Rate-A-Restaurant, #166 in a series

(Flickr pic by He Cooks She Eats.

Restaurant: Fraiche

Location: 9411 Culver Blvd. (Culver City)

Type of restaurant: French/Italian



They stipulated: That you gotta drive to Culver City. Ha. Joking -- as you well know, Culver City has become quite the foodie mecca, and Fraiche is at the forefront.

We stipulated: Meeting an exec for lunch, my colleage Joe and I suggested several spots -- and Fraiche came up as a good, classy lunch choice.



What we ordered: I got the Pan Bagnet -- seared albacore tuna, black olive, anchovy and egg sandwich ($14). For dessert, we all shared piccolo pasticerria -- plate of assorted cookies ($6)

High point: Plate of cookies? Simple, yet pretty damn good, thanks to the handiwork of pastry chef Miho Travi.

Low point: Service, as noted elsewhere, is spotty. I kept getting skipped over by the waiter -- basically, I had to nail him down to get my order taken. When dessert was ordered, he asked everyone at the table if they wanted coffee -- except me. Then left before I could order one.



Overall impression: Named one of Los Angeles magazine's top 75 local restaurants, Fraiche is good, and an excellent lunch choice if you're meeting people on the west side -- but I guess I'll reserve the "better than good" debate until after I check it out for dinner. My sandwich was delicious (perhaps because it was quite salty -- thank you, anchovies!) but I don't feel like I've gotten the full Fraiche experience. Perhaps dinner, with wine, is necessary.

Chance we will go back: Possibly, although probably won't be getting to Culver City for dinner anytime soon, so another lunch with execs is more likely.

For a complete list of our over 166 restaurant reviews, check out our companion Rate-A-Restaurant site.