Coming soon? Waterloo & City to open in Culver City
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Thierry Perez, former co-owner of Fraiche, says he is planning to open Waterloo & City in Culver City by the end of this month or the beginning of 2010. Perez says he has partnered with Carlos Tomazos, who had been manager at Gilt and had worked at Per Se, both in New York.
The third partner and chef, who asked not to be named because he hasn’t notified his current employer, describes it as a British-style gastropub with a predominantly Italian and French menu. ‘He’s English and I’m French,’ Perez says, by way of explaining the menu. The restaurant is named after London’s shortest Underground line; until a couple of years ago, Waterloo station also was the terminus for the Eurostar trains that run underneath the English Channel between London and Paris (connecting the dots ... ). The chef formerly worked at Quo Vadis in London, as well as prominent restaurants in L.A. Waterloo & City is not the first concept to be attributed to Perez in the same Washington Boulevard location (the erstwhile Crest House Family Restaurant); things change.
A preliminary menu runs the Ital-Franco-Brit gamut: smoked salmon terrine with toasted brioche; fluke crudo; potted duck confit; grilled quail with chopped liver on toast; trotter and ham sausage; spaghetti alla Bolognese. It doesn’t overlook dishes that are particularly beloved in L.A.: beets with goat cheese (and romesco, a Spanish sauce); triple-cooked fries; a burger (maybe made with lamb and served on focaccia). I’m curious about the provenance of ahi tuna and piquillo pepper beignets with avocado and grapefruit.
‘There’s something for everybody,’ Perez says. ‘Maybe fish and chips.’
Waterloo & City,12517 Washington Blvd.,Culver City.
-- Betty Hallock
Illustration of Underground roundel / London Passenger Transport Board
