Fraiche

I have not experienced the wrath of the Notorious GM (tm) on any visit as others on this board have, but I didn't have to confront him either. There were some timing issues early on that I chalked up to 'working out the kinks' but nothing seriously major. The food though, has been outstanding and consistent both visits. I keep thinking I want to try some of the other apps, but always dive into the Charcuterie plate with the soft milky prosciutto, spec and merguez sausage. Mains, the monk fish nails it. Tender, melting on the tongue, full flavored but not heavy. It comes together the way it should. The Branzino is also very good. It's preparation, in parchment, is clean and lean. A juicy and generously thick pork chop was one of the better I have had out. I've yet to try the Steak Frites, I think that's next. In the bar, Albert's (Trummer) cocktail program is up there with new comer Comme Ca. I am not so much into the exotics, but he knows how to craft a Manhattan. The hearthy design is warm and convivial and if I lived closer, I'd be there more often. Pros: Consistently good food, cocktails more

\r I have enjoyed a number of wonderful meals Fraiche in downtown Culver City. The decor is modern yet warm, and the atmosphere hip yet relaxed. Their lunches are inexpensive and excellent. Try the ?Royale with Cheese,? their version of a hamburger on a large gougiere bun.My favorite dishes are their homemade pastas, especially the beef short rib ravioli, dressed in a delicate buttery sauce. For dinner, I have often started with their charcuterie plate, which includes all the wonders of pork, such as prochetta, lardo and guanciale. My friends and I always share a few dishes, working our way through the appetizers, pastas, main dishes, cheese plate and dessert. It is also a pleasure to dine at the bar (although bar service tends to be a bit slow, unfortunately). They have a special bar menu, including oysters, steak frites and pasta. It is easy to find an excellent wine for under $45, but don?t miss out on one of their signature cocktails made with homemade infusions. more

I've been here mainly for lunch and this place is really solid! Especially their burger, which is probably the best in the Culver City area. The burger meat is high quality and comes out nice and juicy but even better than that is the burger bun, which they somehow infuse with cheese and make crispy. Very tasty! Their other, non-burger entrees are solid but don't quite live up to the high bar set by the burger. This place also scores points for a nice, airy and open interior plus a spacious outdoor patio. Fraiche is on the pricier side for lunch but it's not insanely expensive. more

We went to Fraiche to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday. The food was very tasty; the ambiance comfortable; the service very pleasant and attentive. What was NOT OK was the arrogant person seated at the table beside us, who loudly complained about just about everything. At one point, he called the server over to exclaim, ""This is f***ed! This is totally f***ed!"" (And he would know, since he ran his own restaurant- we overheard it all) His noisy protestations made us so uncomfortable, we could barely enjoy our evening. I don?t hold this against Fraiche -- in fact, they handled the situation beautifully -- but I do regret the evening, and can only hope that the restaurant will develop a more faithful and well-mannered clientele in the future. Or, hopefully, future Fraiche-goers will not be as unlucky as we were. Pros: Great food, attentive service Cons: Tight seating more

If you're paying out of your own pocket, it's just not worth it. There's a very limited by-the-glass wine selection (although, there's an encyclopedia of wines by the bottle), a solid, but uninspired dinner menu and mildly snooty service. But, if you're itching to spend 13 dollars on a half dozen raw oysters, by all means, go here. Pros: Nice space. You won't have a BAD meal. Cons: Pretty much everything else. more

This place has seriously some of the best desserts! Everything I had there was delicious! The Fruits de Mer was divine...The decor - beautifully open and rustic. I had a hard time getting over the fact that this was Culver City! more

I was looking forward to try the wine and food there. However, when I arrive, I was directed to eat at the bar over the corner by the hostess since I am by myself. The wine I taste is pretty good, but I didn't stick around to try the food. more

This place is definitly a great find and you have to try it. From the service to the food everything was perfect. They have a really cute ourdoor patio to sit on too. Pros: food and scene are great more

Last week, I decided to try out Fraiche in Culver City. First, let me say that everything at Fraiche is beautiful, from the decor to the way the food is presented on the plate. We sat on the very large patio, which it was a perfect day for. The staff was very knowledgable as we asked many questions about the menu. Fraiche serves french and italian food, and everything was great. I ordered the Royale with Cheese which was one of the best cheeseburgers I have had in Los Angeles! Fraiche also has an extensive wine list, and the wine we had with our meal was perfect! Fraiche is a must if you are planning a trip to the Culver City area. Pros: Outdoor Patio, Great Food more

A group of 8 of us went for lunch to Fraiche this week, we sat on the patio which was nice, its a pretty large space out there. I shared a couple of dishes with my friend, the royal with cheese and the lamb rigatoni - both were very good. We all also shared a few desserts, the pudding and the cookie plate, those were amazing. more

Hi Everybody, more

I just happened to be walking by with my date looking for a place to eat and the cozy decor and interesting menu caught my eye. We were seated immediately on the heated patio and got down to the tough business of selecting what to eat. Our server was extremely nice and so helpful and she helped us choose a couple of fabulous glasses of red wine. I had the pumpkin soup with marshmallow (sounds weird but they seemed to be homemade and were to die for) and fried sage and then the lamb spezzatino. AMAZING! My date had the rigatoni lamb bolognese with rosemary. Also fantastic. I also loved the olive tapenade and the ciabatta and focaccia slices that came out first. I can't wait to go back! Pros: Service, ambiance, food, everything! Cons: Semi-pricy more

