Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica is becoming it’s own little mini-me version of sha-wan-kay Sunset Boulevard dining of late. Cinch, a restaurant, bar and lounge opened first (me? not impressed). Lincoln Steakhouse Americana opened just east of Cinch, riding the trendy wave of upscale steakhouses. And just a few weeks ago, in the space that used to be Knoll’s Black Forest Inn (right next to Lincoln, in fact) we have Wilshire, a California cuisine, organic-focused restaurant.
The space is beautiful, with majority of the seating is on the outside patio, surrounded by stylized fireplaces and waterfalls on the walls. The decor is sleek and sexy, matching most of the patrons there. What seemed somewhat odd is that the light, bright design of the website, and the buzz about fresh! and organic! foods was the exact opposite of what the restaurant actually feels like – dark.
For the prices (entrees in the high 20s and more) and the setting, the food wasn’t all that impressive. Neither was the service (but that's a different matter). We waited in the bar with cocktails and truffled potato chips, which were good, but for almost $8 for potato chips, I wanted to at least sense the truffle. The chips were just salty (not a complaint, but I can salty chips for $2 at the market). A beet salad was colorful, but a bit plain. The fish’s texture was tender and flaky, but somewhat unsatisfying with very little flavor.
It isn’t necessarily fair to write Wilshire off so early in the relationship. Three more months, and I’ll be back to give them a second chance.
Wilshire Restaurant
2454 Wilshire Boulevrad.
Santa Monica, CA 90403
(310) 586-1707
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