isn’t glamorous and it isn’t fine dining which is what i love about it. it’s only pretentious in a way that makes me feel like i am spending my time in a place that is worth it; there is a reason to be there. the food is simple and straightforward, the aesthetic is unfussy and nonchalant but clearly purposeful, nothing is overly done, nothing is over explained. it’s a cool place with hot people and good food that fosters a lovely atmosphere of ordering that second bottle of wine, sharing secrets, gossiping with your friends, making out with your date, and being seen without perceived. i think i was so enamored with it because it is what is lacking in the bay area and i am not sure when that will ever catch on in berkeley or san francisco. i am crossing my fingers but until then, i am happy to come to la for it.

thank you to my dear chloe for making these reservations for us!!! ❤️