The Tasting Kitchen Brings Understated-Cool Dining Back to Abbot Kinney

Early-aughts Venice gem the Tasting Kitchen is so back and, judging by the humming fullness of its dining room, it’s as if it never left. Helmed by its original chef Casey Lane, Tasting Kitchen 2.0 brings back what locals loved about its first iteration (including smart, intimate service and stellar wines) in a reimagined dining room by designer Matthew Winter. For $135 per person, the 5-course tasting menu lets the kitchen team curate the experience for you — although, if you’re an anxious diner who wants to try it all, you can request add-ons from the cheese and charcuterie section or starters like molten ‘nduja croquettes, a new addition to the a la carte lineup. If you go for the tasting, there will be a pasta course (gluten-free pastas seem soon to come, too) and a formidable main (recently, we tried the roasted chicken fattened with honeycomb stuffing and doused in chanterelle jus). Being back in the Tasting Kitchen, up on the mezzanine with a muted Venice sunset pouring in through its highest windows, feels like reconnecting with an old friend. It’s not trying hard to be cool or to recapture a moment, it just is and does.

What to order

• To start, go with grilled squid rubbed with sour mango and Aleppo pepper, and order a side of bread to sop up the juices that remain once you eat every morsel of calamari. Ideally, you get the dish simply called “shepherding god’s work,” a hyperseasonal salad that right now includes peak summer tomatoes, peaches, and salted burrata. 
• You cannot go wrong with any of the pastas here, but the tagliatelle with chanterelles offers the buttery egg quality of carbonara in a portion that does not render you into a somnambulist after. There won’t be many kids in the room at this restaurant (it’s a book-the-sitter kind of place), but if you happen to bring one, spaghetti cacio e pepe, which blends white, black, and pink peppercorns, will give them the cheesy dopamine hit they need to be happy until dessert.
• A showstopping Dover sole in caper beurre meunière gives the effect of chicken piccata in a more delicate presentation. The sole flakes apart beautifully and is best paired with a side of creamed potatoes that could give Joël Robuchon a run for his money.
• Every meal should end with both desserts: a pristine half moon of Basque cheese with a leaf-on gooseberry hinge, and the goddess-coded “fruit on ice” that uses blackberries, plums, and a whole bunch of red grapes over a mountain of crushed ice chips to make a finale statement.

The vibe

Downstairs, a reverberating sound system sets the stage for getting lost in the world of Venice cool kids. Mellow hip-hop swings on the pendulum between the 1980s and 1990s, then sometimes morphs into an unexpected jazz cut. Behind the main dining room, a back bar room with higher tables allows friend pairs to mingle without the formality of banquette seating. The upstairs mezzanine, framed by textured watercolor-painted walls, runs a little bit quieter and is where you might end up if you happen to walk in with a kid — or book your reservation too late to get a spot downstairs. Its upper-level views make up for the vibe change.

The crowd

Every eligible Westsider you know is on a date here, although a group of friends on a double date might commandeer the sweeping window seats in the front dining room. The crowd is an eclectic generational mix: no one age group or type dominates.

Insider tip

Get one of the tasting menus (four courses for $115 or five for $135) — the a la carte offerings run vast enough to give immediate decision fatigue, so why not hand that responsibility over to Lane and his team? It’s also best bang for your buck.