Love Life, Hate Kittens

[pic via hobson’s choice]

I was a little crabby. I worked late. I had an uninspiring mini dinner post work. I missed my yoga class. My roommate seems to be having sexy time. All bad.

I love bar food. Despite what Tony [of sinosoul] says I love Viceroy and other overpriced establishments. It’s 10:30PM. Unfortunately [as we soon came to realize], kitchens in classy bars close pretty early especially on the westside. After a quick consultation with Liz, she recommended Riva.

Gave Riva a quick call. They have a special recession menu after 10 and a bar/lounge menu that is served till 12. Sweet.

Parking was not a problem but I did notice that they had valet. Place was damn near dead at 10:30. Which was nice since I value peace and silence when I just want a drink and some nibbles.

Riva is hard to review. Aesthetically, I give it a five. It’s gorgeous. We were nestled in the corner couch area. This sounds uber gay but I really liked their wall panels and molding along the windows. Almost makes you feel like your in the city.

Now the bad, ok I know I like going to classy places but I am still from TORRANCE y’all. I could NOT understand half their drink menu so I got a cucumber fizz. Real classy Ronnie. Speaking of classy, I totally mispronounced prosciutto as pro-shet-ta. Don’t ask.

All their ‘small dishes’ range from 6-12 bucks. We got the prosciutto with warm flat bread, trio of crudo, and cod croquettes with garlic aioli. Both the prosciutto and croquettes were a good size dish. The crudo was simply three pieces of fish [smoked salmon, some white fish, tuna] on top of either mayo or tartar sauce. SO FREAKING WACK.

Anywayz. Psh. I’ll stick with the pro-shet-ta. Thankyouverymuch.

Riva
312 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 451-7482