Caroline K.'s Profile

If the Italians served tapas, I would imagine they'd be like the dishes at Fraiche.  Following the recommendations from an article by Johnathan Gold and other Yelpers, my friend and I ordered the Papardelle w/ Short Ribs, Ravioli filled with Peas and Mint, and the Monkfish.  At first I was slightly worried that three dishes would be too much for two people, even with my big appetite, but my worries were in vain.  Definitely order several dishes bc they are on the smaller side.  I loved the texture of the thick noodles of the Papardelle, though both of us thought it was a little too salty.  I also wish it came with more of the rib meat.  The Ravioli had a sweet taste to it with a very slight hint of mint--delicious!  The meal also came with bread and an olive tapenade, which I didn't like, but that's only bc I don't like olives.  We also ordered several of their drinks: Blood Orange Martini (aka screwdriver with a fancy name), James Bond Melon Ball (filled with chunks of watermelon and vodka), The Grape (difficult to drink w/ a straw bc the mint and chunks of grapes kept getting in the way--but it was sweet and girly--yum), and a mojito.  I can't say I was too impressed with their drinks; they were more style than substance.  Dessert was some Italian donut with plums, which was good but was basically, well, a light donut.  The service was excellent and our waiter was really friendly. We sat outside, which was nice bc of the weather, but the downside is that ppl are allowed to smoke at their tables.  Oh, I went on a Sunday night, and they were booked but they do take walk-ins.  We got lucky and didn't have to wait too long for a table to open up.

Since I was in the area for another event, I thought I'd stop by afterwards.  As with many other Korean venues, this one had the typical Korean men smoking right outside the building.  Thank goodness they don't allow smoking indoors like they generally do in K-town bars -- but then again, this is hipster-wannabe Culver City.  Gyenari was surprisingly nice - loved the yellow backdrop.  We only got a carafe (pronounced ca-rafe and not ca-ra-fe) of apple soju ($16), but that was pretty gross.  It was apple pucker mixed with soju.  The two definitely do not go well together, and no, it did not taste like an apple martini.  We sat at the bar, and the people around us ordered food, which looked good.  However, the couple next to us left their plate of sweet potato fries practically untouched - always a bad sign.  I saw that they have a daily Happy Hour from 4-7 with food and drink specials, so I'd probably check that out sometime before committing to a full on dinner.

I remembered when this location used to be a pool hall called Renaissance.  It's a really nice looking bar, but the menu is somewhat expensive.  They have a bunch of different flavored soju drinks (about $15 for a tiny bottle) and small plates like bacon-wrapped asparagus, which was delicious, by the way.  I didn't like the seats too much bc they didn't have any backing (they were basically square-shaped stools).  Service sort of sucked.  I rang the bell located on the table (those are the best inventions EVER) several times and was ignored, so I had to wave and flag down one of the waiters.