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Josie Taking It Back to 2001

Josie Le Balch
Josie Le Balch Photo: Josie

Last year, L.A. ate at restaurants that were booming back when many modern diners were still teething, getting a glimpse into chefs’ bygone menus like the one at John Sedlar’s St. Estephe and Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger’s City. Starting this Friday, Josie LeBalch will take her own dip into nostalgia to celebrate the twelfth year of her Santa Monica restaurant, Josie, bringing back many of the dishes served on her original 2001 opening menu.

Offered a la carte, the Ma Maison and Saddle Peak Lodge veteran’s throwback recipes include seared baby cuttlefish served with herbs and Merguez sausage, wood-grilled bacon-wrapped quail, chicken “Sous La Terre,” and Texan wild boar tenderloin with baked apples and fried rapini.

Get your first glimpse of Josie’s 2001 menu below before it gets served nightly through March 31 at 2424 Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica.

MENU

APPETIZERS

Pear and Endive Salad
with spicy watercress, aged English Stilton and pecans

Roasted Beet and Hazelnut Salad
slow-roasted beets, organic Oregon hazelnuts, and bibb lettuce

Herbs and Greens
a mix of lettuce leaves and aromatic herbs tossed in aged red wine vinaigrette with crisp sunchoke chips

Soup
daily inspiration of the chef

Seppie
baby cuttlefish seared with lemon and herbs and served with Merguez sausage and warm Puy lentils

Wood-Grilled Quail
wrapped in applewood-smoked bacon and served on a bed of Savoy cabbage
with golden raisins and pine nuts

Sardines and Brown Butter
sardines lightly breaded and sautéed, finished with lemon, capers, brown butter, and fried celery leaves

Roasted Bone Marrow
with braised oxtail, gremolata and a red wine sauce

ENTREES

Dorade
on a Castroville artichoke hash with tomato broth and parsnip hay

‘Campfire’ Trout
whole trout cooked in a cast-iron pan with blue lake and yellow wax beans in a lemongrass nage

Tagine of Cod
with curried cous cous, carrots, olives, preserved lemon, and a side of carrot mustard

Pappardelle Pasta
homemade pasta with wilted greens, sweetbreads, and braised civet of rabbit

New York Steak
New York steak coated with cracked black pepper with garlic mashed potatoes and ‘Pops’ peppercorn sauce

Chicken ‘Sous la Terre’
Brittany salt-crusted chicken breast, pan seared and served with ground white corn grits

Texas Wild Boar
grilled sliced tenderloin with flageolet beans, fried rapini, and baked apple

Josie Taking It Back to 2001