Welcome to L.A. TACO's Weekend Eats, a look at some of the most exciting culinary throw-downs in L.A., made just for our members. When you join L.A. TACO as a member, you get this every week in your inbox, detailing 5-6 great new places to eat.
RUSTIC CANYON ~ SANTA MONICA
Over its 19 years and nine months, Santa Monica’s Rustic Canyon has enshrined a reputation for farm-focused cooking, zero-waste cocktails, and providing creative space for notable talent, including executive chef-veterans like Evan Funke and Jeremy Fox, as well as Roxana Jullapat, Rashida Holmes, and Erika Chan.
Elijah Deleon, who worked under Fox at Birdie G’s before coming to Rustic Canyon, was promoted to executive chef last year and has really put his stamp on the restaurant with a menu tapping into the Mexican side of his Filipino-Mexican heritage. In my opinion, it offers the Westside’s most exciting place for enjoying modern Mexican flavors and ingredients in electrifying new ways.
From an ever-changing menu that kicked off after his pop-up with Ana Castro of Lengua Madre in New Orleans, we’ve had steak tartare under shredded white cheddar with avocado and pickled onions, which you can scoop up with seasoned, housemade tortilla chips, coming across like some kind of super-luxe version of tostilocos.