I don’t know why I keep calling this place La Lunetta, but it sure sounds better than Lunetta All Day. Is that really its name? Do they serve food all day? Well, I’ll stop giving this quaint yet busy spot on Pico such a hard time because it wasn’t bad at all!
It merely suffered from being stuck in the middle of that culinary space in LA. It reminded me of Cafe Midi, over on La Brea, but didn’t quite operate at the same level of excellence. While the service was good, they lacked that extra bit of personality. While the dining room and patio were well decorated, they were just a bit too loud.
As for the food, well… I was intrigued. When I left, I wanted to come back to see their dinner menu because they’re doing a lot right here, conceptually. They’re also doing a lot right here in terms of execution, although going back to my comment before, something was a bit off.
For the price of the dishes, they either needed to have slightly larger portions or food that tasted a little better. While I enjoyed my fried chicken and pancakes, it was a tiny serving and needed salt. The wilted greens on the side were an afterthought and needed more acidity, perhaps just a slice of lemon to squeeze on top. The chicken was, however, masterfully prepared… juicy on the inside with a beautiful brown crust on the outside.
The reuben was delicious, and a much better value, as it came with fries, that weren’t as crisp as they could’ve been. The pastrami was salty and rich, the bread was nicely toasted for a bit of crunch and they weren’t shy with the Thousand Island dressing. There felt like a bit of an imbalance between those two choices, but again, it was engaging enough to create this desire to return for dinner.
Saving the best for last, the mint lemonade was the highlight of the meal. Beautifully balanced and insanely refreshing, I could drink that every single day.
I know that the restaurant is still relatively young and hopefully they continue to work some of their issues out, but I’d easily consider returning for dinner.
