Anisette Brasserie in Santa Monica

Just returned from lunch at Anisette Brasserie in Santa Monica and I have to say I enjoyed the experience and would go again.

The place has a very nice feel and that started right when we walked in. Beautifully tiled floors, long zinc bar, red lobsters chilling on ice next to oysters, and servers dressed like waiters in France with their long aprons. The front desk folks were friendly, and tons of diners were already there enjoying their lunch hour. It was as though the restaurant was recession-proof.

When we got to our food, we found it all to be very good, and creative as well. We had a couple of appetizers to share - pate maison and a smoked salmon terrine. Both were beautifully presented, with the terrine in a fashion that I have never seen before. But even tastier than the smoked salmon was the pate, which was very light and almost like a mousse.

We each ordered a soup for the main course - my companions had onion soup, which was served in a cute tall red crock, and mine was the Provencal fish soup, which was served in bowl, but they poured it tableside from a teapot. My soup was flavorful and everything I wanted from a fish soup - tasted very homemade.

We shared a dessert of lavendar ice cream which definitely tasted of lavendar and vanilla bean.

To conclude, Anisette is a cute and relatively casual but still upscale place that I enjoyed and made me want to live in L.A. again. It's definitely a great addition to the 3rd Street Promenade area that really doesn't have enough good places. I say Yay!!

Anisette Brasserie is located on Santa Monica Blvd between 2nd and 3rd Street, right off the 3rd Street Promenade.