Owner/manager is the most rude, disrespectful restauranteur I have ever encountered. When I called him on his behavior, he ordered me to leave his restaurant, saying "" I don't care what you think. Get out. You mean nothing to me"". He even cursed at me in front of his staff! Simply extraordinary that someone in the service business can be that rude and bad behaviored. The wait staff warned me of his behavior, imagine how he must treat them if he can treat a paying customer so badly. more

Being a New Yorker it's usually nice to come to LA and the much more congenial restaurant scene. Unfortunately, Fraiche and especially the arrogant and untrained hostess, have transplanted the worst of New York and forgot to keep the best of what made New York scenes what they are. Called fifteen minutes before our 8:15 reservation to say we'd be ten minutes late because of traffic - showed up at 8:25 and was told they gave our table away since we were so inexcusably tardy - this was Fraiche, after all, she reminded me. Sadly, since I worked my way through school I was proficient enough to spot that none of the two tops were even beginning their meal - and they had several open that they claimed were full. After sitting at a table squeezed against the hostess stand and the doorline to get into this place I realized I was a fool for even spending a dollar on the establishment. I am under no illusions, I won't take this restaurant down with my review - the hostess will lose the good clientale over time to the competitive Culver City scene - and I'll be spending my generous expense account replete with enough high profile guests attached to it that someone else will profit. That is satisfying enough. Had a very good dinner at Wilson's, after deciding life was too short for rude and arrogant people. And if they're really that good they should open a place in New York and then we'll see if they're actually professionals. Please don't import your hostess though - in New York the consequences for being retarded are rather severe. Pros: Hot Spot Cons: Extremely Haughty and Rude more

Got a reservation for 4 at 8:15 on Open Table the night before. I was curious to see if they would honor the reservation ON TIME...and guess what...they did. Right on the money. The rest of the experience was wonderful. As for ""the rude manager,"" don't believe a word of it. Thierry Perez, the co-owner of Fraiche is very, very busy, but he wasn't too tied up to come to our table, discuss our order, and then surprise us with two bottles of incredible and rare red Rhones...for less than 50 bucks per bottle. These beauties were not even on the wine list! \r \r The food was expectedly wonderful. I had the farro salad and a double portion of the rabbit tortelli - the rest of the table had steak frites, which they proclaimed were spectacular. Classic French desserts were exactly on the money - not too sweet, not to rich and yet sophisticated, meaning not rustic or Italian in character.\r \r Our server was French/Swedish, personable, efficient and very, very charming. He wrote down the name of the wines, he saw to that we were attended to with speed and not one false move..all while the restaurant was PACKED. \r \r Noise level was medium...it's not a place for dimly lit romance, but definitely for a party of four or more who can chat comfortably at the table. We couldn't find valet parking, but there is ample public parking next door. It was cold that night, but there is plenty of space for outdoor seating. Dress code was ""smart casual,"" crowd was the general mix of Westsiders. All in all, we'd go there again in a heartbeat. The food is very, very good, the wine list outstanding. I'm still dreaming about those reds... Pros: The wine list with some incredibly rare wines for almost no money! Cons: Absolutely none! more

I've been wanting to try Fraiche since it opened in Culver City - I live and work in the area and had read so many great reviews about this place. For my 30th birthday I decided that this is where I wanted to go for my birthday dinner, and I'm SO glad it's where I chose to go. 5 of us went and each of us ordered something different (purely just because) and we all ended up sharing each others food because everything was amazing. The Beet salad and pumpkin soup were spectacular, but the Barley and Mushroom salads were awesome as well. The flank steak was perfectly cooked, the lamb stew with gnocchi was incredible, the pork was the best we'd ever tasted and the monkfish was flaky and great - the pasta dish (which was the special of the night) was just ok and the pasta was a bit crunchy! Oh well, can't win everything! Then came desert - I didn't have the chocolate cake but I heard it was divine! and the Paris-Brest and Pear Tartin were both scruptious and gone within seconds. Overall the experience was great and I will definitely go back to try all the other items on the menu and the bar menu which I found out serves until 12am! Pros: Food, Ambience, Ample parking Cons: Service was a bit slow, pasta was crunchy more

\r I went into Fraiche and was welcomed by this handesome french gengtlemen who was sooo pleasant to talk to. He helped myself and my husbnd to our table. So all these people on city search talking soo rude about this french guy they are probably some beverlyhills snobby rich people who think they are VIP beacuse they are from beverlyhills. But the couple of times i was there he treated everyone like VIP. Now lets stop talking about the snobby rich people and talk about how the food at fraiche is soooooo amazing. I had the Duck Leg Confit which has italian black rice , escarole, sherry wine. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW my mouth was wide open. And the desserts were amazing tooooo. The chef at Fraiche Jason Travi was amazing. more

The manager is extremely rude which definitely does not compensate for the mediocre food quality. There are a lot of other great restaurants in this area - I would avoid this overhyped-Hollywood-wannabe restaurant. Cons: Rude service more

We've been to Fraiche twice and the food is very good. Like most new restaurants they are still experiencing some Service issues but overall it's worth it. We havn't had the Reservation issues that others have complained about . When we arrived we were seated promptly. more

First we made a 7:30 pm reservation. Then they called to confirm and insisted we had said 7:00 pm. After enough aggravation, my party agreed to go at 7:00 pm. So my party shows precisely at 7:00 pm only to have the host tell us that our reservation is at 7:45 pm. The manager comes over and says, ""I don't even have to serve you."" So we left. I have never seen a manager that wanted to turn away customers when the customers had not tried to do anything except have their reservation honored. Good luck to anyone else who tries to go there. I don't know how places run like this stay in business. Cons: Serivce more