Grubtrotters

Huckleberry Cafe, from Chef Zoe Nathan and Josh Loeb, the husband and wife team behind Rustic Canyon, has barely been open three weeks, but word has clearly spread. There was a line out the door today at lunch, despite the rain. Nathan is pretty famous for her pastries, and while Rustic Canyon only had Saturday morning breakfasts, you can buy her goodies for breakfast and lunch every day at Huckleberry Cafe. (Saturday breakfasts at Rustic Canyon are kaput now.)

The cafe occupies a bright, casual space, perfect for Santa Monica, while the menu focuses on “locally sourced, farm-driven” foods, such as salads, sandwiches, soups, rotisserie meats (free-range Jidori chicken, of course, and duck on Thursdays) as well as all kinds of breakfast treats. Also perfect for Santa Monica. There’s a communal table for those who want to mingle with neighbors, a growing trend in LA. I arrived just after 11 a.m. in the mood for a hearty breakfast, but I’d just missed the cutoff. Instead I ordered the one savory, breakfasty item on the lunch menu, a fried egg sandwich with Niman Ranch bacon, gruyere, arugula and aioli on two thick pieces of freshly baked country bread ($9.50). Delicious. The caffe latte hit the spot, too.

I also brought home some moist turkey meatballs in a tomato sauce and three prepared salads, one with farro (a type of wheat), english peas and feta; one with tangy broccoli and one with crunchy/sweet sugar snap peas ($12.75 for the trio). All fresh, healthy and tasty. Thumbs up for Huckleberry Cafe. Not that they need it. – Jenny

Huckleberry Cafe: 1014 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica; 310-451-2311.

Guilty as charged.

Jenny was taking a picture from above the open staircase at Anisette when chef/owner Alain Giraud raced up to her to ask if she was a blogger. We had popped in for breakfast over the weekend after noticing significant buzz in the blogosphere about Giraud’s new establishment in Santa Monica. Apparently Giraud, former chef at Bastide, had been monitoring the same sites.

Perhaps Jenny’s acknowledgement to Giraud that we are bloggers paid off. We received our food before the couple next to us even though they had arrived and ordered first. Maybe this was a perk due to our blogger status. Or maybe this was just one of those wrinkles that needs to be smoothed during this semi-opening process. Giraud and friends just opened for breakfast last week and are scheduled to expand to lunch and dinner hours this week. They also plan to be open late, a welcome development in L.A.

Jenny went for the Anisette omelette featuring goat cheese feta, red peppers, wild argula and mushrooms. As an unadvertised bonus, it also arrived with extra veggies including fresh asparagus and onions. I had the savory croissant with turkey that came with Gruyere, scrambled eggs, sauteed spinach and slices of vine-ripe tomatoes. We both classified our orders under the category of “very good but not mind-blowing.”

Perhaps a bit soured by the delay, the couple next to us didn’t necessarily grumble about the food but they weren’t heaping praise either. But they also said they were big fans of Giraud at Bastide and would definitely give Anisette another try, knowing these are the kinds of snags you encounter the opening week before the kinks are ironed out.

The party of three on our other side also ran into a production problem. Two received their orders while the third looked on enviously for several minutes before her food arrived.

The décor was old-fashioned with flair and grandeur: tall ceiling, red leather booths, tile floors, antique-looking mirrors and an entire wall of bottles behind the bar. Clearly they put in a lot of work into the look, but frankly I was more impressed by the fresh-squeezed orange juice. Sweet. –Victor.

Anisette, 225 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica 90401. 310-395-3200.