At Akasha, come for the green, stay for the food

By S. Irene Virbila

March 06, 2008

FROM the virtuous buzz about Akasha -- green building materials, organic produce, Fair Trade coffee, waiters in hemp aprons and organic cotton jeans -- I pictured the new Culver City restaurant from chef Akasha Richmond as a funky cafe filled with Ed Begley Jr.-types, their bicycles tied up just outside the door. But it turns out Akasha is nothing like that.

First of all, it's a great-looking place with a distinctly urban vibe. The huge loft-like space features enormous arched windows looking onto Culver Boulevard, bare brick walls and an inviting long stretch of bar serving up blood orange margaritas, among other libations. The wine list is all organic, chalked on a giant board behind the bar, but this isn't well-intentioned plonk: Some bottles come from prestigious estates, such as Alsace's Zind-Humbrecht.

The crowd -- and even on a weekday night it's mobbed -- is not your hemp-wearing hippie-surrogates, but rather a wild and woolly mix of folks who've come for the food more than any scene. Some already know Richmond from her catering days or her stints as private chef for various celebs. Some know her book "Hollywood Dish," or have caught her on the TV show "Flip That Restaurant" (airing again on Saturday). Others are here because this is the first hip, organic and sustainable restaurant in town.

Go ahead, dig in. You can't go wrong with her prosciutto pizza: a crisp oval crust topped with caramelized onions, figs, Gorgonzola and prosciutto and wild arugula. House-made onion rings are dusted with rice flour before frying for a particularly light touch. She bakes quinoa corn bread in a square cast-iron skillet and turns out a diminutive shiitake and oyster mushroom tart with a flaky short crust. A turmeric-seared pear salad with romaine, chickpeas and much more is fresh and delicious.

Order dishes to share, or all for yourself. "Big plates" include a fine heritage pork chop with braised greens and a creamy white bean purée, a Rosie chicken breast with beluga lentils, and a moist turkey burger spiked with green olives and jalapeño that just may make some converts to the turkey burger cause. Pepper-crusted scallops come with black rice risotto and an edamame purée.

Akasha will be opening for lunch very soon, so you just might want to get your bicycle ready to pedal over for some masala-spiced wild shrimp or a hempseed crusted tofu salad. Breakfast is also served, and you can pick up something (packaged in biodegradable and compostable material) from the attached bakery. This green is good to go.

AKASHA
WHERE: 9543 Culver Blvd. (at Watseka Avenue), Culver City

WHEN: Bakery: 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mon. to Fri., 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sat.; dinner: 5:30 p.m to 11 p.m. Mon. to Sat. Full bar.

PRICE: Small plates, $7 to $10; pizzas, $12 to $15; big plates, $14 to $29; sides, $6 to $8; desserts, $8.

INFO: (310) 845-1700; www.akasharestaurant.com