The newly opened Red Fish restaurant has some diners in a state of disbelief. Or, as a visitor to our table gushed, "You wouldn't know you're in Simi Valley."
Visual clues certainly point elsewhere: The uncluttered dining room is hung with free-form "chandeliers" that look like Los Angeles' Walt Disney Concert Hall in miniature. The bar is fashioned from recycled redwood from Eureka. The communal table — tucked into a nook of its own and outfitted with windows that look into the refrigerated fish-cutting room — is crafted from reclaimed Brazilian rain forest hardwoods.
The attention to decor extends to the chocolate-brown booths, which feature sueded backs and smooth seats, enabling diners to slide in and out with ease.
And the food's pretty good, too.
Located in the Simi Valley Town Center, Red Fish clearly benefits from the experience of the entrepreneurial team that created it after first opening Spark Woodfire Grills in Studio City, Huntington Beach and Beverly Hills.
Likewise, chef Fredy Escobar brings experience from the kitchens of Alto Palato in West Hollywood and Rex II Ristorante in Los Angeles, while manager and operating partner Brad Wood is a veteran of the Ruth's Chris Steak House chain.
On the night we visited, service was task-oriented but genial; the wait staff moved like clockwork but with smiles as a bonus.
A certain feeling of contentment may come naturally at a spot where the menu quotes poet-philosopher Lawrence Ferlinghetti's recipe for happiness:
"One grand boulevard with trees, with one grand cafe in sun, with strong black coffee in very small cups. One not necessarily very beautiful man or woman who loves you. One fine day."
As might be expected, fish is a big deal at Red Fish.
The exterior of the restaurant — imposing but not flashy — boasts tall entry doors with sturdy metal fish as handles.
The regular menu features fish brought in daily from West Coast seafood markets and from the Fulton Fish Market in New York City. Oysters, clams and other shellfish appear in abundance. The menu of daily specials will change with the seasons.
The night we visited, the specials were New Zealand bluenose seabass and pink snapper, Arctic char and petrale sole. Each was available in one of three preparations: Red Fish style is mesquite-grilled with herb butter and grilled lemon. Mediterranean style calls for the fish to be baked in tomato broth with sweet garlic. Peruvian style involves poaching in natural juices with garlic, cilantro, lemon, shiitake mushrooms and green onions. Each special comes with a choice of one side dish and ranges in price from $22 to $29, our server said.
It took us awhile to winnow down the possibilities, which included selections from the "land and air" (meat and poultry) section of the menu.
But first, we turned our attention to the starters, which are available in chilled (oysters with green apple-jalapeño and grapefruit-mint granita) and hot (fried calamari) variations.
We chose the seared seven-spice ahi tuna ($12) as an appetizer and, from among the "leaves and bowls," aka salads and soups, a crab and shrimp stack ($15) that turned out to be more like a hearty appetizer.
The seven-spice ahi tuna featured small, seared squares of tuna presented on a long narrow plate with a mildly spicy "coleslaw" at the base and, at one end of the plate, a dab of spicy relish. The exotic spices radiating from the tuna and the beauty of the presentation combined to make the dish an aesthetic as well as culinary delight. (Mini chopsticks were offered as utensils.)
The crab and shrimp stack arrived at the center of a plate of spicy greens, rising in a mound of tempting lump crab, avocado, tomato and egg held together by a creamy Dijon horseradish dressing. A huge shrimp was poised on top. The stack might be a bit cumbersome to share, but could easily serve more than two as a starter. (As an alternative, diners can choose with any entree a side Caesar salad or cup of lobster bisque or clam chowder, at a reasonable $5 for the first two, $4 for the latter.)
We chose our entrees from among the "fins" list at the bottom of the menu. (The alternate "shells" featured prawns, scallops, lobster and crab legs.) Preparations for the regular fins on the menu make them especially appealing. Mesquite-grilled "organic" salmon ($24) comes with a pomegranate glaze and grilled asparagus. Seared Alaskan black cod ($27) is served with fava beans and lemongrass. Halibut, swordfish and ahi tuna are also among the fins.
The salmon was beautifully cooked and the asparagus quite satisfying. The pomegranate sauce surprised me with its extra sweetness; if I order the fish again I would negotiate for another sauce, or none. The buttery black cod, a gentle fish cooked to perfection, was enhanced by the hearty addition of the beans and tang of the lemongrass.
We didn't delve into the side dishes, which included the traditional creamed spinach, grilled asparagus or zucchini, jasmine rice and french fries. Also available are more unusual selections such as charred broccolini with roasted red peppers, buttered corn with wild mushrooms, charcoal-roasted red and gold beets, and sea salt "smashed" potatoes with chive butter. They range in price from $5 to $8.
Our relatively light entrees helped balance out the richness of the crab-shrimp stack, leaving us able to contemplate dessert. We couldn't resist the beignets ($7 for six), deep-fried pillows of dough that we first encountered in New Orleans. Red Fish's beignets are quite good, albeit presented in a surprising way: A server arrived with a brown bag on a plate, then folded the rim of the bag for us. Light and pleasant, the rounded little "doughnuts" were sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. They came with three sauces for dipping: berry (my favorite), chocolate and a peanut butter creme anglaise. It was a fun dessert, and the coffee served with it was excellent.
Red Fish pays as much attention to its wines as its foods, turning the entire back of the menu into a wine list. There is a good sampling of wines by the glass, as well as very special bottles. For our seafood-oriented dinner we chose the house chardonnay, a 2005 J. Lohr Riverstone Arroyo Seco ($9), along with a 2006 Bonterra California viognier ($10), which was sweeter than some viogniers we've had in the past. Other wines are available by the glass ($6 to $23) and bottle ($24 to $280).
— Rita Moran visits restaurants unannounced and pays for her meals. If you know of a new, unusual or just plain good restaurant.
Posting Id4_dani
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