One of Southern California’s most striking coastal restaurant spaces is returning after a multi-year hiatus as Studio Mediterranean, located inside the upscale Montage resort. Chef Dennis Efthymiou, a Greek native who trained in Athens as well as the U.K.’s three-Michelin-starred the Fat Duck, Central in Lima, and Luce in San Francisco, has come on board to lead the kitchen serving a high-end Greek seafood menu with fish flown in fresh from around the world and locally sourced produce. The restaurant became available to hotel guests on June 26, but will open to the public beginning October 10.
Expect Studio Mediterranean to serve spreads with house-baked pita, keftedes (beef and pork meatballs) with smoked tzatziki, charred octopus with saganaki sauce, and tableside tossed Greek salad. Whole seafood like Greek branzino, Spanish Dover sole, Maine lobster, dorade, and rainbow trout comes deboned, grilled, and dressed simply with lemon, olive oil, and sea salt (priced between $52 and $88 per pound). There’s salt-baked branzino in a coffee-salt crust for $165 while rarefied Spanish carabinero prawns are $95 apiece. More inventive fish dishes include black cod with turmeric butter or grilled steelhead with dill-butter sauce. Roasted chicken, bone-in rib-eye for two, and grilled lamb chops round out the proteins, while sides include lemon-roasted potatoes, charred broccoli, and Rancho Gordo gigante beans. To finish, a baklava ice cream sundae comes laced with honey in a copper pan while a medjool date tart gets a drizzle of chocolate, olive oil, caramel, and crème fraiche.
The Montage Laguna Beach previously hosted Studio with former Ritz-Carlton Huntington (now the Langham in Pasadena) chef Craig Strong, who received a sparkling review by former Los Angeles Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila back in 2009. She praised Strong’s cooking and the unfettered ocean views of the South Orange County resort. The new bill of fare will reflect a staunchly Greek perspective, which has been trending of late with the opening of Kassi Venice Beach, José Andrés’s Zaytinya in Culver City, and Deme in Downtown LA’s Hotel Figueroa. Famed Greek seafood restaurant Estiatorio Milos is also slated to open in Century City within the next year. Studio Mediterranean joins the recently opened Marisella just north of Santa Barbara as two drive-worthy dining destinations occupying prime real estate at expensive oceanside resorts…