akasha

seeing as how spring has hit LA like a rock in the face (god i’m dramatic), what better way to spend a warm and sunny friday than eating a shi shi lunch w/miss d?

after mucho press on daily candy, thrill list, and urban daddy over the last few months, i decided to book a reservation at akasha. until recently, the restaurant had only offered dinner. and seeing as how i’d have to get there and back on the bus, i’d never wanted to risk waiting around for the bus at night. so when the restaurant started to offer lunch, i thought PERFECT. i’d originally made a reservation for one, but when i found out miss d was interested in the akasha experience, i invited her along for yet another fine dining adventure.

first things first, the front door is HEAVY. no, i’m serious. this thing is big and metal and HEAVY. so make sure you’ve done your bicep curls prior to getting here.

as soon as we walked in, we were greeted by this amazing bakery. you couldn’t help but look and smell and stare. mmm.... so much sugar, so little time. (who’d ever believe i was on a low-carb diet for five years?!) needless to say, it was difficult to drag ourselves away.

as the hostess walked us into the main dining room, i looked back and caught a glimpse of the wine wall (as i like to call it) behind the bar. this isn’t the first time i’ve seen one, but it’s always amazing to look at. to be honest, the whole space was amazing to look at. we were seated at a table for two in the middle of the room. an absolutely incredible space with open construction, high ceilings (which i love), and visible rafters. behind me was a great view of the open kitchen. in front of me was a lovely view of the patio. there was lots of light that made the room seem even bigger. and very little decoration. i was utterly impressed with the size of the space as well as the minimalist design.

to be honest, i hadn’t heard *too* much about the food at akasha, except that it was more local and organic – which is totally the *in* thing right now, but more importantly, really helping to support the farmers. taking a look at the menu, you can’t help but think how akasha is yet another great restaurant to spring up in support of folks eating lower on the food chain. and with all of their interesting flavor combinations, i dare say that they’ll be able to recruit quite a few more.

while it was a bit warm for soup, the special for the day – a vegan split-pea mint soup – sounded absolutely delicious. too bad for us that it wasn’t a few degrees chillier!

for my entree, i chose the red quinoa & edamame w/market veggies & lemongrass tofu. if i couldn’t have the vegan soup, i was definitely going for the vegan bowl. and if i’d been more hungry, i’d have gone for the black lentil-pumpkin seed burger, which sounded soooo good (and was even recommended by the hostess). unfortunately, i was still stuffed from the night before. (is this a trend or what?) regardless, my entree was DELICIOUS. especially when the waiter came over w/a bit of paprika mayo, which he said would go perfectly w/the dish – and it SO did. OMG. even de’sha liked it – and she’s a self-proclaimed condiment-hater!! i mixed in a little bit at a time and it totally made the dish that much more scrumptious. so much so that i had to ask for a second serving! yup, that waiter deserved a hefty tip for that suggestion. mmm....

FYI that de’sha had the spiked turkey burger (which was also recommended by the hostess) and specifically said that it was THE best turkey burger she’d EVER had. (mind you, she’d placed a few swipes of paprika mayo on her bun!) and she thought her fries tasted just like mcdonald’s fries! (which was a compliment i think.) so as you can see, we were both utterly amazed by the food.

considering how we were salivating in the bakery, we couldn’t leave w/o dessert! especially since the hostess had also recommended the salty chocolate tart at the start of the meal – and we’d obviously left room for it. as w/everything else, the tart was a perfect blend of flavors and textures – not too sweet, just a tad salty, very creamy, w/a little bit of crunch. a perfect ending to a perfect meal.

the rest of the dishes and desserts looked amazing, so i was ready to go back before i’d even left! but one thing i did make sure to do before i left was pick up some sweets from the bakery. everything looked amazing, so i just picked out a few cookies this time (which obviously means there will be a next time, right?) for eri. but FYI that i hate it when i bring stuff home for her and she’s not around to eat it right away (or chooses to take her time), b/c i end up not being able to resist and eating the stuff before she even gets to it! isn’t that horrible? *sigh* well, i bought three cookies, and i’ve already eaten one. so i’m glad i told her i bought her *some* cookies b/c *two* can still mean *some*, right? i know, i need help.

akasha
9543 culver boulevard
culver city, ca 90232
310.845.1700

http://www.akasharestaurant.com/index.html